Between July 2023 and March 2024, we partnered with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) on a monthly webinar series. Each webinar focused on a different aspect of the return to repayment and highlighted an action item to focus on.
If you're considering refinancing or consolidation, it's important to know the difference before taking action.
Action Item: Explore if Consolidation or Refinancing Works for You
We focused on the impacts of interest and the differences between consolidating and refinancing student loans in this webinar. As repayment begins in October, we'd like you to focus on exploring if a Direct Consolidation Loan or private refinance loan makes sense for your goals. You can use the Loan Simulator to compare your repayment options for federal loans, including a Direct Consolidation loan.
Use your FSA ID & password to log into the Loan Simulator. If you already know you want to apply for a Direct Consolidation loan, you can start the process on the Federal Student Aid website.
Carefully consider the consequences of using a private refinance loan to pay off federal student loans if you decide to go that route since you will lose any federal repayment options or loan forgiveness eligibility.
You can access links we shared in the chat during the webinar by downloading the Student Loans Updates Links Sheet, which also contains information for every webinar in the series.
