How to Control Student-Loan Debt

Don't leave college with excessive education debt. These tips may help you keep your student-loan debt affordable:

• Borrow only what you need to cover the cost of education.
• Pay the interest on education loans as it comes due.
• Enroll in a tuition-payment plan, which lets you pay in installments rather than a lump sum. Check with your school to learn if it offers a tuition-payment plan.
• Budget to control expenses. Include out-of-pocket education costs as well as expenses for living, transportation, personal items and entertainment. Analyze where the money goes and determine ways to cut costs. Consider buying used textbooks, using public or school-provided transportation, eating out less, and finding a roommate to share expenses. Always ask yourself before buying: "Is this something I really need?" If you don't know, then you usually can skip the purchase.
• Consider working part time. Plan your work schedule so your academic work will not suffer. Investigate campus work-study opportunities. Start looking early, because work-study funds are first-come, first-served.
• Determine how much education debt you can afford to repay by analyzing future earnings. Try to keep monthly education-loan payments to less than 8 to 10 percent of your gross monthly income.
• Complete your degree on time. You will accumulate more education debt as you extend your school enrollment.
• Keep a file of your education-loan documents and other financial-aid papers.