Steps
- Call or email a student loan consolidation company. There are many online if you check the search engines.
- Fill out the consolidation loan application as provided by the Loan Company. Make sure you do not leave out any information as this could delay your application being approved. Make sure you have the following information available to fill out your application. You will need: your current address, social security number, names, address and phone number of two personal references, monthly housing expense information, monthly income and expense information, estimated loan amount to be consolidated, loan account numbers on the loans to be considered for consolidation, names and addresses of loan servicers (can be found on your monthly billing statement) and the outstanding loan balance/expected payoff amount.
- Wait for approval of your consolidation loan. Make sure you continue to pay your old loan payments until you receive a confirmation letter from your loan consolidation company verifying that all old loans have been paid in full.
Tips
- Many companies will reduce their interest rate by a small amount if you sign up for automatic payments from your checking account.
- Interest paid on student loans may be deductible at tax time. Check with your tax professional.
Warnings
- Federal and privately funded student loans may not be consolidated. You may consolidate several federal or several private. They cannot be commingled.
- Some loan consolidation companies may have a minimum or maximum amount of loans that you may consolidate.
- Make sure you continue paying your old loans until you have received confirmation from the loan consolidation company that the loans have been paid in full. If you miss a payment, it could adversely affect your credit.
Sources and Citations
Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Consolidate a Student Loan. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.