If you have private loans out in addition to your federal loans, you will not be able to get a combined student loan consolidation. You have to get your loans consolidated separately. This is not a bad thing. A private student loan consolidation is done through a private company and will vary from company to company. Depending on the one that you choose, you will have several options to repay your loans and to consolidate your debt. A private student loan consolidation will help you to reduce your loan payments and can help you to manage your monthly finances on your student loans.
A private student loan consolidation will not only have different payment options, but there are also different interest rates and costs that go along with the consolidation that differentiate them from federal consolidations. Because a private student loan consolidation is dealt with by a separate entity than the federal government, there are more precautionary steps that you have to go through in order to get the consolidation. One thing this means is higher interest rates. However, because private loans have higher interest rates in general, getting a private student loan consolidation will still be able to lower your interest rates on your loans.