Pay Off Student Loan Debt Faster: 3 Things To Do

If you’re stressed about your student debt, you’re not alone.  Student Loan Hero found that 61% of respondents experienced stress regarding their student loan debt.  Student loan debt is also becoming more common, with Americans owing more than 1.64 trillion dollars in student debt.  The Wall Street Journal estimated that in 2016, the average student loan borrower graduated with $37,172 in debt.

If you’re in that large group of Americans that have student debt, how can you reduce the amount of time you’re living with these student loans?  In this post, we’ll discuss 3 ways to pay off your student loan debt more quickly.

Pay off student debt faster by paying extra when you’re able. This option is available to all borrowers. It is a simple way to reduce the amount you’ll pay on interest over the life of your loan. There are payment calculators available like Lump Sum Extra Payment Calculator and Student Loan Prepayment Calculator . These can help you calculate the time and money you’ll be saving by adding a little extra to your student loan payments each month. If you need help restructuring your budget to find that extra money for student loan repayment, consider scheduling a free session with Apprisen.

Pay off student debt faster by selecting shorter repayment terms. The longer your repayment term, the more you will be paying in interest. Select the shortest repayment term that’s still feasible for your budget.  The standard repayment term is 10 years, while many income-based repayment terms are 20 to 25 years.   Your payments may be higher, but overall you will pay less over the life of the loan.

Student loan consolidation is another way to pay off student loan debt faster. Some borrowers have chosen to tackle their student loan debt by getting a consolidation loan to pay off their student loans. They then pay off the consolidation loan.  This can be helpful if the rate on the consolidation loan is lower than the rate you’d be paying directly to the federal government.  Caution: private consolidation loans do not have the deferment, forbearance, or income-based repayment options that many federal loans do.  You should be prepared to pay the full amount each month.

Any of these options are helpful ways to pay off student loans faster.  If you need help going over your student loan repayment options, check out our free student loan education session. We contact your student loan provider on our behalf, if needed.