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This current recession has brought about much angst over student debts and repayment.  A poll of college graduates was taken in 2007, which showed that these graduates were struggling to pay back their loans.

The statistics in this poll also revealed that 44% of the college graduates were postponing buying a home, 28% were delaying having children, 27% had put a hold on dental and medical procedures, and 32% related that due to the staggering debt, they had had to move back in with their parents or at least stay with them until such time as they could afford to move out once again.

Ray Martin of The Early Show has offered some suggestions for those who fall under any of the aforementioned categories.

He says that it is important to take an inventory of all of your loans to know when you must begin repayment.  Most loans (federal and private) will be in deferment for the first six months after graduation, which means you do not have to make payments during that time.

You will need to know when payments are due, and how much the payment is for each loan.  Also, you’ll want to update your contact information with the lenders and get updated contact information on them, since some of your loans may have been sold to another company, which will now collect the payments.  This is important, so you will receive important notices and know where to send payments.

The one exception Mr. Martin adds is federally subsidized Perkins loans.  The reason why these loans should not be part of the overall mix is that Perkins provides loan forgiveness for those who enter the teaching profession, law enforcement, or the military.  If these loans are paid off first or consolidated, you lose the loan forgiveness alternative.

Finally, he advises that some students may wind up with more than one loan after graduation.  Each loan can be for a different amount with a different interest rate.  He advises that a student can “track down all federal student loans at the National Student Loan Data System’s website where students can access all their federal student loans.”

This will enable the student to devise a method to pay off those federal loans first, and all subsequent loans based on paying off the highest rate interest loan first, and so on.  This will also help to determine if a consolidation loan through Sallie Mae, for example, is warranted or if a decision is made to repay the loans utilizing the four methods of repayment: standard, graduated, extended, or income-based.