Should I Consolidate My Student Loans?

The following question was submitted to our experts by Beth H. through the Ask the Experts form:

Hi there,
I would like to know whether or not I should consolidate my student loans if I can afford the payments. How does having many student loans open affect my FICO score?
Thanks!

Does Comparison Shopping Hurt Your Credit Score? No!

For years, a major concern for students who wanted to shop for a private student loan was that their credit score would be hurt if they applied to multiple lenders.
Lenders use a combination of information obtained on the student’s and co-signer’s credit report and their FICO scores (provided by Fair Isaac Corporation) to determine the…

How Does Financial Aid Affect College Admissions?

Many parents and students lack a complete understanding of the roles that financial aid and need play in the admissions process. Colleges have a limited amount of aid available for students, and each college manages this budget differently. It’s important for students and their families to have a good understanding of how financial need impacts…

Will the True Cost of Attendance Please Stand Up?

As families work to understand how to pay for college, one of the greatest challenges they face is to understand the jargon used to describe the price of attending a particular institution. The most commonly used term to describe the cost of college is tuition, but it’s really only a piece of the puzzle.

In order…

How Do New Private Student Loan Trends Affect Your Family?

Recent trends have dramatically impacted the number of private student loans available and the variety of terms and interest rates.

When then credit crisis broke out in 2007, the number of large banks offering private student loans went from 80 to 10, resulting in little competition and rising interest rates (see: Recent Trends in Private…