Author: Brandy Lennmans

So you have finished school. The payment notices start arriving and you have not even found a good job yet. Now what? Student loan consolidation may be helpful for you to get control of the payments and eliminate the need for tracking several different accounts.

There are several things to consider when looking into combining your loan payments into one. First, many standard ones cannot be consolidated between servicers. NelNet and Sallie Mae are the most common servicers for this type of financing. However working with them can help you to bring your repayment under control.

When you find that you are unable to make the required minimum, you should immediately contact the holder of the note and try to work things out. Forbearance and deferment options are available in nearly every case. If that option is not available, you can usually get your payments lowered by using special plans that they have available.

The impact that this type of financing has on your credit score is tremendous. Keep in mind that each payment that was made to your school reflects a separate line item. So if you are receiving them four times a year, that’s usually four or eight line items, sometimes more. So for every late payment you could receive four or eight negative marks on your record. It does not take long for this to add up to a very bad outcome.

When you can successfully combine all of the financing into one payment it makes it easier to ensure you make the installments on time. However when doing this you will also lose any incentives that you had when the financing was in individual amounts. Many times when the combination is done, you will lose the guaranteed fixed interest rate.

Incentives are also offered by companies doing the consolidation. Most will offer a certain amount payable after a number of payments are received on time. This sometimes provides enough to make up for the increase in the interest rate as well.

The decision to combine or not to combine is a personal and individual decision that every person must consider carefully. There are many pros and cons for each side. It is important to remember that once the decision has been finalized and the loans are put together that it cannot be undone.

Tips and advice on student loan consolidation now in our guide to all you need to know about federal student loan consolidation .