The process of worldwide student loan consolidation is based mostly on what type of loans you want to consolidate and whom you received the loans from. US federal student loans have different consolidation terms than private education loan consolidation.
#1: If you’ve defaulted on the loan, you might want to delay worldwide student loan consolidation until you’ve made payments on time for 9 months to 1 year.
When you go 270 days without making a payment on a student loan, the loan goes into what’s called default. This is a serious problem that damages your credit, can cause the lender to sue to recoup the amount of loan, seek wage garnishments against you, seize the amounts of any state and federal tax refunds you receive and take other measures to get repaid. This seriously damages your credit and can make it difficult or impossible to get a loan for things like a car or other necessities, let alone get a credit card.
If you’ve defaulted on a student loan, if you make 3 consecutive on-time payments you can then get a worldwide student loan consolidation just like anyone else. But you may want to put it off until after 9 months to a year instead. If you make every payment for 9 months to a year on time, the lender will “rehabilitate” the loan and remove the default from your credit report. Your credit will still suffer as the missed and late payments will remain for 7 years, but the highly damaging default is removed. If you consolidate after the 3 payments instead, the default stays on your credit report for 7 years.
#2: Look at non-profit organizations first.
The best student loan consolidation rates are most likely going to be offered by non-profit organizations. These organizations can offer better rates because they have lower costs and different objectives than other companies. Their discounts are most likely to be permanent.
#3: Make sure discounts and rate reductions are permanent.
Many companies offer good rate discounts but only on a temporary basis. Some expire after a certain period of time, and some are contingent on you. If you get a special rate for auto-debit, make sure that if your bank refuses the debit (sometimes this happens accidentally) you won’t lose the discount over one instance. And some worldwide student loan consolidation rates hinge on you never being late with a payment. Go for permanent discounts instead.