How to Do a Student Loan Consolidation

How to Do a Student Loan Consolidation Eligible Loan Types How you consolidate your loans depends on what types of loans you have. The U.S. Department of Education offers a Direct Consolidation Loan that allows you to consolidate most federal loans, but not private loans. Other lenders may offer you the opportunity to consolidate private student loans with the fees and interest rates varying by company. Related Articles Direct Student Government Loans Direct Student Government Loans Is Consolidating Student Loans and Credit Cards a Good Idea? Is Consolidating Student Loans and Credit Cards a Good Idea? Student Loan Repayment Student Loan Repayment Federal Loan Types If you opt to consolidate with a Direct Consolidation Loan you can consolidate one of many federal student loan types. They include: Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans Subsidized and Unsubsidized Stafford Loans Federal Perkins Loans PLUS Loans Federal Nursing Loans Health Education Assistance Loans In addition to having one of the eligible federal loan types, your loan must not currently be in default. Should you have defaulted on your loan before you can consolidate it, you must contact your loan servicer and agree to one of three plans for repaying your loan. Private Loan Consolidation The types of loans eligible for private loan consolidation vary by lender. Some consolidation companies will allow you to consolidate both private and federal student loans, while others only deal with private student loans. Many also set minimum loan amounts, income levels, credit score requirements or only consolidate loans used to obtain certain degree types. For example, CommonBond has a $10,000 minimum and only consolidates loans for graduate program alumni from schools in the CommonBond network. iHelp has a $25,000 minimum and requires an annual income of $24,000 or greater to qualify for a consolidation loan. Applying for a Direct Consolidation Loan Applying for a Direct Consolidation Loan can be done in multiple ways. The program offers a web application, express phone application, and paper-based application. To fill out any of the applications, you will need the following information: Social Security Number Federal Student Aid PIN (if applying online), available through the U.S. Department of Education. Loan Servicer Name (For each loan you wish to consolidate) Loan Account Number (For each loan you wish to consolidate) Estimated Payoff Amount (For each loan you wish to consolidate) Current loan servicer name, account number, and balance of each loan you don't want to consolidate