Having trouble making your student loan payment?
If your student loan payment is holding you back from achieving your financial goals, you are not alone. There are lots of students who graduate from college with a student loan payment that puts a strain on their budget. Many people find themselves repaying student loans well into their 30s, 40s and 50s, preventing them from reaching other financial milestones like purchasing a home, saving for retirement or funding education for their children.
Making your student loan repayment late, however, will have a significant impact on your credit rating and cause you to go more deeply into debt. And defaulting on your student loan payment is not an option – the consequences are severe and can set you back financially for years to come.
When you want to explore possibilities for lowering or suspending your student loan payment — or having your student loans forgiven altogether — contact American Consumer Credit Counseling (ACCC). As a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people get out of debt, we provide free credit counseling and educational materials that can help you understand all your options for student loan relief.
Get help with your student loan payment at ACCC.
At ACCC, we offer confidential consumer credit counseling services, along with budget counseling, housing counseling, bankruptcy counseling, a debt management program and financial education for consumers nationwide. Our certified and highly trained credit counselors can assist you in analyzing your financial situation and provide you with all your options for getting out of debt.
When you contact ACCC for a counseling session, our counselors will document your income, expenses, assets and debts and provide you with a personalized list of options based on your financial goals and situation. We’ll evaluate each possible choice and help you make the decision that works best for you financially. As you work to get out of debt, you’ll find that our website contains a wealth of free educational materials, financial calculators and budgeting tools, including a financial planning worksheet.
Ways to lower your student loan payment.
When you come to ACCC, your counselor may recommend one of several ways for handling your student loan payment:
- A new repayment plan to lower your monthly payments or tie your student loan payment to your income.
- A deferment or forbearance arrangement, allowing you to stop making payments for a period of time until you are in a better financial position.
- Consolidating student loans by taking out a new loan with a lower interest rate to pay off multiple older loans with higher or variable interest rates.
- A student loan forgiveness program for graduates entering or working in fields such as teaching, public service, healthcare and the military.
Learn more about lowering your student loan payment, and about consolidating private student loans.