Pay More than Your Minimum Payment
Paying a little extra each month can reduce the interest you pay and reduce your total cost of your loan over time. Continue to make monthly payments even if you've satisfied future payments, and you'll pay off your loan faster.
Just because the average student graduates with nearly $40,000 worth of student loans to repay, it doesn't mean you have to choose between college or debt. There are ways to minimize the cost of college, and the amount you need to take out in loans, such as: Save up for college during a gap year.
What is considered a lot of student loan debt? A lot of student loan debt is more than you can afford to repay after graduation. For many this means having more than $70,000 – $100,000 of total student debt.
It will take 47 months to pay off $40,000 with payments of $1,200 per month, assuming the average credit card APR of around 18%. The time it takes to repay a balance depends on how often you make payments, how big your payments are and what the interest rate charged by the lender is.
1. You might have little to no savings. If you're putting all your extra cash toward your student loans, you miss out on setting that money aside to build a savings fund. Having an emergency fund is crucial because life happens — as do sudden bills, repairs, and expenses — when you least expect it.
Yes, it's a lot. For the 70% of college grads who take on debt, the average has been pretty stable at about $30,000 for the past few years.
Make additional payments
You don't have to commit to a bigger monthly payment every month to pay off your student loan debt faster. You can also make additional payments whenever you have any “found money” to put toward your debt. “Found money” refers to gifts, unexpected tax refunds, or other financial windfalls.
Can You Get A Mortgage And Buy A House With Student Loans? Yes, home buyers with student loans can qualify for a mortgage because you don't need to be 100% debt-free to buy a house. However, when a lender evaluates your application, they will look at your current debt, including your student loans.
With $50,000 in student loan debt, your monthly payments could be quite expensive. Depending on how much debt you have and your interest rate, your payments will likely be about $500 per month or more.
According to EducationData.org, student loan borrowers are in debt by an average of $39,350. So, if you have $50,000 in student loan debt, you owe more than the national average among borrowers. How much student loan debt is too much depends on your payment, income, living expenses, and other debts.
There are many benefits to paying off your student debt early. You will save on student loan interest and get out of debt faster while improving your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio. With a higher DTI ratio and more disposable income, you could pursue other financial goals, such as buying a house or saving for retirement.
Student loan debt negotiation may free you from some or all of your debt, but it comes at a price. That price used to include having to pay tax on the cancelled amount, but that's no longer the case through 2025, thanks to the student loan stimulus relief passed by Congress in March 2021.
Student Loan Debt Statistics in 2023
Student loan debt totals $1.74 trillion and is held by about 43.5 million Americans, with the average monthly payment amounting to $337.
The outstanding federal loan balance is $1.645 trillion and accounts for 93.1% of all student loan debt. 43.6 million borrowers have federal student loan debt. The average federal student loan debt balance is $37,718, while the total average balance (including private loan debt) may be as high as $40,499.
The rise and fall of interest rates are also a logical factor. According to the Federal Reserve, 30-39 year-olds have an average student loan debt of $42,748. 40-49-year-olds possess an average student loan debt of $44,864. Borrowers 24 and younger owe an average of $14,563 in student loan debt.