Should I consolidate my student loans? What are the risks and benefits, pros and cons?

I just graduated with $16k in student loans, and I'm wondering if it's worth it to consolidate, or if I should leave my loans as they are.

My rate is a bit over 6%, and my payments (which start in December) will be about $200 a month.

I have a friend (who is married to a guy in a wheelchair) that has always said that she would never consolidate her student loans, because, if you do, your loans aren't forgiven in case of complete disability, as her husband's were.

On the other hand, a lower interest rate would be nice.

What factors should I consider when deciding whether to consolidate?

If consolidating would be a good choice, are there any particular lenders that you would recommend?

Should I consolidate my student loans? What are the risks and benefits, pros and cons?

If your student loans have different interest rates, then you may want to consider consolidating them once the interest rate has fallen below your lowest interest rate. If you owe student loans to more than 1 lender, you may want to consider consolidating your loans for the convienience of making 1 monthly payment and saving all the interest you'd pay with multiple loans.

If you are able bodied, your student loans would not be forgiven under any circumstances, consolidated or not, in any case. My husband declared bankruptcy a couple of years before we got married and his student loans were the only debts not forgiven during that process.

As with any loan, if you are considering consolidation, do your research carefully. There are several student loan companies that do consolidations. Check with your state's higher education authority. There may be a couple of state authorized corporations that deal exclusively with student loans and consolidations. These corporations would give you the best interest rates and the best financial terms for repayment.

In the state of Kentucky, that corporation is the Kentucky Higher Education Student Loan Corporation. They handled the financing of all of my student loans in college and I was able to consolidate at a great rate once I graduated. This is leaving me with more money as I am not paying out interest payments on the multiple loans I took out for college every month.

Should I consolidate my student loans? What are the risks and benefits, pros and cons?

Go to this website: www.graduateleverage.com they are the best. They will help you answer all the questions you have.

Should I consolidate my student loans? What are the risks and benefits, pros and cons?

What your friend said is true. You're basically paying someone else to pay for all your loans combined, and then paying them. It's a traditional loan in the guise of a student loan.

One thing to look out for are consolidation fees. They can tack on what looks small but ends up being a lot once all the interest is paid. That's part of how they make their money.

Go with a nationally known organization that specializes in student consolidation loans. Many student loan corporations have their own consolidation department. I have 2 loans through Nelnet, and I could have consolidated them. I didn't qualify, though, because the total was less than $10k. Shop around and find out. 6% isn't that bad for this market. When it gets up past 7 or 8 you should start seriously looking.