To avoid stress and regret over borrowing money for college, heed this advice from The Project on Student Loan Debt sponsored by the Institute for College Access & Success.
Know your loans. It’s important to keep track of the lender, balance and repayment status for each of your student loans. These details determine your options for loan repayment and forgiveness.
Know your grace period. A grace period is how long you can wait after leaving school before you have to make your first payment.
Stay in touch with your lender. Whenever you move or change your phone number or e-mail address, tell your lender right away.
Pick the right repayment option. When your federal loans come due, your loan payments will automatically be based on a standard 10-year repayment plan. If the standard payment is going to be hard for you to cover, there are other options, such as income-based repayment, and you can change plans down the line if you want or need to.
Reduce your principal if you can. When you make a federal student- , it covers any late fees first, then interest and, finally, the . If you can afford to pay more than your required monthly payment — every time or now and then — you can reduce your principal, which reduces the amount of interest you have to pay over the life of the loan.
Stay out of trouble. Ignoring your student loans has serious consequences that can last a lifetime.
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Elana Ashanti Jefferson
