You don't want to consolidate your Federal student loans with a private loan from a bank or CU. This will take away many protections and benefits that are included with federal student loans. For instance - it sounds like you're a great candidate for some type of income-based repayment plan - and leaving your loans as they are, or placing them in a federal consolidation loan will allow you select from several plans that can lower your payments and keep them reasonable relative to your income.
Keeping the loans federal also makes you eligible for forgiveness if you meet certain requirements or work in certain professions.
If you want all of your student loans in one place, apply for a federal consolidation loan once you graduate and choose an income-based repayment plan so that you can stay current with your loans. Then, you can start working on the other aspects of your credit that are holding you down. It's still a good idea to form a relationship with a CU that offers loan products - they may able to help you refinance your credit card debt or auto loan, if those are things that you need.
