Many borrowers take out multiple student loans throughout their college years to help pay for their education. But staying on top of the details for every student loan you have can be tricky.
You may have both federal and private student loans to keep track of. You probably owe different amounts on each one, the repayment terms and monthly due dates may vary, and you might have several different loan servicers to deal with. That’s a lot to juggle!
Fortunately, learning how to keep your student loans organized can make it easier to manage your payments — and make your life a little less stressful, too. Here’s how to tackle the process.
Key Points
• Organizing student loans can help borrowers manage their payments more effectively and reduce stress.
• Create a comprehensive inventory of all student loans, including type of loan, balance, interest rate, and due dates.
• Regularly review student loan information from your lender or loan servicer for accuracy and updates.
• Use spreadsheets or digital tools to track payments and balances efficiently.
• Monitor repayment progress and update records monthly to stay organized.
Importance of Organizing Student Loans
Student loan borrowers owe an average of $38,375 in student loan debt, according to the Education Data Initiative. Organizing your student loans is one way to help repay that kind of debt efficiently. Being organized can help you see exactly how much you owe on your loans each month, choose the best repayment strategy for your situation, and schedule your payments so they’re on time.
Organizing your student loans can also be helpful if you’re considering student loan refinancing. For instance, if some of your student loans have an interest rate that’s high, you might want to see if you could qualify for a lower rate or more favorable terms through refinancing. In order to submit an application for refinancing, you’ll need to provide the details about your loan to a new private lender. When your loans are organized, you’ll have that information readily available.
Learn more: How to Refinance Student Loans
Steps to Organize Your Student Loans
Organizing your loans takes a little time initially, but the process is fairly easy to do once you get started. Here’s how to organize student loans step by step.
Create a Comprehensive Inventory
Compiling all your loan information in one place provides you with a complete view of what you owe. Think of it as your own personal student loan organizer. Here is the information you’ll want to collect:
• Student loan type (federal or private)
• Loan disbursement date
• Original principal balance
• Current balance
• Interest rate and type (fixed or variable)
• Grace period on the loan
• Repayment term
• Payment plan you’re on for federal loans
• Minimum monthly payment amount due
• Payment due date
• History of any payments you’ve made so far
• Name and contact information for your lender or loan servicer
Learning how to organize your student loans after graduation — or even better, setting up this kind of inventory as soon as you borrow your first student loan — can help you devise a payment game-plan.
Develop a Repayment Strategy
That brings us to the next step: using the data you’ve gathered to figure out the best strategy for your student loan repayment goals.
Say your priority is to reduce the amount of interest you pay. With the information from your student loan inventory list, you can quickly spot the education loans with the highest rate. Then you can decide the best way to pay that interest down. For instance, you might opt for the debt avalanche method, which involves putting extra funds toward repaying the loan with the highest interest rate first.
Or if your goal is to lower student loan payments, take a close look at the repayment plan you’re enrolled in for your federal loans. For example, if you’re on the Standard Repayment Plan, you can explore the other options, such as the Graduated Repayment Plan, in which your payments start out lower and gradually increase every two years — the idea being that, ideally, your income will rise as you advance in your job.
Just be aware that on the graduated plan, because your payments are smaller at first, you’ll likely pay more interest than you would on the standard plan. Weigh the pros and cons of the various repayment options to see if it makes sense for you to change student loan repayment plans.
Monitor Your Progress
As you make your monthly loan payments, update your information to stay organized. Record the payment dates and amounts and the new loan balance. That way, you can see the current status of all your student loans at a glance.
If you find that there’s still too much to keep track of, you might consider streamlining the process. One way to do this is by consolidating student loans. Consolidation involves combining all your federal student loans into one loan with one monthly payment.
If you want to keep your access to federal programs and protections, you could explore a Direct Consolidation Loan. Note, however, that consolidating streamlines the loan paying process, but it generally doesn’t save you money. With a Direct Consolidation Loan, your new interest rate is a weighted average of all your loans’ interest rates, rounded up to the nearest eighth of a percentage point. Any unpaid interest on the loans you’re consolidating will be added to the principal of the new loan.
If you have private student loans, refinancing is a way to consolidate your loans and combine them into one new loan, ideally with a lower interest rate or better loan terms if you qualify. There are positives and negatives of student loan refinancing, so be sure that you understand them before moving ahead.
Recommended: Student Loan Refinancing Calculator
Tools and Resources for Managing Student Loans
There are many tools you can use to help keep your student loans organized. The following resources are a good place to start.
Spreadsheets and Tracking Documents
You can use digital tools to organize your loans, such as apps that help you plan and track your debt repayment. There are also student loan trackers that let you manage your student loan debt in one place.
Or you can simply set up a spreadsheet to get an overview of your student debt. Add columns for the inventory bullet points listed above, and create filters for each column to view the data in a way that’s easiest and most effective for you.
Finally, be sure to keep tabs on all the loan documents you’ve received. This includes financial aid award letters, copies of private student loan applications, loan promissory notes, and billing statements. You can either keep a physical file folder of this information or go paperless by creating digital folders on your computer to store any correspondence from your lender or loan servicer.
Loan Servicer Portals
Another method you can use instead of or in addition to setting up your own tracking system is to take advantage of tools offered by your loan servicer. All details regarding your loan can typically be found on the loan servicer’s account portal. (If you’re not sure who your federal loan servicer is, log in to your account at StudentAid.gov.)
On your loan servicer’s website, create a login if you haven’t done so already. Once you’re in, you should be able to access the key information about your loans. If you have loans through multiple lenders, you’ll need to log into each portal individually to see your loan details.
While loan servicer portals are a convenient way to access your loan details, relying on this method alone can make it hard to see the big picture regarding your student debt. That’s why having all of your loan information live in one place, like in a spreadsheet, can be useful.
Benefits of Staying Organized
Organizing your student loans is a practical way to manage your student debt and ensure that your loan bills are paid on time. And along with the logistical benefits, organizing can also help you feel less anxious about your loans and give you a sense of control.
Reducing Stress
Dealing with student loan debt can be stressful. And if your loan information is disorganized and hard to find, that can just add to the anxiety. Plus, you might miss a payment, which can be especially stressful.
Organizing your student loan information so you know exactly where to find it, and then keeping it updated, can save you a lot of worry. If you want to switch to a new repayment plan or consolidate or refinance your loans, you’ll have all the pertinent details at your fingertips.
Best of all, as you pay off your loans and record your progress, you can see your balance start to shrink. That can be rewarding and motivating.
The Takeaway
Organizing your student loans so that all the details you need are in one easy-to-access place can help you manage your payments. Getting organized can be as simple as creating a computer spreadsheet or using a digital tool like a debt repayment app or your loan servicer’s portal.
Once you’re done organizing, if you ever want to change your loan repayment option, streamline your loans with consolidation, or potentially get a lower interest rate through student loan refinancing, you can simply pull up your spreadsheet or tracking tool to get the information you need.
Looking to lower your monthly student loan payment? Refinancing may be one way to do it — by extending your loan term, getting a lower interest rate than what you currently have, or both. (Please note that refinancing federal loans makes them ineligible for federal forgiveness and protections. Also, lengthening your loan term may mean paying more in interest over the life of the loan.) SoFi student loan refinancing offers flexible terms that fit your budget.
FAQ
How often should I review my student loan information?
It’s a good idea to review the accuracy of your student loan debt regularly. For example, you might do an inventory of your loan balances and payment history quarterly, or even monthly, to make sure everything is correct. If you are planning to change your student loan repayment option or you’re considering refinancing or consolidating your student loans, always review your loan information first to make sure it’s accurate and up to date.
What should I do if I have multiple loan servicers?
If your student loan debt involves multiple loan servicers, one organizing method is to keep an up-to-date record of your student loans listed under each servicer. Include the loan servicer’s contact information as well as the loan details like the principal balance, interest rate, repayment terms, and payment due dates. Record each payment and the date as you make it.
Can consolidating my loans help with organization?
Consolidation may help you streamline your student loans. Consolidation involves merging federal student loans into one loan with one payment so you have less to organize and keep track of.
How can I stay informed about changes to my loan terms?
To stay informed about changes to your loan terms, make sure that your student loan servicer or lender has your current contact information. This includes your mailing address, phone number, and email address. Also, it’s helpful to log in to your lender’s online portal regularly to view your loan’s current status and details and check for any updates.
Where can I find reliable resources for student loan management?
Federal student loan borrowers can log in to their StudentAid.gov account for tools, information, and resources on managing their student loans. On their account dashboard, they can see their loan details as well. If you have private student loans, visit your lender’s online portal and log in to your account to access your loan details. Depending on the lender, they might also offer tools or information to help you track and manage your loans.
photo credit: iStock/GaudiLab
SoFi Student Loan Refinance
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