Financial aid: One of six tools to graduate debt-free

Financial aid dwindling. Rising tuition. College debt over $20,000. Financing a college education can be as hard as paying off a McMansion on an adjustable-rate mortgage. Here are six ways you can trim or eliminate college debt.

5. If you must borrow, borrow smart

Mark Humphrey/AP/File
Jason Lewis, a junior at Middle Tennessee University, picks up student loan information at the campus financial aid office in this 2004 file photo in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Perkins and Stafford loans from the government don't run up interest while a student is in school.

"If for some reason you still need to borrow – and you really shouldn't – borrowing should be limited to federal loans," cautions Bissonnette.

Perkins and subsidized Stafford loans, available for need-based applicants, are good choices because the government pays interest on such loans while a student is in school or during deferments. A rule of thumb is not to take on more debt than a student expects to earn in the first year after graduation, says Irons.

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