But either way, it’s definitely a good idea to consolidate your loans as soon as possible. Even if you lose a month or so of payment deferment you get a jump on paying the loans off. which, now that you’ve graduated, is your goal.

There are a myriad of places to consolidate your loans, generally the rates on federal loans will be the same, but the repayment terms can vary. Be sure to talk with several companies and ask if they have any discounts available if you consolidate with them. Some offer a discount on the rate if you do an auto-deduct for the payment, others offer a discount for 24 months of on-time payments.

A couple I recommend are Chase Bank, they have a dedicated student loan division that just down consolidation loans. You can reach them through http://www.usadegrees.com/consolidate/ also try Student Loan Advisors at http://www.StudentLoanAdvisors.com

As for what you’ll need, most will need your social security number they can look up the loan files (for federal loans) and they can handle it from there. The whole process is pretty easy and only takes about 10 minutes online and another hour or two reviewing the paperwork.