Although the media and financial institutions have been reporting about how crippling student loan debt is to modern American graduates, there are worse things in life.  Because of the economy, everything costs more, especially a college education.  Don’t get pressured into taking advice from questionable sources about paying off your student loan debt.  Unlike other things in life, there is always hope for paying off your student loan debt.

Averages And Interest Rates

In 2006, the average student loan debt of an American 4 year college graduate was $20,000.  The first payment on these loans is normally six months after graduation, whether you have a job or not.  This statistic is incredibly scary at first read.  It seems like you can't win no matter how hard you try because of student loan debt.

However, when you born you owed some government somewhere a certain amount of money in future taxes.  It is next to impossible to get through modern American or European life without owing somebody a heck of a lot of money.  Have you ever looked at how much a house costs?  That will make your student loan look paltry in comparison.

You Are Not A Hopeless Case

There are always things you can do to negotiate a lower interest rate.  This is even better when you have had a job for a while, as you can prove that you are a low-risk borrower.  But you can always contact a debt management specialist at any point of your life.  These are often non-profit organizations that will offer you money management classes as well as a consolidation loan.

A $20,000 student loan debt, believe it or not, isn't that much.  You can conceivably pay it off in comfortable monthly installments in about five to seven years.  That's a lot shorter than a mortgage.  You might be even rewarded with a refund if you are able to make more than your minimum payment per month.

But you have to learn how to manage your money.  That's the difficult bit.  You can't get a new car, furnish your apartment and order pizza every night when you have a student loan debt to pay back.  In learning how to live frugally now, you not only learn more than your college every taught you, but you get a great credit score for paying back a loan.