Info To Gather BEFORE You Consolidate

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Just an FYI - If you're thinking about consolidating you student loans make sure you've got all your info together...that way you can't get scammed with companies saying you have more in loans or a higher interest rate...know your stuff!!!

Most companies require you to have:

Basic demographic information including: ​

• Name
• Address
• Phone Number
• Social Security Number
• Date of Birth
• Drivers License Number​

You will also need to provide a list of all of your education loans including:​

• Type of each loan (Stafford Subsidized, Stafford Unsubsidized, etc)
• Name of your current lender for each loan
• Your current Interest rate for each loan
• Your outstanding loan balance for each loan​

If you don't have your loan info, you can look it up on the National Student Loan Database System (NSLDS) using your FAFSA pin. If you don't have your FAFSA pin, call the company you want to consolidate your loans and they can help you. For a list of reputable consolidation companies: Best Student Loan Consolidation Lenders​

Also, you might have to provide information for two references including:

• Name
• Address
• Phone number​

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I just wrote an article on gaining NSLDS access today. I'll post it here with my company contact info removed since for the time being you will need to supply the info yourself. Any consolidator will be happy to walk you through it but it does take a couple days so you might want to just start it on your own. Hopefully NSLDS access will be back soon then you don't have to worry about it, the consolidator will be able to retreive your info.

STUDENT ACCESS TO THE NSLDS

As you may or may not be aware of the Department of Education is looking into the use of the National Student Loan Database (NSLDS) by lenders. While conducting their investigation database access has been discontinued for everyone except students and colleges and we’re not sure how long this will be the case. We can still process consolidation applications but you will need to have your loan information, we will not be able to look it up for you at this time. It is pretty easy for you to get access to your personal information from the NSLDS if you follow the steps below.

First you need a PIN number. If you have filled out your FAFSA within the past year you can use that PIN number for access. If not then you need to:

• Go to http://www.PIN.ed.gov and click on the Apply Now button.
• Review the privacy disclosure and click Next.
• Fill out the PIN form. Make sure you use an email address that you have access to.
• Click on “agree to the terms”
• Click on submit application

You will receive your PIN number by email in about 2 days. When you receive the number:

• Go to http://www.NSLDS.ed.gov
• Accept the privacy notice.
• Choose your encryption. For Firefox use the left option, for IE use the right option. For other browsers or if you aren’t sure which one you are using use the right option.
• Log in with your PIN and the identifying information they ask you. You should then be on your personal loan page.

There are a couple pieces of information we need from each loan listed to process your loan application.

• Total amount of the loan
• Interest rate
• Who is servicing the loan

This can all be found by clicking the “loan detail” button on the top right corner of each individual loan box......