| When you leave college with a bundle of student | | | | Perkins and Direct Loans, among others. |
| loans, you ask yourself, "How do I consolidate my | | | | Private Loans will not have acronyms, and will |
| student loans?" This is a question many people have | | | | generate statements from the private lending |
| about their loans from college. | | | | institutions. |
| Determine Eligibility | | | | You'll need to know which type you have because |
| The first thing to do in the process of answering the | | | | the type determines if you can consolidate and how. |
| question, How do I consolidate my student loans? is | | | | Federal Student Loans |
| to determine if you qualify for loan consolidation. | | | | The question of how do I consolidate my student |
| You may qualify if you are finished with school or are | | | | loans is easily answered for the Federal loans. |
| enrolled half time or less. If you are still enrolled in | | | | Do not try to consolidate private and federal loans |
| school, you are not eligible for consolidation | | | | together. For Federal loans, the fastest and easiest |
| If you are in the grace period for loan repayment - | | | | way to consolidate is by visiting the website and |
| the time after you leave school but before loan | | | | beginning their paperwork process. |
| payments begin - then you may also qualify for | | | | You can complete the entire process online, even |
| consolidation. | | | | using an electronic signature, for quick processing and |
| If you are already in the repayment period for your | | | | answers on your consolidation. Interest rates on |
| loans, then you must be current on all your loans, or | | | | consolidation loans are capped at 8.25 percent. |
| you are not able to qualify for any consolidation | | | | Private Loans |
| program. | | | | With private loans, you are on your own to find an |
| Determine Loan Type | | | | institution to consolidate them. |
| There are two types of loans: Federal and Private. | | | | There are some advantages to consolidating private |
| Federal student loans are provided by or guaranteed | | | | student loans, but if you have only or mostly private |
| by the Federal government, while private loans were | | | | loans, the question you should ask may not be "How |
| given by a private institution or semi-private | | | | do I consolidate my student loans," it may be "Should |
| institution like CitiBank or Sallie Mae. | | | | I consolidate my loans?" |
| Federal Loans have a variety of names and | | | | Look carefully at loan terms and interest rates |
| acronyms, but they're all considered Federal. These | | | | before you consolidate so that you can make that |
| include the common Stafford Loan, PLUS, SLS, | | | | determination. |