Many of you who graduated in May 2009 are now entering the repayment stage of your federal student loan. While often dreaded, there are different tools and plans available to make paying off your student loan affordable, simplified, and will minimize your total interest cost. 

Standard repayment provides level monthly payments that cover accruing interest and a portion of principal. This is usually the most economical option as you will accrue the least amount of interest.

If you need to have lower monthly payments, you have a few different options: Extended Repayment, Graduated Repayment, Income-Sensitive Repayment and Income-Based Repayment. These will all provide a more manageable monthly payment, but you will pay more interest over the long run and not everyone will qualify. Find out more about all these different plans at Sallie Mae^®.

As for private student loans, eligibility repayment plans may vary by loan type, loan balance, and disbursement date. Be sure to talk to your lender about your options!

If you haven't entered repayment yet, Sallie Mae has a Loan Repayment Calculator to help estimate what your monthly payments will be under all these different payment options, helping you choose which will be best for you!

If you have a little extra cash left over each month, I would highly recommend prepaying your student loan! As long as your lender doesn't penalize you (most shouldn't but you definitely need to check first), these extra payments you make are applied to the principal of the loan, after the accrued interest and any outstanding fees (if applicable) are satisfied. If you reduce your principal — even by a little — you reduce the amount of interest you have to pay over the life of your loan. Basically, the sooner you pay off your loan, the less time it has to build up interest and the less money you owe!

And don't forget your old Upromise^TM account! Not just for high school students anymore, Upromise Loan Link^® can help you earn rewards on everyday purchases to pay down your Sallie Mae loan.

And not matter what, don't panic. With a little bit of planning you can soon be on your way to building credit, managing your debt and being in charge of your own financial future!