Question re: second consolidation

[Eklipse]

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I consolidated all my loans last spring because the rates were so low but still had one year of med school left. If I consolidate again now, is it true that I have to include the original consolidation in my new consolidation as a weighted average of the two, versus being able to do a separate second consolidation with only the new loans?

 

[mpp]

No. You can have two separate consolidation loans. Definitely consolidate before July 1 as the Stafford loan rate will be going to a fixed 6.8% and if you consolidate now you'll get a fixed 4.5%.

But regardless, if you use the weighted average or have them in separate fixed rate loans you will pay exactly the same amount of interest in the end (that is the effect of the average being weighted). So if you would rather just have one big loan at a slightly higher rate then consolidate. There is no financial advantage of keeping them separate. Do the math if you think it doesn't make sense.