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Student Loan Debt
Federal and private student loans are close to two different products wearing the same name. Federal loans come with income-driven repayment, forbearance, and forgiveness programs built in; private loans generally don't, and behave more like a personal loan.
Sound familiar?
- •Federal loan payments don't fit your current income
- •Private loan cosigned by a parent, adding pressure to keep it current
- •A mix of federal and private balances with different servicers
- •Considering consolidation and unsure what it does to interest that's already accrued
Options people in this situation weigh
- Federal income-driven repayment or a servicer-run hardship forbearance, if the loans are federal
- Direct federal consolidation, which simplifies payments but restarts some clocks — read the fine print
- Private refinancing, only if your credit now qualifies for a genuinely lower rate than the original loan
- For private loans specifically, the same consolidation/settlement paths as other unsecured debt often apply
Related reading
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