Q: What kind of loans qualify for a federal student loan consolidation, and should students consolidate their federal student loans once they have graduated from college?
A: Before consolidating your federal student loans, you should make certain that student loan consolidation is the right option for you. Typically, students look into a student loan consolidation to try and obtain a lower interest rate, or to try and reduce the amount of their monthly student loan payments. Student loan consolidation works by taking all (or some) of the student loans you currently have, and consolidating them all into a brand new loan, with new rates and new terms. There are both pros and cons to student loan consolidation, so depending on your financial standing, student loan consolidation may or may not be the best choice for you. While student loan consolidation can help to reduce the amount you owe each month in student loan payments, it also typically extends the lifetime of the loan, making the total amount you pay back more. You can read more about federal student loan consolidation and private student loan consolidation in our Student Loan Consolidation section.
What Qualifies for Federal Student Loan Consolidation: Federal student loan consolidation can include Federal Stafford Loans, Federal PLUS Loans, Federal Perkins Student Loans, HEAL Loans, and all Federal FFELP and Federal Direct Loans taken to pay for your education. Students should keep in mind that private student loan consolidation is different than federal student loan consolidation. Students should never consolidate their federal student loans into a private student loan consolidation, as you will lose your federal loan benefits if you consolidate your federal loans into a private loan consolidation.
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