How to Consolidate My Student Loans with Bad Credit - The Bills.com Blog

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How to Consolidate My Student Loans with Bad Credit

Monday, Sep 24, 2007

Question: Can I consolidate my student loans without a cosigner if my credit is not very good?

Answer: Yes! The good news is that almost anyone can consolidate their student loans, even with bad credit. The federal government sponsors a program through the department of education that allows anyone to consolidate their federally backed student loans (most typically, they are Stafford Student Loans but could also be PLUS Loans or Perkins Loans) and approval is not credit based by traditional underwriting standards -- the key is that you cannot be behind or have missed payments. You also must have graduated and you can only consolidate student loans once (typically) in the term of the loans. The exception to this last rule is that if you take on news loans, then you can consolidate again.

The
benefit of consolidating your student loans is that you can lock in a low fixed rate while at the same time extending the duration of the pay-back on the student loans to 30 years... which could cut your monthly payment in half.

If you want to compare rates and terms to consolidate your student loans, you can get matched with several of Bills.com's pre-screened lenders,
by applying here:
Student Loan Consolidation Savings Quote

To learn more about student loans, I encourage your to visit the Bills.com Student Loans Information page at http://www.bills.com/student-loans/

I wish you the best of luck in obtaining the student loan consolidation program for bad credit that you need, and hope that the information I have provided helps you Find. Learn. Save.

Best,
Bill
www.bills.com

Also, make sure to get a free financial health check-up with Bills IQ!

User Comments

1. Posted by amber on Tuesday 30th October 2007 21:27

can i consolidate my loans even though they are in default? im having a tough time with this!

2. Posted by Brad on Wednesday 31st October 2007 08:37

You typically cannot consolidate Federal Student Loans while they are in default. What you can do is to contact your servicer and come up with a rehabilitation plan. This will let you get 'back' to being current and establish that you are no longer in default. The period for rehabilitation varies, and is typically defined by how long you have been in default / delinquent. I believe that the maximum rehabilitation period is 12 months. You can alwasy contact a student loan expert (try the folks at www.FreedomStudentLoans.com) and get precise information.

3. Posted by Shon on Saturday 8th August 2009 02:35

I have federal and private student loans, they total roughly 50,000, I also have about 7,000 in a car loan. Is it possible for me to consolidate my student loans & car loan into one loan? I have not defaulted with any of them but I dont think my credit is very good.

4. Posted by Bill on Monday 10th August 2009 13:48

Several types of debt consolidation loans are available, but which type is right for your situation depends on many factors. You may want to consider an unsecured personal loan to consolidate your debts.  However, you may have trouble finding an unsecured consolidation loan offering a lower interest rate than the rates you are currently paying, especially on your car and student loans.  So make sure you carefully analyze the interest rates and terms of any consolidation loan before you commit to it–you may find that the consolidation loan will actually cost you more money than your current obligations.  Although you can consolidate your federal and private student into a consolidated private loan, it is usually not suggested. Follow these links to read more information: Ftc.gov To read more about debt consolidation loans in general, I invite you to visit the Bills.com Debt Consolidation Loan Resources page.

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