Multiple student loans, bad or neutral?

[SlidingBy]

Hello all, my question is a two parter. I currently have multiple student loans from my years of recent schooling. In total I have about 20K over 6 sources. These are all reported from FedLoan and all show up on my credit report.

A) Does having multiple loans showing up like this, versus 1 installment loan with the combined balance make a difference? IE is it worth consolidating solely for the possible CR improvement? I have 2 of them at 5.6% the rest are 3.5 in case that factors in.

B) If they are left seperate, do the payments on each account add up to a bonus? In other words, are 6 accounts paid on time worth any more on a report as a single installment loan paid on time?

Thanks in advance for any info. 

[Luscher]

I have 10+ accounts totaling over 50K in student loans. They actually help my score. They are 5+ years old and have a good age to them. They bring my average age of accounts up and give me a thicker file.
I'd personally rather have 5 small accounts then 1 big account, but thats just my opinion.

They will all stay on my account for 10 years after paying them off so just picture 10 years from now when I hopefully have them paid off, how much of a boost my credit score will still have.

[SlidingBy]

Some of my first loans are also my oldest accounts, so I was concerned about rolling them into one and I assume I would lose that age. If I remember correctly, even closed they would still report for 10 years but it will be longer than that if I leave them open and pay them out in the "normal" time period. Thanks for the info!

[Anonymous]

Consolidating them will pay off old loans and is a plus on your credit. Consolidating will also give you a lower payment depending on your Annual Income and family size. In addition, after 240 payments. Any remaining balance will be forgiven.

I am a student loan consultant

[SCF]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Consolidating them will pay off old loans and is a plus on your credit. Consolidating will also give you a lower payment depending on your Annual Income and family size. In addition, after 240 payments. Any remaining balance will be forgiven.

I am a student loan consultant

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Consolidating your loans closes the old accounts and creates one (or more, depending on if you have more than one type of loan) new tradeline.  This new tradeline can bring down your average age of accounts and give you that "new account" ding.  So consolidating can actually result in a temporary lowering of your credit score.  Over time, on-time payments and the aging of the account will turn into positive gains, but consolidation is not a "plus" for your credit.  Someone who consolidates vs. someone who doesn't will generally wind up at the same place with the same payment history once the loans are paid off.  In fact, many students may find that having 3-4 tradelines is a boon to their credit 10 years down the road - they help anchor your AAoA for another 10 years after they are paid off.

You also don't have to consolidate to be eligible for an income-driven payment plan.  Most newer borrowers are eligible for PAYE already, and if you aren't, IBR is an option without consolidation.  Unless you have non-Direct loans, consolidating doesn't get you access to more income-driven repayment options.