 TITLE: Is Now a Good Time to Refinance Your Student Loans? CONTENT: How Does Student Loan Refinancing Work?\n---------------------------------------\nStudent loan refinancing is the process of taking out a new loan with better terms and using it to pay off your existing private or federal student loans. If you're paying a high interest rate on student loans, for example, refinancing could offer lower monthly payments and long-term savings on interest charges.\nWhether to refinance federal loans is something to consider carefully, even if you're able to get a lower rate. Refinancing turns them into private loans that don't qualify for the same perks, such as student loan forgiveness, forbearance and income-driven repayment programs.\nPlus, most federal student loans currently qualify for a pause in payments and interest until at least September 30 thanks to the CARES Act and subsequent extensions.\nIf you want to keep your federal loan perks but combine multiple loans into one payment, a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan through the Department of Education could be a better alternative. This option may not provide as much interest savings since the interest rate on the new loan will be the average rate of the loans you consolidate. But it is a way to simplify payment without losing government perks. END