Consolidate Federal Student Loans: Is It For You?

It is a good idea to consolidate federal student loans.  Now that you have finally graduated from college, it’s time you start refinancing your college loans.  But it could be very burdening for you to make out several payments for the several loans you borrowed from various lenders.  It could be very confusing and hassling.  If you want to settle your accounts the easier way, you do have a choice.  You can opt for student loan consolidation. 

What is student loan consolidation?

You combine all the student loans you have.  When you decide to consolidate your loans, you roll all the student loans you have from several lenders and combine it into a single loan repayment plan made out to only one lender.  Doing so will really help ease the burden on refinancing your student loans. 

What is federal student loan consolidation?

It is a refinancing program.  When you consolidate federal student loans, you combine all your existing federal student loans into a single and new loan at a fixed interest rate.  It’s really a great tool that will aide you in managing your finances.  It provides immediate payment relief and other long term benefits. 

What is payment relief?

It’s a key benefit in federal student loan consolidation.  When you combine your education loans into a single loan repayment plan, you can extend your repayment period to up to 30 years, depending on the total amount of all your college debts. 

Through this, your monthly payment will surely decrease.  Because the repayment period is extended, expect lower monthly payments.  Through this, you will be able to enjoy extra money that can be used to finance your daily living expenses such as car payments, housing expenses, and other career-related necessities.  Besides, there’re no penalties for prepayments or overpayments so you can make larger payments when it becomes affordable for you. 

What qualifies for federal student loan consolidation?

Federal Stafford Loan consolidation qualifies.  Other loans that qualify include Direct Loan Consolidation, PLUS Loan Consolidation, and also Perkins Loans, HEAL Loans, and all other Federal FFELP and Direct Loans taken up to pay for your college education.  

Can I include my eligible private student loans?

A private student loan consolidation will allow you to do that.  However, with this, you could lose federal loan benefits if you choose to consolidate your federal student loans into private loan consolidation. 

Where can I apply for federal student loan consolidation?

Check out websites of different lenders online.  By doing so, you will be able to compare the various unique features, benefits and offerings of the several consolidators with just a few clicks.  There are websites that even offer online application so you can start consolidating your loans within minutes. 

It is a good idea to consolidate federal student loans.  Through this, you would only have to make a single monthly payment to one lender at a fixed-rate as opposed to several monthly payments to various lenders and at variable rates.  So, if you want to do things the simpler way, then consolidating your federal student loans is for you.