Before you leave school and enter the wonderful world of adulthood, you need to know that student loans are waiting for you on the other side. We want you to be prepared! Here are our list of four things you need to do before you leave school if you’re a student loan borrower.

1. Review your federal student loan history

You can do this by signing into My Federal Student Aid if you haven’t already you would need to create an FSA ID. Why do you need to review you loans?

a. To find current loan balance and interest rate for each loan

This can help you find out which loans should be paid off first.

b. Figure out your loan types.

There are many different types of loan if you want to apply for an income-driven repayment plan or public service loan forgiveness you’ll need all direct loans.

c. To find out who your loan servicer is.

You need to know who you will be making your payments to each month. Sometimes people have more than one, this will be something to note because you’ll have more than one payment date to more than one loan servicer.

2. Get to know your loan servicer

Your servicer helps you with your student loans. They are the company you pay your monthly payment to. They are also the gatekeeper for anything you may need to apply or enroll into. You will apply for forbearance, deferment, or repayment plans through your loan servicer.

3. Create an online account on your servicer’s website

You can’t do any of the things stated above if you don’t have your account made. You will be able to see you payment dates, billing details, and any correspondence between you and your servicer. Make sure your contact information is correct because they will send you important information.

4. Complete mandatory exit counseling

All federal student loan borrowers must complete exit counseling. Exit counseling is designed to provide borrowers with important information you need to be prepared for the repayment of your loans. Some schools have different processes for how they complete their exit counseling. Most importantly, pay attention.