You hear commercials about consolidation loans all the time on the radio and see them on TV. These are usually ads for debt consolidation loans that are typically used to consolidate consumer debt, such as credit cards, car loans, or store charge cards. The main advantage here is that you can replace many high interest loans with a single loan at a much lower interest rate. The disadvantage is that you have to put your house on the line as security for the new loan.

That’s where student consolidation loans differ from standard consumer debt consolidation loans. Because most student loans are insured by the federal government, you are not required to use any security in order to consolidate them. You do however, get the same advantages you get with other consolidation loans; lower monthly payments and more convenience because you’re replacing many loans with only one. Therefore, you’ve got fewer possibilities for errors that can cause late or incorrect payments.

A major difference between consumer consolidation loans and student consolidation loans is that, in order to consolidate student loans a credit check is not required. In fact, the process is relatively easy, and well worth doing, as there is basically no down side. You get all the advantages of consolidating consumer loans without getting a credit check or putting up a home or other real estate as collateral.

According to recent government statistics, the average undergraduate college student now graduates with approximately $27,000 in student loans. This is because the dramatically increasing cost of a college education. This trend towards higher education costs is showing no sighs of slowing, so in the future students may have even a higher loan burden upon graduation. If that proves to be the case, the demand for student loan consolidation, and the payment relief it provides can only grow.