If you have a pile of federal student loans you most certainly will want to become educated on how you might benefit from Federal funded consolidation loans. These loans are provided free of charge from the government to anyone who has multiple student loans and wants to combine them into one monthly payment. These consolidation loans are government funded and are offered through the Department of Education. If you have outstanding student loans and are looking for a way to make paying them less stressful and easier on your pocketbook, you will most certainly will want to see if you can qualify for one of these loans.Qualification is generally based on your income, family size and the total amount of your outstanding loan balance. If you do qualify for one of these loans, your current student loans will all be merged into one. You will then lock in a lower interest rate for the life of the loan. You can chose to spread payments over a time period of up to 30 years. Most everyone who takes advantage of this program has lower monthly payments, for some as much as 50% lower.Some other perks of these Government assisted consolidation loans include the possibility of being able to defer payments for up to 3 years, to have a 6 month grace period before your first payment is due and there are no fees for your consolidation.Be aware that there are a few things you should know before entering into this program. First, you can only consolidate each of your loans one time. You also do not have to consolidate all of your loans. For example if you have one that is a very low locked in interest rate you may want to leave it alone. However, if you have any variable rate loans it is almost always wise to take advantage of the federal program and consolidate those loans into a fixed interest loan.Hopefully you now have a better understanding of how consolidation loans work under the Government Assistance Loan Consolidation Program. If you are faced with student loan debt, this program is a great way to help manage your debt and make your monthly payments affordable.