There are MANY companies that consolidate. My first advice would be DO NOT consolidate with Sallie Mae or the others that initially write the loans for your college. They usually are much less personal to deal with and feel that they have you already, so don’t need to be competitive.

If you do a search and study the options, you will find a consolidation plan right for you. Interest rates and terms change, and there is no one company that will fit all financial needs.

Make sure that you get all your loans listed when you consolidate. Your financial aid office should be able to help you locate them all. My daughter missed one, so had to pay it separately. Luckily it was small enough that she just paid it off completely.

I know that doesn’t give you a specific company to look for, but hopefully it will give you a start in the right direction.

On your federal loan (is it a Stafford loan?) there is a grace period available as many deferment & forbearance options available if you ever need help or lose your job, etc. On private loans there is typically very little or no time available for deferment or forbearance. In addition, private loan interest rates are higher. The reason for this is because federal loans are backed by the government, there for there is no chance the lender is going to lose money if you don’t pay. With private loans this obviously is not the case, so they jack up the interest rates to make up for it.

So not only will it probably raise your interest rate, you will lose your options for assistance, but you will also probably come out paying more interest in the long run. Typically consolidation will stretch your payment out over a longer period of time, so instead of paying interest for 10 years (the typical length of repayment on a federal Stafford loan) you may be paying for 20-25+ years. That means 10-15 extra years worth of interest.

I hope this helps at least a little bit. If you have any questions feel free to email me!

Things to look for:

minimum monthly payment

cash back

overall interest rate

deferment options (can you delay payments for a few months)

Here are some of the companies I’d recommend:

http://financialaid.com – student loans and consolidations

http://finfo.com – get up to four competing offers from banks, no obligations

http://salliemae.com – big student loan lender

Also, check with your current lenders to see what rates they offer.

Good luck!

Despite the previous answer, it is the best idea to call your current lender(s) to see what options they can provide for you. For some students, consolidation may not be the best answer, depending on the interest rate of their current loans. There are other repayment options available, depending on what your goal is – to get the lowest monthly payment, or to pay your loan off as quickly as possible, or to start with lower payments and gradually increase them, or to pay the least amount of interest over time.

The financial aid office of your school might also be willing to guide you to a reputable consolidation company. Good luck.

Each lender will offer slightly different programs. After you’ve applied online you’ll talk with a loan counselor that can give you details of what their company offers. (some give a discount for on-time payments, some give discounts for auto-deduct of payments from a checking account) Be sure to check with several to make sure you find one that fits your specific needs.

Additionally, you don’t want to consolidate your Perkins with your federal subsidized and unsubsidized loans. It will change the grace period, interest rate, type and repayment terms of your Perkins.

You might want to hurry!