Graduating from school with your MBA is a huge accomplishment and you should be proud of yourself. Unfortunately, with that pride often comes the stress of realizing you are in a great amount of debt if you funded your education with student loans. Paying off your loans as soon as possible simply makes good financial sense.

How Much Do You Owe

It may surprise you to find that once you’ve graduated college you aren’t aware of exactly how much you owe. Don’t worry, this is common. Very few people keep track of what they’ve borrowed while making their way through graduate school. Pull out all of those notices that your financial aid office and lenders have sent you and start getting them organized. Make note of exactly who you owe and how much you owe them.

Loan Forgiveness

If you are willing to put off full-time employment for a year or two, you can have some of your debt paid off by any number of organizations. By volunteering your time to an organization, you may earn a stipend and a portion of your student loan debt may be paid. Organizations include:

- Americorps
- Peace Corps
- Vista
- Military Reserves
- Teach for America
- National Health Service Corps
- Equal Justice Works

Repayment Plans

Once you’ve decided to begin paying off your loans, research the various options for repayment. Do remember, though, that the longer you take to payback your loans, the more interest you may accrue. Here are some of your options:

- Long-Term Payment: take up to 30 years to repay your loans, plus interest, by making monthly payments
- Income-Based Payment: you can take up to 15 years to pay off your loans if you choose this option that calculates monthly payments based off of your income
- Graduated Payment: if you land a great job out of school with the potential to earn more in the coming years, this option is for you. Your payments will start low and then increase every two years for the next ten to 30 years
- Standard Payment: pay your loans back in full within 10 years to get the best interest rate. The downside: your monthly payments will be high
- Pay in Full: if you are able, paying your loans off in full will save you interest charges. This is typically not an option for many.

Understand Hardships

If you have a hardship you may qualify for deferred payments. Medical illness and the lack of finding gainful employment are just two of the hardships recognized by the Department of Education. If you have a legitimate, provable reason that you cannot make your student loan payments on time, fill out a Statement of Financial Status form.

Consolidation

Speak to a financial representative and find out if consolidating your graduate student loan debt is in your best interest. This option works well for some but not for others, which is why professional advice is important. By consolidating your loans, you can cut your monthly payments in half and may be able to extend the time of repayment.

Defaulting

Defaulting on your loans can have serious consequences and should never be considered as an option. Not only will you ruin your credit rating, which can make it difficult to find a great job, you run the risk of having your wages garnished, the Federal government filing a lawsuit against you and your Federal tax refunds being held until your loan is paid in full.

Paying off your student loans as quickly as you can is important, though you don’t want to put yourself in dire financial straits to do so. Be sure to sit down, create a budget and set up a repayment plan that you can stick to. You’ll be out of debt before you know it.

Andy Anderson is a career counselor who writes for BusinessMBA.org, a site featuring extensive information and listings for the best accounting MBA programs available.