How to Pay Off Student Loans Fast: 7 Strategies for 2026 Extra payments will help pay off fast in 2026, but you can also refinance to save on interest on private loans
NERDWALLET
The fastest way to pay off student loans is to pay more than the minimum each month. The more you pay toward your loans, the less interest you’ll owe — and the quicker the balance will disappear. But making extra payments isn’t the only way to get ahead on your college debt. Here are seven strategies to help you pay off student loans fast. 1. MAKE EXTRA PAYMENTS TOWARD THE PRINCIPAL There’s no penalty for paying off student loans early or paying more than the minimum. But there is a caveat with prepayment: Student loan servicers, which collect your bill, may use your extra payment to advance your due date — applying the extra amount to next month’s payment. Advancing a student loan due date won’t help you pay off student loans faster. That’s because your extra payment will first go to any late fees and accrued interest before hitting your principal. Instead, instruct your servicer — either online, by phone or by mail — to apply overpayments to your principal balance and to keep next month’s due date as planned. If you have multiple loans with different interest rates, pay off the higher-interest loans first. You can make an additional payment at any point in the month, or you can make a lump-sum student loan payment on the due date. Either strategy can save you money. For example, let’s say you owe $10,000 with a 4.5% interest rate. By paying an extra $100 every month on a standard 10-year repayment plan, you’d be debt-free about five and a half years ahead of schedule. Use a student loan payoff calculator to see how fast you could get rid of your loans with extra payments and how much money in interest you’d save.
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