[abowers]

I consolidated with Nelnet back in April. I locked in at a lovely 2.67 interest rate, I think that's gone up considerably by now. I had about $17,900 in loans when I did that. I'm satisfied with Nelnet (although the reason I'm with them is because HSBC sold my loans to them). Their customer service is good over the phone, and their website is easy to use. My loans are all federal stafford loans, subsidized.

You can consolidate and then go on to grad school, I am doing that. You can still defer (with Nelnet anyway) as long as you are above half-time status as a student.

I consolidated to lock in at that super low rate. It extended the term out to 15 years, but my payments are only $123/month right now, which I can afford as a preschool teacher. My reasoning is that after my master's I'll be making a lot more, and I can pay them off quicker than in 15 years if I want. But it made it more affordable to pay them now.

I'm also glad I did this because my grad loans will probably be at a much higher interest rate than my under grad by the time I'm done -- I'm not planning on grouping those together when Im done with my master's.