|
| Student Loan Debt |
 It is recommended always be aware of how much you're borrowing every year, and the terms-interest rates, how long is the deferment period after graduation, how long it will take to pay off the loan, etc. And try do this every year-you should always know the cumulative total of your student loans. Ask yourself hard questions, and be honest with yourself. When considering how much money you will make in an entry level position in your desired field, be realistic. Will it be enough to repay your loan? If not, then think. Should I alter majors? Should I go to school half time, get a part time job, and not borrow the money? Be realistic. If you're getting a liberal arts degree, and don’t want to go to law or other graduate school, can you really afford having $40,000 in student loans? What jobs will enable someone having a degree in English or Economics to handle that much in student loan debt? Not much. You'd best think twice before taking out another loan, if you've really set your heart on something like working with inner city children, or writing the Great American Novel, or seeing the world for a few years after college. Note, if you're majoring in business, or engineering, or other well paying majors, you should never, ever borrow more money than you really need, just because you can.
Always plan wisely, borrow only what you need, and always know how much you owe, and have a realistic plan for repaying it. Remember these rules, and you'll get the most out of student loans, and you'll have no regrets.
You may use planning tool, such as student loan repayment calculator. You input the amount of your loan and the interest rate, and it'll tell you in a few seconds how much your monthly payment will be. You can find many on the internet; just do a search for "student loan calculator".
Keep in mind, students with federal loans, whether Perkins or Stafford, have a six month grace period from the point that they withdraw, graduate or otherwise drop below half-time enrollment. At that point, their payments of principal and interest would begin. Actually, it may actually be legislated out of existence in the next few months.
|
|
