By law, lenders are required to use the same interest rate formula for consolidation loans. However, many lenders offer interest-rate reductions for paying on time or via direct debit. It is important to read the fine print and understand how you become qualified for or disqualified for a lender’s borrower benefits programs. Beyond savings, borrowers should consider customer service, flexible repayment options, online account access and applications, reputation and industry experience when selecting a lender.

They have a lot of info on their website about consolidation, including a calculator that will let you plug in your loan amounts and see what your payments would be, based on which repayment option you choose.

http://www.salliemae.com/after_graduation/manage_your_loans/consolidate_student_loans/student_loan_consolidation.htm

http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/ccde/cc_approved.htm

However, some debt agencies require a minimum amount of debt before they will enroll a consumer into their program. If you do qualify, the CCC Agency will setup an accelerated repayment plan, try to secure lower interest rates on outstanding accounts (possibly reage accounts and get penalties waived), establish an automatic withdrawal from your bank (one monthly payment) and then distribute these funds to your creditors based on the repayment plan (DMP).

Be sure to visit the FTC's website about credit. They have good information about what to look for in a credit counseling agency (see links below).

A note of clarity: debt consolidation is the process of moving multiple debts into one new debt account whereas payment consolidation is making one payment to a 3rd-party agency (CCC) who then distributes the funds to multiple creditors. A CCC's DMP involves payment consolidation, not debt consolidation. Debt consolidation usually involves home equity loans (2nd mortgage, refinancing, HELOC).

Is there a reason you chose to consolidate with a lender instead of Direct Loans? If you have already signed for the paperwork with the lender, then you will need to consistanly call and keep on top of them until the process is complete.

I would also check out how reputable the lender is. It seems that everyone is in the student loan consolidation business these days. Lenders like Sallie Mae, Chase, PNC, CitiBank, Teri Loans, Wachovia, SunTrust these are are all reputable lenders.

Good luck!

Be very careful when choosing a consolidation lender and stay away from the likes of CitiBank, Bank of American, etc. They will "reduce" your payments by extending the loan term (to as long as 30 years) so that you end up paying $100,000 in interest on perhaps $15,000 student loan debt.

Great Lakes High Education is a good group to deal with. SLMA is good, too.

Check out this info:

http://www.loanconsolidation.ed.gov

However, consolidating what you can could be a good start. Combine your credit cards, etc into one manageable debt. There are companies that will provide this, even if you have bad credit. This should free more of your income to tackle your other debts.

And you must do this. Don't use debt consolidation simply as an excuse to rack up even more debt: if you do, you'll end up going bankrupt.

Force yourself to budget your expenditure within your income. This must include whatever it takes to repay your other debts. Cut up all but one of your credit cards. Leave the one remaining card at home, to be used only in emergencies. Pay for everything by cash. When you pay cash it forces you to understand the real value of money!

This is hard, but if you stick to it, you'll not only repay your debts, you'll repair your credit as well.

Good luck.

No longer enrolled more than half time in school.
In repayment or in a loan grace period. (normally 6 months after leaving school)
Have not previously consolidated your loans.

There are differences in the program benefits so be sure to ask about any special offers that may be available.
For example:
Is there a discount for auto-debit of your payment?
Are there any on-time payment discounts?

The two I general recommend both have online applications and can get you approved pretty quickly. Chase Bank, student loan consolidation program can be reached through http://www.usadegrees.com/consolidate/ Student Loan Advisors can be found at http://www.StudentLoanAdvisors.com

By law there are no application fees, so you can try as many as you'd like and determine who has the best offer for you.