Higher education since time immemorial has been the prerogative of the rich and the wealthy. The poor could only afford to send their children to the local grammar school and then sometimes to a primary school. That was all the education that child from the poor and even the middle class families could hope for.

With the coming of the student loans, the doors to higher education were thrown open for the not-so-fortunate ones. Lumpsum money taken from the lender for pursuing higher degree courses on the pledge that it would be returned once the student got gainfully employed. This was the long and the short of education loans. With the easy availability of the loans, both private as well as federal, the tuition began to rise in the colleges, especially the for-profit colleges.

Present Crisis of Student Education Loans

According to a recent survey done in 2017, the education loan debt is the second highest category of consumer debt, the first one being the mortgage debt. The skyrocketed increase in the debt of student loan happened because of decreasing availability of job.

Then came the crash in the economy and even the highly qualified student could not get jobs. With no jobs to support them financially, the student education loans they had taken became defaulted.

Increasing Rate of Student Loans

Now, loans always have the tendency to become defaulted if they are not paid off in time. But this time the student loans default rates became so high that it crossed the $1 trillion mark and if the predictions of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is anything to go by, the situation is only going to get worse.

A student, by the time he completes graduation, owes about $20,000 in loan which even a couple of years back was about $4,00 less than the national average for the university graduates. With such an amount of loan to be paid back and the high rate of unemployment and also under employment is something that the federal should have taken into account, when there was still time.

The economists have long predicted a situation like this where the input in terms of the college tuition and other peripheral costs of education would far exceed the output in terms of the employability of the students.

Easy Ways to Deal with the Crisis of Student Loans

It has been surveyed that approximately 60% of guardians can help their youngsters in overcoming the debt of student education loans.

Avail the Grace Period:

Depending upon the type of loan taken, your grace period will be determined. During this grace period, you can complete the graduation without worrying about the loan repayment. But, if you still keep aside certain amount of money every month, you won’t have to face any dire consequences of debt in the near future. As for instance, you need to pay $300 monthly after the expiry of your given grace period, let it be 6 months. It means that after those 6 months, you’ve to clear $1800. But, if you save $300 each month, you’ll be in safe hands.

Pick the Best Plan of Loan Repaying:

Different types of loan repayment plans are available like Pay-As-You-Earn, and Income-Based Repayment. Depending upon your present earning, you should pick one of the options to manage your monthly payment by keeping it to the minimum. If you have taken several loans frequently, then keep a track of all of these loans by knowing more about student loan consolidation.

Cut Down the Interest Rate of Loan:

As the time of paying tax approaches, reduce your interest rate on education loan. You can deduct your taxable income to at least $2000 on the interest amount by paying the tax. This step may not help you immensely but whatever amount it is deducting will be of help to you, isn’t it? Request your lender to send you the detailed information about your tax payment offline or you can get it instantly by opting for online receipt.

Conclusion

Apart from the above mentioned points, another effective advice that would come in any use for the student is to find a college or an institution that has a good track record of students’ employment and then enroll in their graduation program. Also, make sure that the loan amount that is borrowed for the course does not exceed the amount needed to meet the absolute necessities to avoid the consequences of Student loans in Default. A part-time job in the meantime is a good option for the students to beat the student debt blues. Certain professions such as veterinarians, lawyers, and others forgive student loans.