How to deal with hefty student loans?
I am starting to freak out about my student loan balance. I am approaching graduation and after coming to terms with the fact that my academic adviser cost me nearly 000, I am looking at about 000 in student loans for my bachelors degree ( I already had my associates when I started!). That is going to end up being a payment of nearly 0 a month for 10 years. I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions and also if I am the only one with a bachelors degree and this much debt.
There are 6 different repayment plans available to students who’ve borrowed Stafford loans. Check out this website and it lists them. One you might want to take a look at is the income sensitive or income contingent repayment plan, or you can extend from 10 years to 25 years.
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/DirectLoan/RepayCalc/dlindex2.html
Most lenders let you sign up for a new repayment plan online, without ever having to call. I have Nelnet as my servicer and they let me change to income-sensitive completely online (I had to fax in a copy of my two most recent pay stubs).
Your lenders site will also feature the six different repayment plans.