<prompt> Human: We assumed that wed be given an opportunity to consolidate my wifes student loans so we took the pay only interest for the first four years option. Now we realize its a 10 year load with 6 years left and all of the principle remaining. Not the payments have ballooned up from 120 to 370 a month. The rate is 5.8 on most of the loan and 6.2 on a small chunk. We found a credit union that will refinance and consolidate at 4.75 over 15 years. But its a variable rate. That will be much better for us right now, but do rate project to stay low down the road?tl;dr 5.8-fixed over 6 years v. 4.75-variable over 15 years.  <response>: If these are federal loans which based on the facts youve given i suspect they are please do not do this. You will lose all your federal benefits and options such as income based repayment and various forgiveness options. Im a big fan of credit unions however the new loan will still be a private loan not a federal loan. you can only consolidate federal loans at 