学生贷款 还款的事实

You vaguely remember signing a form every year at college registration time. 既然你已经毕业了, it’s all become painfully clear — those forms were promissory notes detailing your student loan obligations. Your loans aren’t going away, and you’ll want to repay them as quickly as possible. 所以无论你是有一小笔钱还是一笔财富需要偿还, 温习一些学生贷款偿还的基本知识是很有帮助的.

什么是学生贷款 宽限期?

毕业后, 你可能有很多事情要考虑——决定住在哪里, 找工作, 租公寓. Fortunately, you don’t have to add student loans to your list, at least not right away. 由于大多数学生贷款都有宽限期, they give you some time before you have to start making loan payments. You’ll likely get anywhere from six to nine months before you need to start repaying your loans. This gives you some breathing room to get financially settled so make sure and familiarize yourself with the 宽限期 for your loan(s).

理解你的 还款方式

你唯一的还款选择是固定还款的日子一去不复返了, 等额付款，期限为10年. Though this is certainly one option — and typically the fastest way to pay off your loans — it’s not the only option. Because of the growing number of students who require student loans to finance their education and the ever increasing amount of their debt, the federal 政府ernment offers several flexible repayment plans to help students manage this large financial responsibility. (Private student lenders may or may not offer the following plans — check with your lender.)

标准还款计划:

这是最初的还款计划. With a standard plan, you generally pay a fixed amount each month for up to 10 years.

分级还款计划:

有一个分级计划, your payments start out low in the early years of the loan but increase in later years (the term is still 10 years). This plan is tailored to individuals with relatively low current incomes (e.g., recent college graduates) who expect their incomes to increase in the future. 然而, you’ll ultimately pay more for your loan than you would under the standard plan, because more interest accumulates in the early years of the plan when your outstanding loan balance is higher.

延长还款计划:

有一个扩展的计划, 你延长了偿还贷款的时间, 通常是12到30年, 视贷款金额而定. Your fixed monthly payment is lower than it would be under the standard plan, 但是再一次, you’ll ultimately pay more for your loan because of the interest that accumulates under the longer repayment period. Note: Many lenders allow you to combine an extended plan with a graduated plan.

以收入为基础的还款计划:

以收入为基础的还款(IBR)计划, your monthly loan payment is based on your annual discretionary income. The federal 政府ernment offers a PAYE plan (Pay As You Earn) and a REPAYE plan (Revised Pay as You Earn). 一般, undergraduate borrowers who qualify will pay 10% of their discretionary income toward their student loans each month, 在20年的按时还款之后, the remaining balance may be forgiven (payments may be forgiven after 10 years for those in certain public interest jobs and after 25 years for graduate school borrowers). For more information, visit the federal 政府ernment’s student aid website at studentaid.政府.

学生贷款合并:

Loan consolidation is technically not a repayment option, but it does overlap. 通过贷款合并, 你把几笔学生贷款合并成一笔贷款, 有时利率更低. 因此，你可以每个月写一张支票. 你需要申请贷款合并, and different lenders have different rules about which loans qualify for consolidation. 然而, 大多数贷款合并, you can choose an extended repayment and/or a graduated repayment plan in addition to a standard repayment plan.

选择最好的还款方式

选择最好的还款方式, you’ll need to determine the amount of discretionary income that you have to put toward your student loan each month. This, in turn, requires you to make a budget and track your monthly income and expenses.

除了询问还款方式, ask whether your lender offers any special discounts for prompt loan repayment. 例如, some lenders may shave a percentage point off your interest rate if you allow them to directly debit your checking account each month. Or, they may waive some monthly payments after receiving on-time payments for a certain length of time.

申请 延期、容忍或贷款减免 如果你付不起

有时，你会发现你自己 苦苦挣扎的 to make ends meet and it might become financially difficult or impossible to repay your student loan. The worst thing you can do is ignore your payments (and your lender) completely. The best thing you can do is contact your lender and apply for a deferment, 忍耐, 或者取消你的贷款.

延期:

With a deferment, your lender grants you a temporary reprieve from repaying your student loan 基于特定的条件, 比如失业, 暂时性残疾, 服兵役, 或者回到全日制的研究生院. For federal loans, the federal 政府ernment pays the interest that accrues 在延期期间，所以你的贷款余额不会增加. 延期通常持续六个月, and you are limited in the total number of deferments you can take over the life of the loan.

忍耐:

带着宽容, your lender grants you permission to reduce or stop your loan payments for a certain period of time (一个常见的原因是经济困难). 然而, 利息继续增加，即使是联邦贷款. 比如延期, 缓期通常持续六个月, 在贷款期限内允许的总数量是有限的.

学生贷款减免:

免除学生贷款, 也就是所谓的取消, your loan is permanently wiped off your list of financial obligations. 不过，获得贷款减免的资格并不容易. Situations when this may be allowed are the death or permanent total disability of the borrower, or if the borrower takes a job teaching needy populations in certain geographic areas. 一般来说，你不能因学生贷款而破产.

记住，这些事情从来都不是自动的. 你需要从你的贷款人那里填写适当的申请表, 附上任何证明文件, and follow up to make sure that your application has been processed correctly.

跟踪 你的文书工作

If your idea of organization is stuffing your random assortment of student loan papers into your sock drawer, 或者不保留全部, 再想想. Repaying your student loans is a serious matter, and you’ll need to stay on top of it. 保持准确、可访问的记录很重要. 为每个贷款打开一个文件夹, 并将相关文件归档, 比如本票的副本, 优惠券册子, 贷款人的信件, 延期和/或延期文件, 以及所有通话记录.