The Financial Aid Transcript: "How Much Do I Owe" 

First Step - Create a Student Loan History -- Student Loan History Worksheet.
Second Step - Estimate Monthly and Total Educational Loan Repayments: "How much do I have to repay?"
Loan Repayment Worksheet
Loan Repayment Ratios Chart
How to Tell When Someone Has to Much Debt - Of Course This Isn't You!
Ten Key Threats to Success

Students are not aware of the total cost of their student loans. Most students take out loans without a clear understanding of their total cost. It has been found that students with larger debt have lower awareness of the implications of loan debt. Students with higher levels of debt are already vulnerable to difficulties after graduation; evidence suggests that they are even more vulnerable than they realize.

Students in their first years of college are at greater risk. Students in their first years of college have less understanding of student loan interest and repayment. It is very important for students to understand and know how much they owe. Every student with an educational loan should first create a Student Loan History Worksheet. 

To begin your Student Loan History Worksheet, record your student loans. This can be done by printing a copy of the worksheet presented below or using it as a model for an electronic spreedsheet version. 

You should have a copy of each and every promissory note and award letter you ever received. If you don't, contact your financial aid office and obtain a financial aid transcript or list of all of the student aid you have received to date. For the purposes of projecting your total debt upon graduation, you can use your current status as a pretty good indicator of future borrowing patterns. Record your loan history on the spreedsheet. 

First Step - Create a Student Loan History 

STUDENT LOAN HISTORY WORKSHEET

*The amounts listed above for your Federal Unsubsidized Stafford Loans do not normally include any unpaid interest. Any such interest will be added to the outstanding principal once the loan goes into repayment. This is referred to as capitalizing.

Second Step -- Estimate Monthly and Total Educational Loan Repayments: "How much do I have to repay?"

Now that you have assembled an accurate record of how much you currently owe, you are ready for the next step: projecting your monthly and total loan repayments. You can do this by completing the following worksheet and referring to the corresponding Loan Repayment Ratios Chart.

LOAN REPAYMENT WORKSHEET

By following the example above you can calculate repayment schedules for both your current and projected level of indebtedness. Here's all you have to do.

1. Take the loan totals you listed in your Student Loan History Worksheet and place them in column 3.
2. Review your promissory notes and list the percentage rate of each loan in column 2.
3. Review your promissory notes and list the total number of months you will have to repay each loan in column 6.
4. Consult the Student Loan Ratios Chart and select the appropriate ratio for each loan and insert the ratio in column 4.
5. Multiply the amount borrowed by the ratio. List the product in column 5. You now have the estimated monthly payment for each of your loans. (Please note that each loan program has a minimum monthly payment. If the amount you calculate in this worksheet falls below the minimum, you will have to pay the higher amount. This, ultimately, will result in paying the loan off in a shorter amount of time than the maximum number of months allowed in the repayment period.)
6. Multiply the monthly repayment by the number of months of repayment and list the product in column 7. You now know the total amount you are going to repay for each loan.
7. Add up the totals for columns 3, 5 & 7. You have just calculated your total student loan indebtedness, your total monthly repayment and your total pay-out for all of your student loans.

LOAN REPAYMENT RATIOS CHART