Federal student loan borrowers, for example, may have forgiveness options. Either option can make sense if the new loan has better terms — namely, a lower interest rate. The Department of Education offers federal loan consolidation, but the interest rate won’t be lower. Keep in mind, if you refinance your public student loan or consolidate with a private lender, you lose those federal relief options. NerdWallet’s calculators are easy to use and the company has both a mortgage refinancing calculator and a student loan refinancing calculator.

Source: New York Times January 24, 2020 03:00 UTC