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Student loan consolidation: everyone’s doing it, or thinking of doing it, or telling you why you should do it. But is consolidation right for you? Sure consolidation programs offer a variety of payment options, interest rates, and terms; but that doesn’t mean they’re right for everyone. How do you know if consolidation is right for you?

Loan consolidation can benefit a person’s credit rating. Lower monthly payments, flexible repayment options, and fixed interest rates are all benefits of managing student loan debt through a consolidation program, and can help borrowers develop a good credit profile while meeting their responsibilities.

Borrowers who take jobs with entry-level pay may find it difficult to make the higher minimal monthly payments their student loans demand. For those whose income is likely to grow rapidly during the early years of their career a consolidation loan with graduated repayment terms can help lessen the sting of monthly payments in the early years of their career. Lower monthly payments can also be achieved through the use of extended payment terms.

Some of the standard deferment options available to borrowers are lost during consolidation; however candidates who have work immediately upon finishing college may find it beneficial to trade-off is deferments in order to start making payments immediately. The sooner you pay off your student loan debt the better.

Borrowers with outstanding personal credit ratings may also benefit from consolidation. Some private education loan consolidation programs based their interest rate on a borrower’s personal credit history, which could allow some people to lock in very low rates for the duration of their consolidation loan. Borrowers whose credit rating has improved during their school career may also be able to find a better rate than they got on their initial private student loan.

The time-saving advantages of consolidation are another reason many people choose to put all their loans into one or two packages. Consolidation takes a variety of loans and all their associated paperwork monthly payments and tax records and packages them all into a single unit. With consolidation borrowers can focus on their new post college careers instead of focusing all their energy on managing their education debt.

Consolidation is not for everyone however, and borrowers need to take a good look at their toll financial picture to determine if it’s right for them. Students with smaller outstanding loan balances may also want to forgo consolidation. If making the monthly payment on your student loans will be merely an inconvenience rather than a burden it may be to just suck it up and get your loans paid off sooner rather than later.

Student loan consolidation programs provide a variety of options for borrowers. While many former students find that consolidation helps them financially, especially at the start of their career, borrowers need to look at the big picture. You’re going to be paying your student loans for the next several years think about the future when selecting a consolidation loan to ensure the options you select now will be something you can live with five or ten years down the road.