Stafford loans

When you say “Direct Loan,” I believe you are referring to the U.S. Department of Education’s Direct Loan Program (http://www.dl.ed.gov), where you can transfer and consolidate your federal education loans into a single, new loan which offers lower monthly payments. Whether or not it makes economic sense to transfer the loans depends on a host of factors, including: how manageable (or unmanageable) your monthly payments are; how many payments are left on your existing loan; the amount of time and interest you are willing to pay over time; and the interest rates on your current loans.