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If you have more than one student loan, you may have considered consolidating them to simplify your monthly payments.

But what does consolidation mean, exactly? Is it the same as refinancing? The fast answer: Student loan consolidation allows you to take multiple monthly student loan payments and join them together. Student loan refinancing is when you take out an entirely new loan to pay off your existing student loans.

Consolidating your student loans can seem like an attractive idea. After all, one payment may be a lot easier to manage than several. 

Before you jump head-first, it's important to understand how student loan consolidation works. If you have federal student loans, you have two options for consoldation: through a Direct Consolidation Loan or by refinancing through a private lender. If you have private loans, or a mix of federal of private, you can consolidate by taking out a new loan through a private lender. Let's talk about how each of these options work.

Student loans don't necessarily hurt your credit—in fact, they can even help.

But what happens when you consolidate a student loan? Having good credit is crucial to so many aspects of your financial life—everything from buying a house or car to landing a job. It's smart to know how refinancing will look to creditors before you make the move. 

If you’re like a lot of college graduates, you have multiple student loans, all through different lenders. 

To cut down on the confusion, you can consolidate your federal loans through a Direct Consolidation loan—or you can refinance them through a private lender, which may yield a lower interest rate. But is it the right choice for you? Let's take a closer look at the pros and cons of refinancing. 

Student loans can be a huge financial burden. If you’re struggling to handle your monthly payment, you have some options. 

AES is one of the lenders that services federal student loans. If you have federal loans serviced through them, here are four steps you can take to reduce your monthly payment.

Some say more is better, but less is okay too, especially if you’re talking about student loan payments.

Consolidating loans – meaning you combine multiple loans into one new loan with one new monthly payment — can simplify your student loan debt management.