By the time they graduate, about two-thirds of students at four-year colleges and universities have accumulated student loans, according to the Project on Student Debt. That debt load averages $19,200 per student.
There is plenty to do before the debt starts to come due -- usually in six months -- but graduates will need to act fast and think through their choices.
One is consolidating their federally backed loans. This decision should be made before July 1. That's when the federal government will recalculate the interest rate on variable student loans. Although Congress changed the law so that Stafford loans made after July 1, 2006, are fixed at 6.8 percent, there are still plenty of loans out there with variable rates.
