Help with loan consolidation

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Socrates25

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OK, so I'm a total idiot when it comes to these loans I have.

1. I've got 30k in private Bank of America loans. I'm assuming there's no way I can consolidate these into a federal direct loan

2. I've got 10k in loans that were provided directly by the med school. I'm assuming these dont qualify for IBR or consolidation either

3. I've got 40k in various federal loans (stafford) from undergrad. How do I tell if these are FFEL or direct loans?

4. I've got 5k in perkins loans. I've heard that these loans do not qualify for IBR unless you consolidate them, is this correct? I'm assuming that I have to consolidate them with the group of loans listed in #3?


For the loans in #3, some kind of serious ****up happened. I applied for IBR in May 2011, and my monthly payment under IBR was listed at $200, which was fine and I've been paying that. All of a sudden in October 2011 the payment jumped up to $600. WTF is this? I thought that once you had IBR your status wouldnt change for at least another year? Shouldnt I be paying $200 until May 2012 and then get a readjustment based on my income? Does anybody have a clue why my loan payment changed in the middle of the year, and did anybody else have the same thing happen to them?

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1. Correct you can't consolidate private to direct loans
2. You would have to ask your school. If they aren't federal loans then probably not.
3. NSLDS
4. Correct. Perkins don't qualify for IBR unless you consolidate them.

If you haven't consolidated yet, then it doesn't matter. If you already consolidated and the amount is different then you have to reapply for IBR. That happened to me where my payments were $0 before consolidation then after it put me back to the Standard Repayment without telling me. Make sure you are on the right plan and that you can resubmit your income if you want if you think something is wrong.
 
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