How To Free Yourself From Student Loans

How To Free Yourself From Student Loans : If you are part of the millions burdened with student loan debt, you want to get rid of this problem once and for all. Some of us want to pay off our debt sooner than a standard repayment plan.

Mind you; there’s no easy way to free yourself off your student loans without paying. However, federal student loans come with forgiveness programs. After making monthly payments for a specific period, your outstanding balance gets forgiven. But, of course, you have to meet specific qualifications before.

This guide will give you every vital information you need to free yourself from your student loans. From consulting with student loans to increasing your income and decreasing expenses, here are helpful steps to follow.

Qualify For A Federal Loan Forgiveness Program

If you have federal student loans, you can eliminate your student loans using the several loan forgiveness programs offered by the U.S Department of Education. Other student loan servicing companies also handle student loans.

There are three major student loan forgiveness programs and several smaller ones. The most popular forgiveness program is Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). The PSLF offers loan forgiveness to public service workers who stay in the job for ten years.

Public service doesn’t include only government jobs. It involves other jobs such as education, non-profit, and service jobs like public safety or law enforcement.

There are two common ways to receive federal student loan forgiveness: you have to be a teacher or military personnel. Each of these fields has its forgiveness programs like the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program and the military loan forgiveness program.

However, the military loan forgiveness programs are being phased out because of the PSLF program.
- How To Get Rid Of Your Private Student Loan Debt
  
  Unfortunately, there’s no such thing as private student loan forgiveness, unlike federal student loan forgiveness. However, there are few ways to pay off your private loan debt, such as debt settlement, deferment, forbearance, refinancing, or even bankruptcy.
  
  Bankruptcy is an expensive and challenging process. First, you’ll have to file Chapter 13 or Chapter 7 bankruptcy, including a further lawsuit called the adversary proceeding. On top of that, you may need a bankruptcy attorney during the process, which may cost thousands of dollars.
  
  But there are less stressful ways like student loan refinancing. It’s one of the best ways to get rid of your loans if you have a private one. Just make sure you’re getting the best student loan refinance rates.
  
  When you refinance your student loans, your private loan lender pays off your student loans and gives you a new one based on your creditworthiness. That creditworthiness can help you get a better interest rate, enabling you to save lots of money and get lower payments every month.
  
  If you’re having challenges with your payments, the best option is to get in touch with your private lender in order to find the best private student debt relief options. Another way is to take a short-term payment pause.
Consider Federal Student Loan Consolidation

Another way to get rid of your student loans is to consolidate them. Now, consolidation can’t help you reduce your payments or your outstanding balance. Instead, what it does is allow you to organize your finances.

It’s likely possible that you would have acquired your first student loan when you begin school before your freshman year. But then, you enroll and get a new student loan every year. And if your federal student loans don’t cover the entire tuition, you’d have gone in for a private loan as well.

That means you could have several different student loans and payments, which can be confusing. What’s even worse, each federal student loan could have other due dates and payment amounts.

Any mistake in the payments could negatively affect your credit score and, ultimately, your financial future. That’s what the loan consolidation can help you with.
Check To See If Your Employer Offers Tuition Repayment

Nowadays, you can find many employers that are willing to give their employees tuition reimbursement. But, of course, one way to pay for your tuition is to work full time while you get your college degree.

As part of their employee benefits, some companies offer complete degree programs. Others offer student loan repayment programs for their employers. In such places, the company pays off portions of your student loan debt.

It’s ideal for working during college, and it’s one of the smartest moves to make. If you’re already employed, make sure to take advantage of any of your employer’s benefits. It’s possible to eliminate a significant part of your student loans just from the benefit.

Many of the tuition reimbursement programs require you to take out a student loan and provide evidence that you’ve completed your course. Once it’s verified, your employer will usually reimburse you via your paycheck.

Now, if you’ve already completed college and have massive student loans, you can get signing bonuses from some employers. Some even throw in other perks, but you have to ask before joining the company. First, you need to find out if your employer will offer any assistance with your student loans.
Find a Repayment Plan That Matches Your Financial Situation

Another way to free yourself from student loans is to search for a repayment plan to help you make payments without stress. Then, after graduation, you get enrolled automatically in the standard repayment plan.

The standard repayment plan ensures that you finish your payments within ten years. Of course, this does not work for everyone. However, most students don’t know that they can change the plan.

If you have federal student loans, you can make your loan debts more manageable by choosing other repayment plans. That can help you clear your debts faster. If your income increases in the next few years, you could opt for a Graduated Repayment Plan. This payment has a lower loan payment in the beginning but rises over time.

If you want a lower monthly payment for a long time, you can opt for an Extended Repayment Plan. Regardless, you need to know your financial situation and your plans before choosing a plan.

Conclusion

All the points discussed in this guide can help you get rid of your student loans. But before you proceed, you need to consider some things. First, you need to establish your personal and financial goals to know what you want to achieve.

You then build a budget to help you know how much are you spending each month and where your money goes. If you need to cut some expenses, do so, and always try to find ways to increase your income.