School loan consolidation, help!?

Its been about 6 months now since graduating college. How do I go about consolidating and beginning a payment plan on these loans (about 15 grand worth). Do I have any options?

Thanks!

Make sure you have your loan information with you like the total amount of your loans, what loans you have with which banks, and the interest rates on each loan. Most of the large loan companies, such as Chase, Sallie Mae, Nelnet, etc., have websites that allow you to enter your current loan information and see how consolidating with their company will change your monthly payments and interest rates. This will help you choose what company to go with. After you decide, you can usually fill out the consolidation application online, and they will handle the rest.

Just make sure to ask important questions like:

What will my interest rate be?

How much will my monthly payments be?

Do I have a choice between repayment plans?

Will I be penalized if I make balloon payments?

Will I still be able to keep my grace period and/or deferments?

Don't go to a company simply because they offer you some promotion. Look at how consolidating will help you in the long run.

there have been a lot of changes lately, the government took a lot of money out of the industry, so it is slim pickings now.

most lenders have a high minimum balance requirement. nelnet requires at least 30k to consolidate, i dont know what other lenders require.

i dont know what incentives are out there any more.

it may not be in your best interest to consolidate anymore, because your newer loans are at a fixed rate of 6.8% when you consolidate, it gets rounded up to the nearest 1/8th of a percent, which would take you up to 6.825%

if you really want to consolidate, the only lender i know of that doesnt have a minimum requirement is the government. direct loans.

http://www.loanconsolidation.ed.gov/

i would still shop around to see whats out there, but if all else fails, you can do it with the government.

good luck.

Make this decison carefully. There are alot of changes in the industry. Also most lenders have removed ALL borrower benefits from consolidation loans and minimums have gone up. It is not really profitable for lenders anymore. Also the interest rate will the the SAME no matter which lender you choose due to the weighted average. Review you current borrower benefits to see if you are better off staying as you are. Consolidation is NOT ALWAYS the best way to go. Good Luck!!