4 ways to pay down student loan debt faster

Student loan debt can feel like it will take an eternity to pay off. The standard repayment plan offered for federal student loans is 10 years — and many other plans extend long beyond that. If you are hoping to get your debt burden off your back sooner, there are steps you can take to expedite the payoff process.

Becoming student loan debt-free has many benefits. "Getting out of debt earlier will reduce your overall interest charges, saving you money and helping you pursue other financial goals, like a house or a new car," said LendingTree. However, speeding up student loan payoff might not always pay off — especially if you "cannot afford extra payments without forgoing other key financial goals" or you "have other higher interest debt," said U.S. News & World Report. In those cases, you may want to think twice before implementing these tricks.

1. Put any extra payments toward the principal

While making extra payments toward your student loans might seem like an obvious way to decrease your debt, what might not be so obvious is how you apply those extra payments. If you simply submit the extra money on your account, your servicer "may use your extra payment to advance your due date — applying the extra amount to next month's payment," which actually "won't help you pay off student loans faster," said NerdWallet. That is because "your extra payment will first go to any late fees and accrued interest before hitting your principal."

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Instead, instruct your servicer to "apply overpayments to your principal balance and to keep next month's due date as planned," said NerdWallet. This will ensure your extra money goes directly toward your loan's balance, which will also help minimize interest accrual.

2. Make payments on a biweekly basis

If wrapping your head — or your budget — around extra payments sounds daunting, another effective option is making payments on your student loans every two weeks, as opposed to once a month. Even though you are still just "paying half of your usual payment every two weeks instead of the full payment once a month," this translates to "making one full additional monthly payment every year," said Credible. The proof is in the numbers: "You'll make 26 half-payments over the 52 weeks in a year, which equals 13 whole payments," as opposed to the 12 you would make otherwise.

A small shift, but it "can shave a year or more off of a 10-year student loan repayment term and save hundreds of dollars (or more) in interest," Credible said. Just make sure you "tell your lender that you want any excess payment to go toward your principal loan balance."

3. Enroll in autopay

Not only will enrolling in automatic payments ensure you do not overlook any due dates, it may "have the added benefit of reducing the interest rate on your student loan," as "some lenders offer a 0.25% discount on interest to borrowers" who set up autopay, said Bankrate.

While this level of discount may seem minuscule, it is actually a "considerable amount of savings over time when you're spending years paying off your student loans," said CNBC Select. Plus, "any decrease in your interest rate will help you pay off your loans faster because it lowers the overall cost of your loan."

4. Consider refinancing

You can also carve a pathway toward faster repayment through student loan refinancing, which means you "apply for a new loan with a private lender to pay off your existing loans," said Investopedia. "If you have good credit — or a co-signer with good credit — you may qualify for a new loan with a lower rate than you have on your current loans." Doing this can "lower your overall repayment cost and your monthly payment, and may allow you to pay off your student debt faster."

However, this is an option generally best reserved for private student loans. "Refinancing federal loans means you'll no longer have access to federal protections like income-driven repayment plans or forgiveness options," said Credible.