How to Pay Off Your Student Loans

If figuring out how to pay off student loans is a major issue for you, you’re not alone. 45 million people in the U.S. carry almost $1.7 trillion in student loans¹.  Nearly seven in 10 college seniors graduate owing nearly $30,000², with women, people of color, and older Americans paying the biggest price³.

The bottom line: With average monthly student loan payments of $460 that take approximately 20 years to repay⁴, it’s harder for student loan borrowers to tackle goals like saving for a house, starting a business or investing for retirement.

There are several benefits of paying student loans as early as possible. If you’re ready to pay down your student loan debt, here’s what you need to know:

You may have a mix of both private and federal student loans to pay off. Your private loans will likely be from banks or other financial organizations. Your federal loans are backed by the federal government.

Each lender will give you a payment schedule and required monthly repayment amount. If you can afford it, you may want to pay more than just your minimum payment. By doing so, you could pay off your loan much sooner. Paying off high-interest debt as quickly as you’re able to may dramatically reduce the amount of interest that you pay over time.

If you have extra money to put toward your loan payments—beyond your minimum required payment—consider paying off private loans as quickly as you can.

These loans may carry variable interest rates that could increase over time. Also, private loans tend to have less flexible payoff options than federal loans. This could be important if you later lose your job or otherwise have difficulty making loan payments. 

When it comes to your federal loans, your loan servicing company may assign you to a particular repayment plan. However, in most cases you can choose from among several options. You can switch to a different payment plan later, if it’s a better fit.

Federal loan repayment plans include:

• Standard: You make equal monthly payments over a set period of time, usually 10 years. This is the default repayment plan, unless you choose another option.
• Graduated: Your payments are lower than the standard option at first. Every few years, your payments gradually increase to help ensure that you can pay off your loan within 10 years.
  
• Extended: Your payments may either be fixed, like the standard plan, or start out lower, as with the graduated plan. The plan is structured to help you pay off your loan within 25 years. Note, though, that you will end up paying more interest with an extended repayment plan.
  
• Pay As-You-Earn (PAYE): Your payments are 10 percent of your discretionary income. Payments are recalculated each year and are based on your updated income and family size.³

Learn more about these and other repayment plans at Federal Student Aid.

Some employers are beginning to offer student loan repayment as a benefit to their employees. Companies may also offer this option to workers who took out parent loans to cover their children’s college costs. Consider asking about this benefit during your hiring process or annual review. 

Rolling multiple student loans into a single, consolidated payment could simplify your finances and allow you to lock in a better overall interest rate. However, it’s important to research the loan-consolidation issue very carefully.

Be particularly cautious about consolidating federal student loans through a bank or other financial organization. The main reason: You’re actually paying off your federal loans and taking out an entirely new loan with the private lender. When you do that, you no longer have the option of qualifying for federal loan forgiveness in exchange for public service. You also lose your option to switch to federal income-driven repayment programs.

Also, many lenders won’t consolidate private loans unless they can offer you a significantly lower interest rate. In other words, they won’t consolidate your payments simply for convenience.

Talk to your private or federal loan servicer right away. It’s important that you don’t simply stop making payments. Doing so could seriously damage your credit and make it tough for you to qualify for hardship programs. Loan servicers typically offer several options for helping borrowers who are facing financial difficulties. 

The easiest way to say a permanent goodbye to your loan payments: Make them regularly and on time, and pay more than the minimum whenever you can. Once you’re feeling more confident about how you’re paying down your student debt, you can move on to saving for or financing other important priorities in your life.