Funding Your Education Enrolling in college to obtain a degree is an exciting time in everyone’s life. However, the choices you will need to make to fund your education could be an overwhelming experience. One should explore all possible funding sources available to them before resorting to student loans. If you are forced to obtain a student loan due to lack of other funding sources, as I am, you should be sure that you will be able to manage the payment once you have attained your degree. By creating an educational financial plan, you are able to estimate the amount of money you will need to borrow to go to college. When applying for your student loan, be sure to only request the amount you need to pay for your classes. Interest will be charged on the amount you borrow so any extra you borrow will only cost you more in the end. To reduce the amount you need borrow, I suggest applying for scholarships. Any amount you receive is less you will have to pay back out of your pocket. I also suggest making a monthly payment towards your loan while you are still enrolled in classes. Although you typically have a six month grace period upon completing college to begin payments, the sooner you start paying the less you will owe when you graduate. I personally have decided to pay a minimum payment towards my loan of the interest accrued, as well as pay $1,000 out of my pocket towards the cost of my education. It doesn’t seem like much now, but when I look back at graduation time, I know these small amounts will add up and cut a significant amount off the amount I owe. Looking forward to the future of student loan repayment, there are eight repayment options you can choose from to determine how much your monthly note will be. As of today, there are two options I am considering, the “Standard Repayment” option and the “Extended