New To Repaying Student Loans? Here's Where To Start

For those who avoid looking at their student loans

November 10, 2021

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4 min

Want to know the first thought that passes through your head after coming down that graduation high?

"sh*t, how am I going to pay my loans back?"

And we know the general answer: get a job, earn money, and make payments.

But who do I even pay? How much do I have to give them monthly? How long is this grace period I've heard about?

Look, I get it. I don't want to be another horror story on student loan debt either, especially with a company that relies on me financially.

This post will go over where to start when paying back your student loans.

Why Is Paying Back Student Loans Important?

Open up a credit score app like Credit Karma.

Sure, you see your score, but you should also see what's contributing to it. I'll show mine as an example. (Picture to the right.)

As you can see, student loans make up my score and frankly hold it down.

Understand that your credit score is your GPA for life.

If you want to make more significant purchases for yourself or your business, this score could be a deciding factor via the interest rates that come along with it.

So the main goal is to bring down the amount owed to increase the credit score attached to our name.

Tip: Break out a spreadsheet to get a complete visual of your student loans.

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Who

First, you want to know who exactly you owe.

Yes, you applied on FAFSA, and schools included the federal loan in your aid, but who actually fronted the money?

I'll give you a hint: every time you receive a loan, the U.S. Department of Education sends you an email alongside the loan servicer. The loan servicer is also known as the entity that will collect the payments on a loan.

If you have more than one, it's vital to list them out (including banks and private lenders).

Here's a list of federal loan servicers:

Source: studentaid.gov

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What

Next, determine what you owe.

Remember, you took out a loan every semester at the most. Meaning you may have pulled eight federal loans if you had a standard four-year college career.

Start by recording the value of each loan at the time it was dispersed.

Second, find the interest rate of each rate and record it.

Lastly, know the minimum monthly payments for each loan.