Types of Student Loans that can be consolidated

Almost any federal loan, be it Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program or the Federal Direct Loan program, can be consolidated.

The second common category of student loans is “private loans”. These are student loans issued by private lenders such as banks. They are not subsidized or guaranteed by the government. They cannot be consolidated under federal loan consolidation guidelines, but you can find private consolidated loans.

Another thing to note is that, if a student took out loans in his or her name, those loans cannot be combined in a consolidated loan with those loans the parents took out for him or her student. If the borrowers are different, the loans will stay separate.

Majority of federal education loans can be consolidated, including the following:

• GradPLUS Loans
• Direct GradPLUS Loans
• Perkins Loans
• Federal Consolidation Loans
• Stafford Loans (“subsidized” and “unsubsidized”)
• Direct Student Loans / “Ford” Loans (“subsidized” and “unsubsidized”)
• Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS)
• Direct Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (Direct PLUS)
• Federal Direct Consolidation Loans

...as well as other less common types of federal loans.

Private student loans (or alternative student loans) can also be consolidated but they must be consolidated separately from federal student loans.