Smart About Money: What you need to know about student loans

Six months after graduation is when most people are required to start paying back their student loans. Unfortunately, some just don’t start paying their loans back on time. So they get off on the wrong foot with bad credit, making things like renting an apartment or buying a car more difficult or more expensive. It’s a real problem.

The way college financing works today is that college students basically automatically qualify for loans over four years or more. Loans tend to be offered by semester, so a student will usually have multiple loans of varying amounts with different rates. Payback is in the very distant the future — which all adds up to a lot of graduates not being clear about their student loans.

Nick Maffeo

If you will be graduating from college shortly or if you have recently graduated, it is very important to make the time to fully understand the terms and conditions of the loans you have. Because you absolutely will be responsible for repaying these loans. You can “forget” them, but they won’t “forget” you.

Saying “Nobody informed me” or “Nobody sent me a bill” won’t cut it because it’s almost 100 percent guaranteed that your school or the companies that hold your loans will inform you — either by email or postal mail or both.

If you have a different mailing address or if you’re using a different email address from the one you used in college, it’s up to you to let people know how to get in touch with you.

It’s very easy to ignore or forget emails, and too many people ignore postal mail. Ignoring postal mail is a particularly bad habit to get into because that is how many important financial and legal notices will be delivered to you by all kinds of companies and entities, including the U.S. government.

If a few months after graduation have gone by and you haven’t heard anything yet about paying back your student loans, you will only help yourself by reaching out to your college financial aid office and letting them know. Then be on the lookout for the payback paperwork.

When it comes to paying back your student loans:

* If you have multiple student loans with different rates, it’s a common strategy to start paying off the loans with the highest rates first.

* People who get bonuses at work often decide to use the bonus to pay down a chunk of their student loans.

* You should definitely speak to your company’s human resources office to see if they offer any student loan repayment matching opportunities.

There are also all kinds of payment plan options. Some “negative amortization” re-payment plans can appear to have very easy repayment terms but are structured so your balance keeps growing. Take your time and be absolutely sure you understand anything you’re agreeing to or signing for.

Whether you’re confident that you understand your student loans or if you know you don’t, it can only be a good idea to make an appointment with your school’s financial aid office before graduation or after to pin down the details.

The financial aid people deal with student loan repayment questions all day every day. They are in an excellent position to help you come up with a repayment plan that you understand and can live with. They may even have good ideas that you have not previously considered.

Nick Maffeo is the President & CEO of Canton Co-operative Bank in Canton. Have a question? Email to submissions@thecantoncitizen.com.

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Posted by Nick Maffeo on Mar 20 2026. Filed under Business, Smart About Money. Both comments and pings are currently closed.