This was where I started when I consolidated my loans, and it should answer your questions. https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service. The paperwork does suck a little, but is doable. If you need help, I suggest calling their helpline and keeping someone on the phone until you are done so you don’t end up calling 10 separate times like I did. The big thing to do (and I only knew to do this because a person who helped me on the phone told me to do this) is once you start the consolidation process, contact the loan providers you have and put your loans into deferment/forbearance so you aren’t paying money the government is going to pay when the consolidation goes through.