Students coming out of college now face an annual rite of passage on graduation – how to pay for all those school expenses piled up on student loans? Unfortunately, the great American education, like the American Dream of owning a home, is built on debt.
And with the cost of university these days, it can be tens of thousands of dollars for at least four years of higher education. That kind of debt saddled onto a person trying to get a start in a career and needing to start payments within six months can easily be a big source of anxiety. Understanding how to manage that kind of debt early on can be an advantage as well as a bit of relief too.
How Student Debt Works
Generally, most student loans become due once a student graduates from college or stops attending. There is a grace period of about six months in many cases before the first payment has to be made. The payment amount is set, based on the student loan agreement, and may change if the interest rate applied is adjusted. These payments then span 10 years, on average, before the given loan is fully paid.
Students typically have choices in how the loan is constructed before it starts the payment process. Standard is the same payment across the life of the loan unless adjusted for an interest change. Graduated schedules involve a lower payment in the first few years, which increases and raises the payment amount in later years. This can cost more as interest adds more charges to the principal of the loan, but it does create an easier payment in the first few years as a graduate is starting out.
Consolidated student loans take all the different student loans a student has and packages them into one new student loan. This could be done by the same lender or a different one, like Symple Lending. The life of the loan could be longer, which has the advantage of creating a lower monthly payment, but it can cost more with additional interest over time.
Lowering Student Debt Impact Without Changing Payments
There are other options for students as well. If you have the energy, for example, working two jobs can accelerate income and the ability to pay down debt principal faster. Many people are doing this with a freelance job online in the evening or weekends outside the normal workday.
Alternatively, graduates can consider living at home again. This avoids the heavy cost of rent and instead, income earned can go to extra debt payments. Removing student loan early can be a big financial advantage later in life, especially if you are looking to buy a car or a home down the line.
Consolidated Loans Help Many
For those who don’t have other options, a consolidated loan from corporations in the same category as Symple Lending can be a working solution. Always remember, anything that extends a loan does make it more expensive over all, but easier cash flow can make career success after school a lot easier.
