People consolidate student loans to lower their monthly debt. When you consolidate, your original loan amount is paid off in full in return for a new loan for the combined balances. This new loan will have lower interest rate that is fixed for the life of the loan.

When you consolidate student loans, you could reduce your monthly payments by upto 54 percent. Other advantages include reducing your interest rate by 1 percent after you maintain your on-time payment record for a certain period. Also, there are no pre-payment penalties on consolidated loans.

In case a student has a mixture of federal and private loans, then it is not advisable to consolidate them together. This is because the two kinds of loans will likely have different rates of interest.

Obviously, federal loans can be consolidated only after the student has come out of school. One condition is that the student must not be defaulting on payments and there is a minimum amount of loan that can be consolidated. In most states this minimum limit is $10,000. Consolidation of private loans has laxer rules, but then the expenses are higher.

Benefits of student loans consolidation:

Student loan consolidation is very beneficial for students suffering from multiple debts. Student loan consolidation helps them to merge all their debts into a single debt with low interest rate. Student loan consolidation carries low interest rate and hence can be easily repaid. Student loan consolidation helps you to get rid of all your loans and enjoy a debt free life. Student loan consolidation can also be availed by students having bad credit history. With the help of student loan consolidation, students having bad credit history can increase their credit score by paying the loan installments regularly.

When a student approaches a debt consolidator, he/she would take some money from the student and put it into an escrow account. When sufficient amount of money is built up in this account, then the consolidator would initiate talks with the creditors and request them to lower their rates of interest. Once this is done (and if it is done), the consolidator will pay off their debts from the escrow. The student will then have to pay back only to the consolidating agent.

Schools themselves come forward sometimes and suggest names of reputable debt consolidating agencies to their students. Or else, the government also helps in consolidation, provided the loans are federal loans. This is done by referring the student to a debt consolidator.

Consolidation Of Student Loans

There is a way to free yourself from the overwhelming monotony of being in this position: Student loan consolidation. Student loan consolidation makes things much less complicated; instead of tracking multiple loans and payments, you will only have one monthly payment. A typical repayment period is ten years. While in essence student consolidation loans are large loans used to pay off several smaller loans, they are governed by different rules than other types of consolidation loans. Here are some distinct features of student loan consolidation:

1. You cannot consolidate student loans that are in default. If you have already defaulted on one or more student loans, you must first work with the lender/s to get back on a payment plan; then you are free to consolidate these loans. You may consolidate student loans that are still in the grace period, as well as loans on which you are currently making payments.

2. If your student loans are through conventional federal funding sources like Stafford Loans, Direct Loans, Perkins or Guaranteed Student Loans, and you are not in default on any student loans, you should find it relatively easy to obtain a consolidation loan; however, it is not always possible to consolidate student loans from private funding sources. You should consolidate any federal student loans first, because their availability and interest rates are not based on a person's credit. By making timely payments on a federal loan consolidation, you can improve your credit and get better rates and terms when you consolidate any private student loans.

3. When you consolidate student loans, the interest rate you will pay is calculated based on the average rate of your existing loans. If most of your outstanding student loans have similar interest rates, then your student consolidation loan should have approximately the same rate. If your interest rates vary widely, your consolidation loan will be based on a weighted average of your existing rates.

4. You should be able to consolidate your student loans without having to pay a fee. Beware of lenders that offer to consolidate your loans for a small fee; There should be no fees for student loan consolidation, and you can easily shop elsewhere.

5. Many lenders require that you consolidate a certain minimum amount of student loan debt. The amount will vary from lender to lender, but if your student loans total less than $10,000, you may have fewer options available when consolidating.

By simply consolidating your outstanding student loans, you will see improvement in your overall credit score. Part of your credit score is based on the number of accounts you have open, and by reducing this number you will be seen as a lower credit risk. For recent college graduates whose maximum earning potential may be years in the future, student loan consolidation can make surviving on an entry level salary much more comfortable.