All Your Questions Answered in One Place

Consolidating student loans will put all your existing loans into the Federal Loan Forgiveness Program with the Department of Education. You will only have to worry about one payment instead of multiple payments. This makes it easier to manage your debt.

In many cases yes, we can work with you and the Department of Education to reduce your payment amounts. There are multiple plans to repay your student loan, one of which is the Income Contingent Repayment Plan. This allows your payment to be based on your annual income, which oftentimes will allow you to qualify for a very small payment and in some cases even a payment amount of zero.

No.

Yes, once you are consolidated, you may qualify to renew your deferment options.

Borrowers will be able to retain their benefits on subsidized loans when consolidated into the subsidized portion of a consolidation loan.

Borrowers must have at least one Direct Loan or Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) that is in grace, repayment, deferment, or default status to qualify. Loans that are in-school status cannot be included in the Federal Loan Forgiveness Program. If you are in default, we can consolidate you under the Income Contingent Repayment Play or Income-Based Repayment Plan. If you are already consolidated by having one loan, which is not, we can consolidate that loan into your Direct Consolidation Loan.

Yes, we can consolidate PLUS Loans.

Yes, we can consolidate your Perkins Loan into the Direct Consolidation Loan if you include at least one Direct Loan or Federal Family Educational Loan (FFEL). Perkins Loan cannot be included by themselves. There are some disadvantages to consolidating your Perkins Loan so you should consider them prior to consolidating them.

• You will lose your cancellation benefits, such as performing public services.
• Your grace period may be lost.
• Interest does not accrue when your Perkins Loan is in deferment.
• Perkins Loans generally have lower interest rates but less flexible repayment periods.

Yes, we can consolidate certain health professions loans sponsored through the U.S Department of Health and Human Services with other Federal Education Loans into the Federal Loan Forgiveness Program. You must still include at least one Direct Loan or Federal Family Education Loan to qualify.

Eligible Health Professions:

• Health Professions Student Loans (HPSL)
• Health Education Assistance Loans (HEAL)
• Loans for Disadvantaged Students (LDS)
• Nursing Student Loans (NSL)

Benefits of consolidating these loans would include lowering your monthly payment, having a longer repayment period, and having one single monthly payment.

Yes, but with certain conditions. Borrowers cannot consolidate loans that are an in-school status, but borrowers can still consolidate loans that are in grace, repayment, or deferment.

Yes, as long as you are including at least one other FFEL or Direct Loan into the new consolidation.

Yes, you can consolidate loans that are in grace however, you will lose any of your remaining grace periods.

Yes, as long as you agree to pay under either the Income Contingent or Income-Based Repayment Plan, OR make satisfactory repayments with your current loan holder. You cannot consolidate a defaulted loan if a judgment has been issued against a defaulted loan that has not been dismissed.

No, if you want to clear the default notation, you will need to contact your loan holder to discuss rehabilitation with them. If you decide to consolidate while in default, your default notation in your credit will also show that the loan was paid off in full. This notation will remain on your credit history for seven years.

There are several repayment plans in the Federal Loan Forgiveness Program: Standard Repayment Plan You will pay a fixed amount each month until your loans are paid in full. Your monthly payment will be at least $50 for up to 10‑30 years, based upon your total education indebtedness (loan amounts). Graduated Repayment Plan Your minimum payment amount will be at least equal to the amount of interest accrued monthly. Your payments start out low, and then increase every two years for up to 10‑30 years and are based on your total education indebtedness (loan amounts). Extended Repayment Plan To be eligible, your Direct Loan balance must be greater than $30,000 and you will have up to 25 years to repay your loans. You have two payment options:

– Fixed Monthly Payment Option: You will pay a fixed amount each month until your loans are paid in full.

– Graduated Monthly Payment Options: Your minimum payment amount will be at least $50 or the amount of interest accrued monthly, whichever is greater. Your payment starts off low and then increase every two years.

Income Contingent Repayment Plan (ICR) Your monthly payments will be based on annual income, Direct Loan balance, and family size. They are spread over a term of 25 years.

Income‑Based Repayment Plan (IBR) Your monthly payments will be based on your annual income and family size and spread over 25 years. You must be experiencing a partial financial hardship to initially select this plan and once you select this plan you cannot change to any other plan except standard. For more in‑depth information on the repayment plans, please see our Repayment Plans page

Yes, most borrowers can change their repayment plan at any time once consolidated into the Federal Loan Forgiveness Program. Borrowers who are in the ICR plan must make at least 3 consecutive payments into the Direct Consolidation Loan account before changing to another plan. There is no limit to how many times you can change. Borrowers in the IBR plan can only change into the Standard Repayment Plan.

It generally will take 60‑90 days to consolidate from when Reform Alliance has processed your application. The processing of the application will begin depending on how many good faith payments are being made to Reform Alliance. We offer multiple payments to ease the payment amount on the customer, or single payments to get our clients enrolled quicker into the program.

Reform Alliance requires the first payment to begin your documentation. This payment can be made on the first call or scheduled for a later date. Your Direct Consolidation Loan first payment will be due within 60 days of their disbursement paying off your current loans.