Julie Said:

How do student loan consolidation programs work? Are they backed by the federal government?

We Answered:

Usually every term that a student is in school, he has to take a loan for that term. After 3 or 4 years (with 3 to 4 terms a year) it gets ridiculous keeping track of all the loans. Especially if you attend more than one school during you training. So a consolidation loan allows you to combine them all into one loan with one payment. That single loan payment is often less because you are not paying administrative cost for a dozen loans.

While the federal government does offer such loans, not all loans are from the government. Private banks and other financial institudes also offer student loans, as they make money off them just like they do any other loans. the government does regulate insterest rates on student loans, which is why they are much lower than normal loans.

Renee Said:

How do I go about choosing which student loan consolidation program to go through and why consolidate?

We Answered:

I'm not sure you can consolidate your loans if you are still in school. Are these government loans or private loans? If government, are any of them subsidized loans? If they are, this means they are interest free until you graduate and consolidating might affect that.

Consolidation is a way of locking in a lower interest rate for the life of the loan, and many companies offer bonuses like cash back for 1.25% of the loan after 24-months of payments. Interest rates on loans vary as the economy varies. By consolidating, you lock in the current rate forever. With current rates being close to 8%, I would not recommend consolidating at this time. When rates FINALLY go back down to 6 or 7%, you will be stuck at 8%. Unless you hear that rates are suddenly jumping to 12% in 3-months, hold off.

Andy Said:

Private student loan consolidation?

We Answered:

I hate them I hate them..... big time. Call them up and see if you can make smaller payments for a longer period of time. It might help you out, then cut mine down to 150 a month. Also go on fast web.com and apply for grants and scholarships. That might help. Good luck with sallie mae. They are tough but tell them that you can't do it. They might even cut it down to 300, but it's much better. Good Luck

Theodore Said:

is there any Uniformity in Student Loan Consolidation Programs?

We Answered:

scholarships.onlinewebshop.net - it provides some tips about applying to US federal and state grants for college students.

Monica Said:

Where is a good place to find student loan consolidation program sites?

We Answered:

I just consolidated my student loan at Student Loan Headquarters http://1nk.us/studentloan . I got a 4.5% fixed rate for life, and my payments are only $50/mo. They can also qualify you for new student loans. The whole process only took me like 3 minutes

Virgil Said:

Can anyone more info on student loan consolidation programs?

We Answered:

I visited this site yesterday about student loan consolidation it contains some useful information that may be relevant.
http://www.loans.tohelpyou.info