"Federal Consolidation Loans and Federal Direct Consolidation Loans are not counted directly in the cohort default rate calculation. However, the status of a consolidation loan may affect how the loan(s) that was paid off by the consolidation loan is included in the cohort default rate calculation."

If all of a borrower's underlying loans were included in your school's cohort default rate calculation before they were consolidated, the status of the consolidation loan has no effect on your subsequent cohort default rate calculations. However, if an underlying loan was not included in your cohort default rate calculation before it was consolidated, the consolidation loan's default may cause that underlying loan to be counted as defaulted when it is included in your cohort default rate.

Please see the Cohort Default Rate Guide for complete details and information on consolidation and cohort default rates.