Question:
I'm posting this for anyone who would like to go back to college but can't get student aid because of a defaulted student loan from the past. This will help those who are interested in going back, but can't afford to pay the defaulted loan off at this time. I fould a site where you can apply for a "Consolidation Loan", and can be approved, regardless of current income, credit report and even if you have a student loan that is in default! For more info, Go to: http://loanconsolidation.ed.gov/faq.shtml#default To apply, go to: https://loanconsolidation.ed.gov/appentry/appindex.html I know it sounds impossible, but I did it and will be starting college on Jan. 8th. I searched for a long time for this info and hope it helps someone else.

Answer:
My first regret is that plan has only become available relatively recently. There would seem to be some risk that the new Bush administration will wipe it out. I don't know that they will; I only know I heard some talk about eliminating the Department of Education, in which case it seems unlikely that this plan would survive. After reading this site, I had some questions, so I clicked on "Contact Us."

The site popped up a little note, which I appreciated, indicating that the information I was about to provide might not be secure on the Internet. The note said that I could instead call the Department of Education at 800-557-7392. Of course, some people might be reluctant to call an 800 number, knowing that the company paying the bill for those 800 calls (in this case, the DoE) can then review the list of phone numbers from which these calls are made and could perhaps provide those numbers to bill collectors or lawyers. According to the site, if you presently have defaulted loans, you can qualify for a consolidation loan by making a "satisfactory" repayment agreement with your current loan holder or by agreeing to repay the loan under the Income Contingent Repayment Plan. Since most struggling borrowers are well aware that everything would be fine if only they could maintain a "satisfactory" repayment plan, the Income Contingent Repayment alternative may be especially interesting for some readers of this .