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If you are enrolled in school half time or greater as defined by your school are not allowed to consolidate your federal loans. You need to wait until you are out of school to consolidate. This is just one of the ridiculous rules you will uncover in the federal consolidation process.

The best time to consolidate varies from person to person. The reason this is not a black and white answer is because your loans, and the rates attached to said loans, may vary from the student to your left.

Given the interest rate drop which takes effect Wednesday, July 1 I’m expecting next week to be a busy consolidation week. Save yourself some frustration by having everything in front of you ahead of time. By the way, to find out if the rate drop impacts you or what the new rates are going down to you can read Consolidating After July 1 May Save You Thousands for more details.

Here is a punchlist of what you’ll want in front of you when you sit down to consolidate your federal loans, and what choices you will need to make.

1. 4-digit FAFSA pin number

2. Loan details such as servicer, disbursement date(s), and current amount owed

3. Know which loans you want to consolidate and which you don’t

4. You will have multiple repayment plans to select from which include standard, graduate, extended, income-contingent or income sensitive, and income-based

Keep in mind if you are enrolled in school half-time or greater as defined by the school you are not eligible for consolidation at this time. You will need to wait until you fall below half time status or graduate.

If you have other debt you need to consolidate such as credit cards, personal loans, utility bills, and cell phone bills get a free debt consultation quote today.

The cap or ceiling on your consolidated loan varies between federal and private. Federal: If you have a federally consolidated loan the rate will never exceed 8.25%. The vast majority of students fall well beneath this 8.25% threshold however. Your consolidated interest rate is a fixed rate based on the weighted average of the interest rates [...]