Why can't I consolidate private and federal student loans into one loan?

Can I consolidate student loans from three different lenders all into one payment? For Instance.....?

• OK....I don't want use the actual company names so I will use Bob, Pete, and Joe as my company names. I have students from three companies-Bob, Pete, and Joe. Can I consolidate all of my loans from those three companies and just make one payment per month? If so, does anyone have advice on how to get the ball rolling? Can i just call company joe and do it through that company? Should I See which of the three companies gives me the best rates? As you can tell I have no idea! Anyone who can answer this would be greatly appreciated! Thanks a head of time!

• Answer:

  If all your loans are federal loans, then yes. You can consolidate them. If you have both private and federal, you can't consolidate them into both. Consolidation is usually just hype and doesn't get you any benefits... instead of paying of your loans in 10 years (minus what you've paid on them so far) you pay them off in 25 years or more. Yikes!!! As you can see, you pay more money in interest over the course of the 25 years then if you'd just paid on them for 10. People do this... thinking they are saving so much money, but honestly... its all for about 20 dollars less a month in payments...lol. call one of your federal lenders and ask about consolidation