Managing Debt During School

The Student Budget That Prepares You for Loan Payments
Budgeting as a Student

The Student Budget That Prepares You for Loan Payments

Most student budgets ignore the biggest plot twist of college life: the loan payment waiting on the other side. You track rent, grocery runs, gas...

15 days ago Read More
Campus Jobs and Work-Study: Pay for School Without Burning Out
Work Study and Campus Jobs

Campus Jobs and Work-Study: Pay for School Without Burning Out

A campus job can be one of the smartest moves you make in college. It puts money in your pocket without requiring a car, a commute, or a boss who...

19 days ago Read More
Paying Student Loan Interest While You’re in School: The Small Payment That Saves You Big Later
Paying Interest While in School

Paying Student Loan Interest While You’re in School: The Small Payment That Saves You Big Later

If you have unsubsidized federal student loans or private loans, interest starts running the day the money hits your account. That’s true even if...

24 days ago Read More
How to Avoid Borrowing More Student Loan Money Than You Actually Need
Avoiding Extra Borrowing

How to Avoid Borrowing More Student Loan Money Than You Actually Need

Student loans are not free money with a delay button. Every dollar you borrow today follows you after graduation with interest. Avoiding extra...

29 days ago Read More
Paying Interest While in School: The Small Payment That Keeps Student Debt From Growing
Paying Interest While in School

Paying Interest While in School: The Small Payment That Keeps Student Debt From Growing

Just because you don’t have to pay while you’re in school doesn’t mean interest takes a nap. On unsubsidized federal loans and most private loans...

1 month ago Read More
Stay Organized With Student Loans Before They Start Running Your Life
Staying Organized

Stay Organized With Student Loans Before They Start Running Your Life

If you’re in school and borrowing for it, the single most important thing you can do is stop treating your loans like a mystery. You don’t need a...

1 month ago Read More
In-School Deferment vs. Forbearance: The Smart Way to Pause Student Loan Payments
Deferment and Forbearance

In-School Deferment vs. Forbearance: The Smart Way to Pause Student Loan Payments

If you’re enrolled at least half-time, your federal student loans usually come with an in-school deferment. That means you don’t have to make...

1 month ago Read More
How to Stay Organized With Student Loans While You’re Still in School
Staying Organized

How to Stay Organized With Student Loans While You’re Still in School

Staying organized with student loans during school isn’t about color-coded binders. It’s about knowing what you owe, who you owe it to, and when the...

1 month ago Read More
Your Financial Aid Refund Is Not Free Money: Budget It Like You Mean It
Budgeting as a Student

Your Financial Aid Refund Is Not Free Money: Budget It Like You Mean It

When that financial aid refund hits your bank account, it can feel like a bonus. It is not. If it came from student loans, it is future money with...

1 month ago Read More
How to Stay Organized With Student Loans While You’re in School
Staying Organized

How to Stay Organized With Student Loans While You’re in School

Student loans get messy when they live in your inbox, your memory, and a pile of paper on your desk. The fix isn’t a fancy app or a finance degree...

2 months ago Read More
Your Student Loan Servicer Is Not Your Enemy—But You Need to Know Exactly Who You’re Dealing With
Understanding Your Loan Servicer

Your Student Loan Servicer Is Not Your Enemy—But You Need to Know Exactly Who You’re Dealing With

Your student loan servicer is the company that sends your bills, tracks your balance, processes your payments, and handles your questions. It may not...

2 months ago Read More
How to Track Down Your Student Loan Servicer Before You Owe a Payment
Understanding Your Loan Servicer

How to Track Down Your Student Loan Servicer Before You Owe a Payment

Your student loan servicer is the company that handles your loan after the money is sent to your school. It sends bills, processes payments, tracks...

2 months ago Read More
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FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, loans (especially federal ones) can be transferred to a different servicer, and you don't get to choose or block it — you'll typically be notified by mail or email when it happens. It's worth double-checking that your autopay and contact information transfer correctly whenever a switch occurs, since payments have occasionally been missed during transitions.

Since the government covers interest on subsidized loans while you're in school, there's less urgency there, but any payment still reduces the principal directly, which lowers future interest costs too. If you have extra money and multiple loan types, it's often more efficient to direct it toward unsubsidized or private loans first, since those are already accruing interest.

Deferment is a specific, eligibility-based pause in payments — for things like being enrolled in school, unemployment, or economic hardship — during which subsidized loan interest doesn't accrue. Forbearance is a more general, often easier-to-get pause that a servicer can grant for financial difficulty, but interest keeps accruing on every loan type during forbearance.

They're separate debts, but credit card interest rates are typically much higher than student loan rates, so credit card balances that carry over month to month tend to cost far more over time. Prioritizing paying off credit cards in full, even while student loans sit at a lower, fixed rate, is usually the more expensive debt to avoid carrying.

The biggest levers tend to be borrowing only what you need each term rather than the maximum offered, finishing in four years when possible, keeping housing and living costs modest, and applying for scholarships every year rather than just as an incoming student, since renewal and upperclassman scholarships are often less competitive.