HOW TO MANAGE YOUR STUDENT LOAN

MANAGING YOUR STUDENT LOAN

A college education may be the most important investment in a child's life and has become one of the most costly, too. The publicly reported tuition charged by private colleges and universities for the 2007-2008 can reach $50,000 a year. The trends are alarming, too. And while tuition at public universities is generally lower, costs there have been growing even more steeply in recent years as government support has lagged.

 Governments don’t charge interest on student loans for full-time or part-time students while they are in-study. Interest starts to accumulate beginning the month after you graduate or leave school (or in the case of loans for full-time studies, if you switch from full-time to part-time), but payments begin six months later.

·You can start making loan payments while you are still in school. These payments go directly toward the loan principal, which will reduce the overall amount more quickly.

·        Keep track of who issues you the money—they are the ones you will need to pay back once you have finished school.

·        Ask for help at the first sign of difficulty in paying back your loans. Contact the NSLSC if you have any questions.

·  Learn more about the interest rates for Canada Student Loans.

·  It’s a good idea to keep a file of all of the documents you used in your student loan application, including a working copy of your application.

·  Create an online student loan account with the NSLSC. You can access information about your loans, change your mailing address and view other personal account information.

·  Include your loan account number on all correspondence with the NSLSC.

First, check to see if you have any federal loans, like Staffords. Even if they came through a private lender, you can consolidate them through the Federal Direct Consolidation Loan program, which offers different repayment schedules that are meant to help you take control of your debt.

But with $100,000 in debt, you probably have some private loans in your portfolio, too. And I am going to be straight with you: Private college loans are not ideal at any time, especially now, when many lenders have left the student loan business or curtailed their lending in the wake of the financial crisis.