Q: For recent college graduates who may be struggling with paying back student loans, is student loan consolidation an option for everyone (or do only certain borrowers qualify), and what are some of the college loan consolidation benefits?
A: College loan consolidation can be of help to some college graduates who are struggling with making their monthly student loan payments. Some common benefits to consolidating student loans are reduction of monthly student loan payments (by extending the lifetime of the loan) and/or possibly a lower interest rate. There are pros and cons to student loan consolidation, so you may want to speak with a financial advisor to determine what your specific financial situation is, and what will benefit you most.
You always want to consolidate your federal student loans and your private student loans separately, in order to maintain your federal student loan benefits. Federal student loan consolidation is fairly straight forward and easy to apply for. Private student loan consolidation can be a bit more tricky, considering many lenders no longer offer private college loan consolidation, and not everyone who applies for a private consolidation loan will qualify. For more on college loan consolidation view the following: Best Student Loan Consolidation Tips.
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