Student loan consolidation is combining several loans into one with a new repayment term and interest rate. This is generally offered in connection with federal loans. Here’s how to help identify potential problems related to loan consolidation:

Avoid lenders and marketers who use high-pressure sales tactics. Some marketers pitch that “your interest rates may go up if you do not consolidate immediately!” Whether and when interest rates for consolidating your loans will change depends on what type of loans you have. Look at your loan documents to determine whether the interest rates are fixed or variable:

— If all of your education loans have fixed interest rates, there may be no deadline to consolidate.
— If some or all of your loans have variable interest rates, when you consolidate into a fixed loan it may affect the interest rate of your loan.

ED publishes new variable rates for some federal loans each July 1st. The annual rate changes can raise or lower the interest rate offered on a consolidated loan because the consolidation interest rate will be the weighted average of all loans consolidated.

Whether or not you have a targeted timeframe, take your time to determine whether consolidating is right for you.