Class of 2006 college graduates, listen up. It’s been almost six months since you left school, and you haven’t had to pay a penny on your student loans.

That, as you know, is about to end.

Graduates typically have a six-month grace period after leaving school before their first student loan payment is due.

Soon the reality of all that debt is coming due.

A consolidation loan allows you (or your parents, if they have a federal PLUS loan) to combine several types of federal student loans with various repayment schedules into one loan with one monthly repayment at a fixed rate. Your payments also can be stretched from the standard 10 years to as long as 30 years.

If you want to consolidate your loans, remember it’s a limited-time offer. You have just 180 calendar days – including holidays and weekends – from your “separation date” to capitalize on the 0.60 percent interest rate reduction given to borrowers who consolidate their loans during the grace term.

Your separation date is the official date in which someone graduates, leaves school or drops below half-time status. It may be your last day of class or your graduation day; if you aren’t sure, check first with your lender. You also can find details about your student loans by going to the National Student Loan Data System at www.nslds.ed.gov.

If you consolidate your student loans during your grace period, you get the lower rate, which is based on the grace-period rate and is currently 6.54 percent for Stafford loans issued beginning in July 1, 1998, through June 30 of this year. If you hesitate and don’t consolidate before the 180 days, the variable Stafford loan rate jumps to 7.14 percent.