Consolidating and refinancing college loans and debt 

Loan consolidation is the process of combining multiple college student educational loans into a single, larger loan which a student pays off each month, which can reduce monthly payments significantly, as well as lower the interest rate. Both of these benefits can make the debt more manageable in terms of balancing it with other financial obligations in your life.






Since loan consolidation is allowed only once, you have to consider your options carefully. And even if you have only one loan, you can use consolidation just to lock in the low fixed rate.

To find out how this works, you have to first contact the companies that service your loans because the program requires that you work with their loan consolidation product first. If you have loans through several providers, although each should offer the interest rate set by the government rules, but their terms and other valuable discounts offered can vary. Some consolidation loan providers will offer to reduce your interest rate by over 1 percent after you make the first 36 payments on time. Others offer cash rebates for those who make the first six payments on time. Many providers offer to cut your rate by .25 percent if you sign up to auto-deduct loan payments from your bank account. There are no fees, credit checks or collateral required, so steer clear of any provider who states otherwise.   Consolidating stuent loans can lower a borrower's monthly loan payment by as much as 40 percent while stretching out the repayment period and reducing interest rates. If you have student loans, consider student loan consolidation.   But be aware that you may lose the right to further consolidate your loans, if interest rates fall.  This is not as risky today, with relatively low interest rates compared with 15 years ago or so.