YES! It is the same, i say this because the appeal of doing either one of those are going to be the same "paying your student loan."
Refinancing student loans will take advantage of a better interest rate and consolidating your loans 'lumps' all of them into one. Instead of having several loans with different bills, in consolidation you only have one bill. When you consolidate student loan you are refinancing it but you can refinance without consolidating.
A student loan consolidation combines all of your federal student loans into one loan with one monthly payment. The interest rate is a weighted average of the interest rates on each individual loan. With a consolidation, you are not reducing your rate, but rather just simplifying your bill-paying process. You can consolidate your loans in just 30 minutes on StudentLoans.gov. A student loan refinance, on the other hand, is where a private lender combines your student loans and gives you a new, hopefully lower, interest rate. If your credit is good and your interest rate is lowered, you will save money with a refinance. A refinance can also combine all of your loans, not just your federal loans. Keep in mind, though, that with refinancing you will lose the option for student loan forgiveness programs. To start the process of refinancing, you should compare different private lenders.
Is combining all federal educational loans into one loan Consolidation Loans is similar to refinancing a mortgage. Where it's combine several student or parent loans into one bigger loan from a single lender.
One can consolidate their Federal Student Loans from the following sources: Debt Free Direct, Consolidation Loan Centre, Student Aid, Loan Consolidation, Fin Aid.
You should look to your local banks to find out which to student loans refinancing. You could also look at Citi bank that does student refinancing, Wells Fargo also does student loan refinancing too.
A non-federal student loan consolidation can be obtained by applying online at the CU Student Loans website. You can contact CU Student Loans by phone at 1-888-549-9050.
"There are several ways one can get a consolidation loan. In the United States, there is a Federal student loan consolidation program that allows students to consolidate Stafford loans, PLUS loans, and Federal Perkins Loans into a single debt. One can also attain a consolidation loan through a private lender. However, the terms vary from lender to lender such as forbearances and deferments."
You can use Direct Consolidation loans for your student loan consolidation needs. It is a government website that assist those who want to consolidate their debts. You can find them at this link www.loanconsolidation.ed.gov/
Student loan consolidation allows someone that is receiving multiple student loans to consolidate all the loans into one big loan. It helps students because it allows them to pay one payment monthly instead of several.
Almost all federal student loans can be consolidated under the Direct Consolidation Loan program. They offer multiple repayment plans and fixed interest rates. Private student loans that do not qualify for consolidation under the Direct Consolidation Loan can be consolidated through separate programs such as NextStudent, Student Loan Network, and Wells Fargo.
When you are receiving a private student loan, it cannot be consolidated with federal student loans so you would need to take that into consideration. Here is a website to find out more about private student loan consolidation. http://www.finaid.org/loans/privateconsolidation.phtml
You can find a federal student loan site at loanconsolidation.ed.gov. They have the application and forms needed to consolidate your loans. Under this program, a borrower's loans are paid off and a new consolidation loan is created.
The maximum interest rate for consolidating FEDERAL student loans is 8.25%. If your student loans are not federal loans, though, there is no maximum interest rate.
When bankers and investors use the term "student loan consolidation interest rate," they are referring to the interest rate that borrowers will be charged when they consolidate their student loans. Student loan consolidation allows borrowers to combine multiple loans into a single loan with a new interest rate, typically based on the weighted average of the interest rates of the loans being consolidated.