School Loan Consolidation Eligibility

All Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) and Direct Stafford Loan borrowers are eligible to consolidate their school loans after they graduate, drop below half-time enrollment, or leave school.

Once PLUS loans are fully disbursed, they are eligible for consolidation. If you are deliquent or in default on your loans you have to meet certain requirements before you can consolidate your school loans. You will have to contact the holder of your loans for additional information.

Eligibility Requirements For A Direct Consolidation Loan:

In order to qualify for a Direct Consolidation Loan, you must have at least one Direct Loan or Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) that is in grace, deferment, repayment, or default status. Loans that are in an in-school status cannot be included in a Direct Consolidation Loan.

You can consolidate most defaulted school loans, if you make satisfactory repayment arrangements with the current loan holders or you agree to repay your new Direct Consolidation Loan under the Income Contingent Repayment Plan.

If you do not have Direct Loans you may be eligible for a Direct Consolidation Loan if you include at least one ffel Loan and haven't been able to obtain a Federal Consolidation Loan with a FFEL consolidation lender or you haven't been able to obtain a Federal Consolidation Loan with income-sensitive repayment terms acceptable to them or you intend to apply for loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.

If you have only a Direct Consolidation Loan you cannot consolidate again unless you include an additional loan.