Consolidate your loans with a lower interest rate if you took out multiple, non-government loans. Government loans have the lowest interest rate, but you cannot consolidate your other lenders' loans with the government (the government will not purchase your outstanding debt). If you have two private loan providers, one is, more than likely, going to have a lower interest rate. Contact this provider and request to consolidate your current loans. Give specifics about your higher-rate loan, such as loan number, user information and interest rate. The company with the lower interest rate will buy the remainder of the higher-rate loan. This also prevents you from making multiple payments to different companies every month.
Pay your monthly bills on time. If you miss a payment, you are hit with a late fee that may permanently raise your interest rate, costing you thousands of dollars in the end.
Pay more than you need to each month. This allows you to reduce the interest rate you are paying and also reduces the amount of time it is going to take to pay off the debt.
Talk to your employer. Many locations offer loan forgiveness after you have worked for them for a specific amount of years. Once you reach the required term, the company pays off the remainder of your loan.