Hey Heather. So I got a Perkins loan while in undergrad, about a 5.5% interest. And I got a couple of questions about it. And I’ll word them generally, so that maybe others will benefit from them too.

1. Can Perkins loans be consolidated with other federal loans, even though the school is the servicer/place I send my checks?

2. I plan to do PSLF, and sign up for IBR as well. Given how my income (and thus dept repayments) will be pretty low over the next couple of years, what is the best strategy to deal with Perkins Loans? Should I
a. Take out a public stafford loan to pay off the Perkins loan
b. Consolidate the PL with everything else
c. Do something else

I’m kind of torn here, because on the one hand, option a would mean I wouldn’t have to worry about the steadily accruing interest on my PL. But on the other hand, a stafford loan interest rate is a bit higher than a PL, so I’d rather not do that unless I have to (i.e., the PL can’t be consolidated).

Thanks Heather!!