Declare Independence From Your Stusmall personal loansdent Loans

When it comes to declaring independence from debt, a lot of us are under the thumb of the same dictator: student loans. In fact, according to a recent report from the Urban Institute, one in five adults over the age of 20 are carrying student loan debt — and more than half of them are worried about how they’re going to pay it off.Most advice on student loan debt focuses on how to avoid getting mired in it in the first place. For people in college, those tips can be very useful — after all, it’s worthwhile to know that the road to riches isn’t paved with psychology degrees, and that private loans are fiscal vampires that will suck the money from your wallet and the joy from your soul. But once you’re out of college, the die has been cast, the debt has been accumulated, and the checks start coming due.Which leaves us with the question: If you’re already packing a BA in English and five figures worth of student loans, what can you do to get on top of your debt, and get on track to a healthy economic life?

• One solution is to take advantage of some of the loan forgiveness opportunities that are already out there. The military, the federal government, and state governments offer dozens of programs that will wipe away at least part of your debt, in return for a few years of service. Most are tied to specific, in-demand professions in areas such as health care, law enforcement, and education. but others — like the military, the Peace Corps, and AmeriCorps — are open to people from a variety of majors and disciplines.American Student Assistance, a nonprofit group that helps people manage their student loan debt, has produced a free list of occupation-based loan forgiveness programs. It’s worth a peek — even if you don’t plan to become a firefighter, policeman, speech therapist or social worker.

  Photo: Brett Holt, flickr.com

  Loan Forgiveness Programs

• Several programs will allow you to structure your repayment of federal student loan debt based on your income. For example, if your loan payments are more than 15 percent of your discretionary income, you may qualify for income-based repayment, under which your monthly payment calculated based primarily on what you earn, and after 25 years of payments, any remaining money owed gets forgiven. Other programs, including income-contingent repayment and pay-as-you-earn forgiveness, are pegged to different income levels.Flexible Repayment Options
• Nobody wants to die, go through bankruptcy, or suffer a total and permanent disability. However, if you experiences one of these life events, your federal student loans will be discharged. The banks behind private loans, however, may still go after your cosigners in an attempt to recoup their losses.Know Your Rights

• Assuming you’re not a too-big-to-fail bank, the idea of going deeper into debt in order to make more money may sound counterintuitive. However, in many fields, a graduate degree can vastly increase earning power. "What’s It Worth," a publication of Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, ranks graduate programs by their return on investment. Not surprisingly, degrees in medicine, the social sciences and hard sciences top the list.

  Photo: Serge Melki, Flickr.com

  Tack on Another Degree

• Ultimately, student loans are like any other debt: Getting out from under them requires that you understand your situation and keep your focus on repayment. In this regard, the best advice is also the most obvious. First, be aware of how much money you owe and what the interest rates are on each of your loans. Work on paying off the highest-interest loans first, while making minimum payments on the rest of your loans. As you pay off each loan, take the money that you were spending on it and roll it over onto your highest interest loan.

  But, while discipline is good, it’s also important to reward yourself. Paying off loans is a big deal: give yourself a nice present every time you put one to bed!

  Discipline Yourself

• Declare Your Independence From Your BillsSummer Savings: How to Have Fun Without Busting Your BudgetSummer Savers: Great Ideas for Cutting Your Gas CostsMore from DailyFinanceBruce Watson is DailyFinance’s Savings editor. You can reach him by e-mail at bruce.watson@teamaol.com, or follow him on Twitter at @bruce1971.