I’ve never had a student loan, so I never had to think about student loan consolidation, but I know a lot of people who have.

Were it not for the availability of these government loans, a lot of folks could never afford to go to college.  Like anything else, the loans can be abused, though, so if you’re thinking about needing a pizza as a valid reason to dip into the emergency reserve, you might want to think again.

With tuition and housing costs rising all the time, those amounts due can really add up, and it seems to me that having just one bill to pay back would be a lot better than having several.

I would suggest that anyone considering college should look long and hard at the availability of grants, and apply for as many as possible. Then let the loans make up the difference.