Student Loan Consolidation
Consolidation Loans combine several student or parent loans into one bigger loan from a single lender, which is then used to pay off the balances on the other loans. It is very similar to refinancing a mortgage. Consolidation loans are available for most federal loans, including FFELP (Stafford, PLUS and SLS), FISL, Perkins, Health Professional Student Loans, NSL, HEAL, Guaranteed Student Loans and Direct loans. Some lenders offer private consolidation loans for private education loans as well.
A separate page provides a comparison chart of consolidation loan discounts.
Most FFELP lenders are no longer offering consolidation loans because these loans are no longer profitable. Students can still consolidate their loans with the US Department of Education's Federal Direct Loan Consolidation program at loanconsolidation.ed.gov even if their college does not participate in the Direct Loan Program.
For More Information
FinAid has a page of common questions about consolidation.
The numerous student loan loopholes are discussed in depth in other sections of the FinAid site.
FinAid also maintains a list of education lenders who offer federal and private student loans, including consolidation loans.
If your school participates in Direct Lending, you should visit the US Department of Education's Federal Direct Consolidation Loan web site.
