When looking for a private student consolidation plan, many will try to find a lender who will combine private s with federal s. This, however, might prove next to impossible. In general, lenders will offer federal of private consolidation plans separately. Issuing a "one size fits all” would probably not be part of the lender's policy.

Now, some may wonder why lenders do not offer such an option. After all, financial institutions are looking for business. Wouldn't they be limiting their business if they did not offer a single plan? Honestly, it would be next to logistically impossible for a lender to combine private and federal student s. The reason this occurs centers on percentage rates.

These rates for a federal offer will be significantly lower than a private. The purpose of federal student s is to provide a low cost means of financing education. Therefore, these s issued by the government are not profit motivated. Of course, the government earns a profit on the costs but the costs are mostly nominal. Private lenders are more profit driven and also have far more overhead. Additionally, they assume more risk when issuing an offer than the government does. As such, the rates are higher.

In order to attract someone with federal s to a consolidation plan, the fees must be competitive. As such, the federal consolidation will have a much lower annual percentage rate than private one. To place a private into this consolidation mix would involve offering an incredibly low fee. This would not make fiscal sense to the consolidation lenders. As a result, consolidation s for private and federal s are kept separate and rarely – if ever – combined. While you can consolidate these offers you will have to do so separately. That's just the way it is.