It’s no secret that many students graduating from college these days are burdened with paying back the loans they took out to finance their education. Yet, it is possible to both borrow for school and become debt-free or, at the very least, minimize your indebtedness.
Image credit: David Castillo Dominici | FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Here are some techniques to reduce or eliminate your debts:
Knowledge matters
The first step in controlling debt is to have a complete understanding of what you owe and to whom. Many students afford school by cobbling together a variety of loans from an array of sources, many of which have different repayment terms, rules and timetables.
Knowing those terms can help you to plan your payment schedule so that high interest loans get paid off first and on the best terms.
Forgiveness
Of course, better than just delaying or lowering your payments is never to have to make them at all. For example, there are a number of public service loan forgiveness programs usually centering on certain professions such as teaching, medicine, free law services or serving in the military.
Don’t overlook the possibility that the field in which you want to work offers programs that may erase your student debt entirely, often for just a few years of public service.
Beware of graduate school
Many kinds of work require a post-graduate degree, but be careful not to get trapped into paying for an advanced degree you don’t need. Frankly, the best way to avoid going into debt is not to borrow at all.
Therefore, if there is a way of entering your desired field short of going to graduate school, that is a path worth exploring.
Consolidation
A common way to lower your monthly payments is to consolidate your loans into one easy payment. While this simplifies and lowers your short-term costs, in the long run, you will be paying more money over a longer time period.
As always, the devil is in the details, so be very careful that you’ve read all the fine print before agreeing to any debt consolidation arrangement.
See an expert
Sometimes, the best solution is to consult experts in order to develop a debt reduction and elimination plan that is tailored to your precise circumstances. The money you save may be well worth the consultation costs.
Whatever you do, don’t give up until you have exhausted all your options for getting out of college debt-free.
About the Author:
Karleia is a freelance blogger. She recommends debt relief lawyers, Thompson & DeVeny, if you or someone you know is drowning in debt.
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