If you have a few student loans that add up to more than $7,500, you can choose not to include all the loans for consolidation. Consolidate student loans that cannot be forgiven. Loan forgiveness means that you will not have to pay the loan back. You can qualify for loan forgiveness if you enlist in the military, have a Perkins loan, or if you enter into social service or teaching careers. By completing government volunteer work, you may be eligible for partial forgiveness. Consolidate all other loans in order to lock into a low interest rate. If for some reason, your other loans are not forgiven, you can always consolidate them along with the other loans later on.

When deciding which loans to consolidate, you will need to make sure that your other loans meet the minimum loan amount. If you cannot meet this amount, then you may not be able to consolidate student loans. When volunteering for government programs, you will be expected to work a certain amount of hours in order to qualify for forgiveness. If you cannot fulfill your weekly requirements, then you should consolidate student loans in order to save money each month for the length of the loan.