Student loans can lead to a dream education, but that can turn into a nightmare if you’re not smart about it. Thus, learning all you can about the topic of student loans is essential to do before obligating yourself. The advice that follows is a good starting point.

Know what kind of grace periods your loans offer. This is typically a six to nine month period after your graduation before repayments start. You can use this time to start saving up for some initial payments, getting you ready to avoid any penalties.

Always know the pertinent details of your loans. You need to watch what your balance is, who the lender you’re using is, and what the repayment status currently is with loans. These details will significantly influence the repayment options available to you, as well as the loan forgiveness terms you will face. It will help you budget accordingly.

Never fear paying your student loans if you are unemployed or another emergency happens. Generally speaking, you will be able to get help from your lender in cases of hardship. However, this can make it to where you have higher interest rates and more to pay back.

A two-step process can be used to pay your student loans. Always pay on each of them at least the minimum. Next, pay extra on your loan with the largest interest rate instead of the one with the largest balance. That way, you will end up spending a lesser amount overall.

Pick a payment option that works bets for you. Many student loans come with a ten year length of time for repayment. If this won’t do, then there are still other options. For example, you may be able to take longer to pay; however, your interest will be higher. You may also use a portion of your income to pay once you are bringing in money. After 20 years or so, some balances are forgiven.

Reduce the total principal by getting things paid off as fast as you can. The less principal you owe overall, the less interest you will end up paying. Concentrate on repaying these loans before the others. When you pay off one loan, move on to the next. When you apply the biggest payment to your biggest loan and make minimum payments on the other small loans, you have have a system in paying of your student debt.

The prospect of having to pay a student loan every month can be hard for people that are on hard budget already. That can be reduced with loan rewards programs. Two such programs are SmarterBucks and LoanLink. These are essentially programs that give you cash back and applies money to your loan balance.

Clearly, many aspects of student loans are there to be learned. What you do now will follow you around for quite some time after you graduate. Learn about all of your borrowing options and pick the best deal for your situation.

There are tremendous opportunities for small businesses and social entrepreneurs to support their communities through community foundations, donor advised funds and other means of giving back. Find the neighborhoods in Rhode Island where you can make the most impact on children in the community.