<prompt> Human: After a B.S. and M.S. I am heading into a PhD program where I will receive a stipend of about 27kyr, which I think I have to pay taxes on so I dont anticipate having a lot of extra money at the end of each month. Most of my loans are federal however my first year of college I had to take a private loan as I was still young enough for my parents income to make me not eligible for federal loansgrants. I think I should consolidate my debt but have no clue if this is a good idea or how to do so. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  <response>: Youll most likely be able to defer your federal student loans while youre in the PhD program. Im finishing up a PhD program now, and my loans have been in deferment for the whole time. Its nice. If you consolidate them, I dont think you can still defer them. 