Contact the lender. If you are in default, you need to immediately contact your lender to see what can be done to correct the situation. The lending institution should have a few different repayment options for people in default. Make sure to have them explain each option to you so you can make an educated decision.
If you owe more than $30,000 in student loans, you may qualify for Extended Repayment. Extended Repayment stretches your payments out over 25 years. This should make your payments smaller and easier to manage.
Another repayment option to look into is Graduated Repayment. With Graduated Repayment, you make small interest-only payments for 4 years. Your payments then increase gradually. This means you end up paying more interest on your loan, but the loan will at least get paid back.
Income Sensitive Repayment is another way to get back on track. With Income Sensitive Repayment, you pick an amount between 4% and 25% of your monthly income. For 5 years, that is the amount you will need to pay on your loan. This will increase the amount of interest and time you will spend paying your loan back, but it is better than having a loan in default.
Contact the National Foundation of Credit Counseling. This is a non-profit network that can help you figure out other ways to get out of default.
Get legal advice. If your loan is in default, you are running the risk of getting sued. Getting a lawyer to go over your options with you is a good idea.