Gmegds

1. Take Stock of Your Loans
To best manage your student loan debt you should know:
• How much you owe in student loans
• What your student loan interest rates are
• What you monthly student loan payments will be
You can access information about your Federal student loans on the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), using your FAFSA PIN.


2. Pay Attention to Your Loans While in School
It is easy for students to forget about student loan debt because they aren’t required to make payments while in school. However, as college tuition and the average student loan debt increases, it is becoming more important that students start managing their student loan debt while still in school. Parents are also given the option to defer payments until their children graduate, but this can have a ballooning effect on the loans. Paying down student loans or student loan interest during school is definitely a better financial plan for both students and parents who can afford it.


3. Pay off Your High-Interest Loans First
Some education loans have higher interest rates than others. Typically, Federal student loans such as Stafford Loans or PLUS loans have lower interest rates than private loans. Although a large Federal student loan balance may be more daunting, a few thousand dollars in private loan debt may carry a much higher interest rate. When you have extra money, put it towards your higher interest rate loans and you’ll save more money in the long run.


4. Utilize All Borrower Benefits Offered By Your Lender
Borrower benefits are money-saving incentives that lenders offer to students and parents on their education loans. Lenders use these benefits to reward borrowers who make consistent on-time payments, enroll in an automatic debit program, or utilize tools created by the lender that better manage monthly student loan payments. These benefits can come in the form of interest rate reductions, where a discount is taken off the interest rate. They can also be offered as principal reductions, where the borrower receives a loan credit or money off the total balance of their loan. Taking advantage of these benefits can help you save money and pay off your student loans faster.


5. Consider Student Loan Consolidation or “Refinancing”
Student loan consolidation has recently grown in popularity and is becoming a common method for students and parents to manage their education debt. Whether you have just one loan or 20 loans, you can use student loan consolidation as a tool to manage education debt and possibly save thousands of dollars in the process. Student loan consolidation can:
• Combine your loans into one easy payment (if you have more than one)
• Reduce your monthly payments
• Save you money with borrower benefits such as discounts off your interest rate.