consolidation.. good or bad?

[Anonymous]

i graduated from college in december and joined the military they are going to be paying off $20,000 of my student loans over 6 years.. unfortunately i have about $49,000 in student loans. there are about 10 different individual loans though and they are currently in forbearance, would it look better on my credit to consolidate them all into one loan or would that lower my score? i just paid off all of my credit card debt so the only debt i have is a car loan and my student loans, i'm trying to repair my credit and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! thanks ahead of time

[Anonymous]

I would like to chime in. I am in basically your same situation. Anyone have any advice for us?

[Anonymous]

I am not an expert just giving you advice from my experience.

I did a consolidation of my loans.  I had about $40K with two lenders and so on my credit it showed like 20 trade lines, all in good standing.  When I consolidated them, my score went up.  When my new lender added my new loan of $40K, it went up again because it was a new loan.

I think the benefits of consolidation are:  Lower rates, longer terms, ONE LOAN AND ONE LENDER!!!!   It makes it easier to manage.  Also with my new lender, Dept of ED, if you do auto debit, you get a .25% reduction.  Some lenders say if you pay on time for so many years, you get a reduction in the amount you owe. 

Good luck!!

[Anonymous]

Thanks a lot for the input. It's much appreciated. If anyone else has an opinion or experience with this, please chime in!

[StartinOver]

I have $34,000 in loans and just called about mine today and asked if better to consolidate. Here is their response:

Depends on circumstances, but my individual loans were presently for 10-15 years. Since I qualify for extended repayment, I can reduce the monthly amount, which I desperately need to do, and stretch it out to 25 years (more interest paid of course). But if I consolidate I can't get the 25 years repayment extension.

A thought of my own, after reading that others had a problem paying extra on their principle - I am thinking if it is not consolidated, then I could save up the amount of the smallest and pay one off at a time if I get extra money. The smallest ones actually are the ones with the highest interest, too. I won't have to worry about them not accepting extra towards the principal. For me, these issues are more important than how it affects my credit report, which by the way, just got hit with my first 120 days late for these loans.  After reading a little on these forums I thought I would give it a shot and try again to talk to them, then found out about the extended payment program, which I had previously thought did not apply to anyone under $40,000. Hope this info helps someone.

[Anonymous]

Consolidation is the BEST!  I work in a financial aid office and its horrible to see student come in where they weren't educated about loans. It reduces your payments and lowers your interest rate, AND 1 PAYMENT TO 1 LENDER.

[tdbss]

Nothing but postive things about consolodation