Federal student loan consolidation update
As you may be aware, the student loan market has seen unprecedented changes over the past year. Changes in the structure of the student loan programs that are guaranteed by the federal government (but that are actually issued by banks and private lenders) have forced many lenders to discontinue offering incentives or benefits to consumers and in many cases, to discontinue offering new student loans altogether.
Federal consolidation loans are especially hard hit. In general, these loans are larger and particularly unprofitable for individual banks to issue under the new regulations. Therefore, as a result, there are very few federal consolidation loan offers available at this time.
However, borrowers still have options. The first thing you may want to consider is to contact your current lender(s) and ask about restructuring your repayment on the loans you presently hold. Federal loan repayment can be extended and modified in ways that can help you attain a more manageable monthly payment.
A second option would be to obtain a Federal Consolidation loan directly from the Department of Education and the Direct Loan program. You can access their program information at http://loanconsolidation.ed.gov/borrower/borrower.shtml.
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