Student loan consolidation is a debt repayment solution that most borrowers opt for however what most of these people don’t know is that there are disadvantages that come with this option. What are these?One main disadvantage is that though you may be paying lower monthly interest rates when you consolidate your educational loans, these interest savings may still be eaten up because you are losing on discharge benefits.Also, you are most likely to lose borrower’s benefits that apply on your individual loans if you opt for student loan consolidation. These borrower’s benefits include rebates and interest rate discounts. Such benefits can actually cover for the low interest rates that usually come with college educational loans so it is better to weigh all available options when repaying your debts.One more disadvantage (though this affects very few cases only) is that repayment of college loans through consolidation can end up more costly than when done the ordinary way. The interest rate of consolidated loans is the average of all individual loans. If one loan has a high interest rate, this may end up increasing the overall interest rate that you will be paying.Your personality can also affect your loan repayment choices. Having several outstanding debts ranging from mortgages, credit card loans, health insurance loans, etc. may render you incapable of coping with the necessary commitments of eliminating your debts all at once. Make sure that your other loans can be consolidated with your college loans in a beneficial way should you prefer this method of repayment.Some student loan consolidation plans also have pre-payment penalties so avoid these types of plans. Also, to avoid extra payments in the future, make sure that there are no penalties involved in case you default on payments which may happen in case you lose your job or source of income.
