This is often the reason that people cite when they say you shouldn’t combine federal and private loans.But before you dismiss the idea of refinancing, you should first take a look to see if any of these benefits apply to you.

Direct Consolidation sets a fixed interest rate based on a weighted average of the interest rates on the loans being consolidated, rounded up to the nearest one-eighth of 1%, capped at 8.25%.Huffington Post Reader Question Dear Steve, I am at the very end of the grace period since I graduated, and will owe a total of ,000 in student loans (all are government ED loans both Direct and Stafford unsubsidized and subsidized).The Direct loans are being serviced by Great Lakes, and until I call them I don't know what the payment(s).Please be aware that other federal loans, such as Perkins Loans, Health Education Assistance Loans (HEAL), Health Professions Student Loans (HPSL), Nursing Student Loans (NSL), and Loans for Disadvantaged Students (LDS) cannot be consolidated through the Special Direct Consolidation Loan but may be included in the Traditional Direct Consolidation Loan.Qualifying Special Direct Consolidation Loan borrowers will receive a .25% interest rate reduction on their consolidated FFEL loans plus the .25% interest rate reduction for payments made through automatic debit.One of the biggest myths when it comes to student loans is whether you can combine your Federal and private student loans. Well, since the middle of 2014, you can actually refinance and consolidate both your Federal and private student loans into a single loan with many private lenders.Think about it: you just graduated from college and you have a combination of about five different student loans. However, there are times when combining all of your loans (both Federal and private) makes sense, and there are times when it may not.