Federal Loan Consolidation

Make sure consolidating your student loans is right for you.

If you're having trouble making your monthly student loan payments, then consolidation may be the right option for you. Federal student loan consolidation allows you to combine one or more existing student loans into a single new loan with a new repayment schedule.

You'll have lower monthly payments, but you will pay much higher interest over the life of the loan because you'll be making smaller payments over a longer time.

Pros Cons
  • Lower monthly payments
  • One bill, one lender
  • No prepayment penalties
  • A fixed interest rate
  • No limit to the number of loans that may be consolidated
  • No required minimum balance per federal rules
  • A longer repayment period
  • More interest to pay back (calculated as the weighted average of all loans and rounded up to the nearest 1/8 of 1%)
  • Possible loss of current loan incentives
  • Loss of deferment subsidy on Perkins loans

Next Steps

As of July 1, 2010, all federal student loan consolidations are now processed by the U.S. government through the Federal Direct Loan Program (FDLP).

Visit the Federal Direct Loan Consolidation Information Center to get more details and apply for a consolidation loan.