Solutions For Student Loan Debt
The cost of college is rising, and student loan debt is at an all-time high. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, more than 44 million borrowers have outstanding student loan debt in the United States, a number that has increased by roughly 37 percent since 2007. As a result, many students are looking for ways to pay off their loans or avoid defaulting on them altogether. Here are some ways you can tackle your student loans so you can focus on your studies instead:
Increase Your Income
To pay off your student loans, the first thing you need to do is increase your income. This can be accomplished by getting a better paying job or finding a side hustle.
Getting a better-paying job is fairly straightforward: all you have to do is look for positions that pay more money than the one you have now. If that isn’t an option, it’s time to look for part-time work or even another full-time job if possible. Once you’ve found one of these options and begun working there, start saving up as much money as possible so that when the next payment comes due, you’ll have enough cash on hand so as not to default on any payments (and incur late fees).
Refinance
- Refinance to lower your rate. Refinancing a loan is one of the best ways to lower your interest rate and monthly payments.
- Refinance to extend your term. If you want more time to pay off the debt, extending the term might be right for you.
- Refinancing may allow you to consolidate multiple loans into one, which can reduce paperwork and simplify repayment. However, this option can also result in higher overall costs because of closing fees and other factors associated with refinancing student loans.*Refinancing may allow potential access to more affordable options than federal programs offer (although they have their own advantages).
Seek Repayment Relief
If you qualify for student loan repayment relief, the government will pay off your loans or forgive them completely. The goal of this type of debt forgiveness is to help borrowers who are having trouble paying their student loans because of a specific condition like being diagnosed with cancer or being in an accident.
There are several types of student loan repayment relief:
- Income-driven repayment plans
- Loan forgiveness programs (not all income-driven plans count as such programs)
Explore Student Loan Forgiveness Options
To help you understand the different types of student loan forgiveness, we will look at their pros and cons.
- Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)
- if you work in a public service job and make 120 payments while on an income-driven plan or on an income-based repayment (IBR) plan, your remaining loans will be forgiven after 10 years.
- You don’t need a bachelor’s degree to qualify for this program. If you get one anyway, even better! Your monthly payment amount is capped at 10% of your discretionary income, which means that working in public service can still help reduce how much money you owe each month even after going through all those payments.
- Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program (TLFP)
- If you teach elementary school through high school in certain subjects as well as math and science, then TLFP may be an option for getting out from under those hefty student loans—as long as it’s not too late already! The forgiveness program requires five consecutive years teaching with low income levels before applying; if eligible according to these requirements then half of your outstanding balance could be forgiven after making 120 qualifying payments following this five year period (but remember: teaching alone won’t cut it here).
Stay Organized and on Top of Your Loans
- Stay Organized and on Top of Your Loans
It may seem obvious, but the best way to manage your student loans is to stay organized. Make sure you keep track of when payments are due, what each payment is for and when you expect to pay it off completely. This will allow you to stay on top of any payments that might be past due or help prevent payments from being late in the first place.
- Don’t Consolidate Loans if You’re in Default
If you’ve defaulted on a loan, don’t consolidate it with other federal student loans because this will make it even harder for collection agencies or private lenders to collect on them later down the road—and they will have no choice but to work through whatever lender issued your original loan first before attempting collection efforts against any other lenders involved with those same debts (like private ones).
We’ve provided some solutions for student loan debt to help you continue your education rather than focusing on the debt.
- Student loan debt is a huge burden for many young people.
- It can be hard to focus on your education when you are worried about your debt, which is why we’ve provided some solutions for student loan debt to help you continue your education rather than focusing on the debt.
There are many ways to keep your student loan debt from interfering with your education. While there is no easy fix, there are some options that can help address the problem. We have provided some solutions for student loan debt that should help you continue your education rather than focusing on the debt.