I also intern for SimpleTuiton, an online student loan comparison tool that allows borrowers to see customized loan details before applying. More importantly, we offer a lot of great related sources for students in college, as well as those who have graduated.

Here is a great article for your readers on what to do with your student loans upon graduation and what to expect. As you put it, student loans are important to stay on top of, yet many students don’t.

http://www.simpletuition.com/resource/students/after-graduation/student-loans-after-school/

Thanks again for the great tips!

By not paying attention and keeping track of my loans I ended up with private loans in collections. They have been stuck there the entire time and since they are private there does not seem to be a rehabilitation program.

Great advice and great post! Take it from me, not keeping up on this stuff makes it difficult down the road.

Some universities have tripled their fees in the last 10 years! Has the education gotten better?

Regardless, there will be a record # of applicants this year, I’m sure.

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You’re quite right about many students having no idea who they owe, what they owe, or what they’re going to owe on graduation.

Besides your tips above, I would also suggest that students set up a good budget spreadsheet and update it when they run their loan calculations. Not only is this a good habit to develop, it also lets you see the impact that your spending while a student will have on your total loan obligations and the difference that adjustments to your budget can make on the big picture.

@Steward and Slinky - thanks for sharing your stories, guys! These are the stories that point out why this stuff is so important to keep track of, and so much harder to track down if you forget about any of it.