Make payments as best you can. Stay in constant contact with your lender. Request extensions for circumstances out of your control. You may be able to extend your payments with little or no penalty.
Consider applying for determent or forbearance of your loans. Determent occurs when your lender allows you to postpone payment on your principal temporarily. Forbearance occurs when your lender postpones or reduces your payments, but the interest still accumulates.
Consider applying for a consolidation loan. This would allow you have lower interest rates and only one monthly payment to one lender.
Know the potential consequences of default. They include: Being turned into a collection agency, a lawsuit, your wages may be garnished, the federal government will withhold social security benefits from you and defaulting on your loans will go permanently on your credit record.