Advantages of consolidating your loans

 

 

 

There are several advantages to consolidating your federal loans:

 

· Affordability - By consolidating your education loan(s), you may be able to extend your repayment period which will reduce your monthly payment. Remember, however, that if you take longer to repay your loan, you will pay more interest over the life of the loan. Consolidation loans have a fixed interest rate. If you currently have a variable interest rate on one or more of your federal loans, by refinancing when interest rates are low you will save money over the length of the loan term by avoiding potential higher interest rates in the future.

 

· Efficiency - a Consolidation loan allows you to consolidate one or more federal loans from different lenders. If you are a student borrower and have a Perkins loan, subsidized and/or unsubsidized Direct loans, and subsidized and/or unsubsidized Stafford loans, you can consolidate these into a single Consolidation loan. You will receive only one monthly bill. There are no origination fees, and you may consolidate any number of loans, even just one loan.

 

· Convenience - By consolidating your education loan(s), you simplify your loan updating and communication requirements. You will have only one place to send your monthly payment and only one phone call or on-line adjustment to make to report a change of address or phone number, request a deferment or forbearance, or ask a question about your loan.

 

· Flexibility - If you consolidate your loan(s), you will gain financial flexibility. You will be able to choose from several different repayment plans, and change your repayment plan as your financial circumstances change. You pick the plan that best fits your needs.