Blog

In a perfect world, you'd be able to make your student loan payments on time every month. In fact, you'd pay extra. 

But in reality, all of us can find ourselves with less cash than we need to pay the bills. If you've been struggling for long enough that your student loans are in default, you're probably looking for a way to get back into compliance with the terms of your repayment plan. Student loan rehabilitation may be your answer.

It’s not unusual for people to talk about student loan refinancing and consolidation like they’re the same thing, but they’re not.

When you refinance, you take out a new loan with a private lender to replace many different private and federal loans. When you consolidate, you’re combining multiple federal loans into a single loan—a Direct Consolidation Loan with the federal government.

It could happen to anyone. You start paying your loans with good intentions, but life happens—maybe you lose a job, get sick or injured, or take a big pay cut—and you fall behind on your payments. Now your credit is trashed.

When you get into a situation like this, you may think that consolidating your student loan payments may be a good strategy to gain control of your finances. And it can be.

Refinancing and consolidation are two ways to make student loans more manageable.

Refinancing is a strategy that can help you save money, while consolidation can simplify your student loans and result in other potential benefits.

Your best option depends on your goals, financial circumstances and current student loan debt.  

Struggling each month to afford a high student loan payment can be pretty demoralizing. Having to put off big financial steps like buying a home or having a child because you can’t find room in your budget ... well, that's even worse.

Do you know the difference between consolidating and refinancing your student loans? If you don’t, you’re not alone. 

The two words are often used interchangeably and, we admit, they have somewhat similar meanings. However, they can have a very different impact on your student loans.