<prompt> Human: I have student loans with three different loan providers and they carry some different interest rates so I will list them below. Nelnet: 51k 44k principal, 7k interest paying 265monthGroup A - 28K 7.65Group B - 8.6k 6.55Group C - 14.6k 6.55AES: 25k 24.5 principal 500 interest paying 146monththis is split 8 ways 5 at 6.5 and 3 at 5.5 The following loan is not on an IBR planECSI: 1,215 paying 40 a month5 interestGiven this information does it make sense to consolidate and refinance the loans at a lower fixed interest rate? Also, I am currently 5 years into an income based repayment plan. If I refi, will that affect my IBR eligibilitylength. I bring in around 60k Salary Bonus and have both a mortgage and car payment that prevent me from paying the loans at their full amount. Any insight is appreciated. Thanks PF.  <response>: If you consolidate and refinance them as a private loan, you will no longer be eligible for IBR at all. There is a government consolidation where they stay federal loans, but you would not get a rate reduction. Its primarily for lumping all of your payments together under one lender. If you do this, all of your loans will be given the same interest rate the average of the interest rates you are currently paying. This means that youll be unable to target the loan with the highest interest rate if you start making more money and want to get them paid off. I dont know how federal consolidation affects loans that are already on IBR. You can call the Loan Consolidation Information Call Center at 1-800-557-7392 and ask. Id also advise that you read the information on this page carefully. 