Are you career minded and want to further your education, but you don't have the funds available? Do you have a million dollar itch, but you can only scrape up $40 to scratch it with? Thanks to the many different types of student loans that are available, you can get the money you need for college. The only trouble is that when you're finished with your education, you're left with a bunch of loans to pay off.

You'll be interested to know that you can manage your loan repayments a lot easier when you consolidate your student loans. You can get a consolidation loan which will pay off your other individual student loans, so you'll have a single loan and single monthly payment instead of several.

The great thing is that since the loan is for a larger amount, the interest rate will be lower, with will help to lower your monthly payments. Combine that with the increased length of the life of your loan and you can sometimes save as much as 50% on your monthly payments. That can really help, especially if your career is just starting and your salary is low.

If your student loans were government loans, you can even apply for a government consolidation loan, which means you'll get a very good loan rate. The rate of a government loan is usually somewhat lower than the loans offered by private lenders.

If you don't have government loans, you'll have to obtain a consolidation loan from a private lender, so you should shop around for the best rate. Rates will vary among lenders and you want to get the lowest rate you can because that will translate into lower payments.

There are two basic types of student consolidation loans and each have different rates. One type is a fixed rate, which will remain the same for the life of your loan. You can also choose a repayment plan which will keep your payments the same each month until your loan is paid off in 10-30 years.

You might prefer to take out a flexible loan so your payments are lower at the beginning of your loan, when you're just starting your new career. Which ever type of loan you choose, you'll need to take into consideration the amount of your loan, the length of the loan, and the interest rate, so you'll know who has the best deal for you.

Rates on smaller student loans are typically higher and if you have several small loans, you could really be paying a lot out in interest. Consolidating your loans will lower your rate, and will also increase the length of your loan, so you might pay out more over time.

Finding a good rate for your consolidation loan is important and you can be assured you are getting a good deal if you shop around first. You can find out quite a bit about current loan rates by searching online. You can even find financial calculators to determine payments and other relevant information.