Student Loan Checkup: Find Your Next Step
Not sure what to do about your student loans? The free Student Loan Checkup helps you identify a practical next step based on your loan type and what you’re trying to accomplish.
Whether you’re struggling with payments, considering refinancing, exploring forgiveness, or simply want to pay off your loans sooner, this tool gives you a starting point.
It takes about two minutes, and you won’t need to provide account numbers or personal identifying information.
Start your student loan checkup
Free student loan checkup · About 2 minutes · No account information needed
Your answers are used only in this page and are not submitted to Money Habits For Me. This educational tool cannot determine program eligibility or calculate payments.
What should you do about student loans?
Start by identifying whether your loans are federal, private, or both. Federal loans may have repayment and forgiveness options that private loans do not. If payments are difficult, investigate available repayment or hardship options before falling behind. If you can afford your payments and want to finish sooner, compare interest rates, emergency savings, and possible forgiveness before paying extra. If you are considering refinancing, compare total costs and remember that refinancing federal loans with a private lender means losing federal benefits.
How to use this student loan checkup
Your next step depends on both your loan type and what you want to accomplish. Someone who cannot afford next month’s payment needs a different starting point from someone who is comfortably making payments and wants to get out of debt sooner. This student loan checkup begins with those two questions and gives you a manageable place to start.
Choose the answer that best describes your situation today. You do not need to know your interest rate or share your income, Social Security number, loan balance, or account number. If you are unsure whether your loans are federal or private, choose that option. Identifying your loans is a useful first step, not a wrong answer.
Why federal and private student loans need different approaches
Federal student loans are made or backed through federal student aid programs and may offer repayment, forgiveness, or discharge options under specific rules. Private student loans are governed by their lender agreements and generally have different hardship and repayment provisions. Having both kinds of loans means you may need two separate conversations: one with your federal loan servicer and another with your private lender.
Do not assume that every federal loan qualifies for every federal program. The loan type, program rules, and your circumstances can affect the options available. Use the checkup to organize your questions, then confirm current requirements with the official source or your loan servicer before making a change.
If your student loan payments are becoming difficult
Start with the payment you are struggling to make, not with a promise to pay off everything faster. Review your spending plan so you know what is available after housing, food, utilities, transportation, and other essentials. If you have federal loans, investigate current repayment options and contact your servicer before a missed payment when possible. If you have private loans, ask the lender what hardship arrangements it offers, how long they last, whether interest keeps building, and what the payment will be when the arrangement ends.
A temporary lower payment can create breathing room, but it may also increase the amount you repay over time. Ask for the terms in writing and compare the total cost. If you have both federal and private loans, make separate lists rather than assuming a single program will cover everything.
If you want to pay off student loans sooner
Paying extra can reduce interest, but first make sure required payments and essential bills are covered. Keep some emergency savings so an unexpected expense does not send you back to a credit card. Compare interest rates across your debts, not just among your student loans. Ask the lender or servicer how to direct an extra payment to the loan you intend and verify how it will be applied.
For federal loans, check whether a forgiveness program could change the financial value of making extra payments. For private loans, compare refinancing offers carefully if you are considering one. A lower monthly payment is not automatically a better deal when the repayment period becomes much longer.
What about forgiveness, consolidation, and refinancing?
These words sound similar, but they describe different decisions. Federal forgiveness and discharge programs have specific eligibility requirements. Private student loans are not eligible for federal student loan forgiveness. Federal Direct Consolidation combines eligible federal loans into a new federal loan; refinancing through a private lender creates private debt. Refinancing federal loans privately means giving up federal benefits associated with those loans. Check the current rules and compare protections and total costs before signing anything.
What to do after you get your result
Write down the one action shown in your result. You might need to identify your loan types, contact a lender about a hardship arrangement, compare payoff priorities, or read current federal program requirements. Follow the linked resource, record the questions you want answered, and return to the checkup if your situation changes. You do not have to solve every loan problem in one sitting.
Where to check current loan rules
Federal student loan rules and eligibility can change. Check Federal Student Aid for current federal loan information and contact your private lender about private-loan terms. For a full explanation, read How to Pay Off Student Loans
Read: How to Pay Off Student Loans →
And see our guide to getting out of debt.
This educational tool does not determine program eligibility or provide individualized financial advice. No answers need to be submitted or stored.