Student Loan Consolidation
Parent’s Section
Parent PLUS borrowers can also take advantage of federal loan consolidation. In addition to consolidating the PLUS loans you have taken for your children, you can also consolidate your own student loans together with your parent PLUS loans or Grad PLUS loans. However, you may not consolidate your loans with your child’s loans.
Consolidation combines your federal student loans into 1 new loan, which is then held by a single lender. Currently, the primary consolidation lender is the Federal Direct Loan Program (DL), which is run by the U.S. Department of Education (ED).
Quick Facts About Consolidating Student Loans
- – Your new loan will have new terms and may have a new lender, servicer, or guarantor.
- – Spousal consolidations (the combination of spouses’ loans) are no longer allowed.
- – You cannot consolidate while attending school. You must wait until you have stopped or completed the program.
- – You cannot consolidate private and federal loans together.
- – Consolidators strive to include all outstanding federal student loans when you apply. Ensure all your eligible loans are included by researching your loan history. It’s really easy to get all your federal student loan info from the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS).
- – When you consolidate, your repayment schedule is reset to the standard repayment schedule. You may then choose a different payment schedule with your lender or servicer.
- – Loan consolidation cannot be reversed.
- – You must have at least 1 eligible federal student loan to consolidate, and once you consolidate, you may not consolidate again unless you:
- – Have an additional loan.
- – Are consolidating into DL for the purposes of Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
- – Are consolidating into DL for the purposes of receiving additional subsidies available to some active duty military personnel.
