There is no shortcut to student debt elimination, but there are a number of strategies to make sure your monthly payments go as far as possible.

Picking the best repayment plan can be tricky because private lenders don't provide many options and the federal government offers so many different repayment plans that it can be confusing.  The key is to finding the best federal student loan repayment plan is to understand your personal circumstances and how they impact the various options.

Whether repayment is a struggle or a breeze, there are strategies that borrowers in a variety of situations can use to get lower interest rates on their student loans.

Getting lower rates is a huge boost to debt elimination because it means more of your monthly payment goes towards reduction of the principal balance.  There are at least 14 different ways to get a lower interest rate on your student loans.

Unfortunately there are a number of student loan forgiveness scams out there to avoid.  The good news is that there are a number of very real forgiveness programs that apply to a variety of student loans.  We are currently tracking 8 different student loan forgiveness programs.

Student loan refinancing, sometimes called consolidation, occurs when a new lender pays off some or all of your existing loans.  With the old loans paid off, you then repay a new loan with the new lender.

The idea behind this process is that a college grad with a degree and a job is much less of a credit risk than a student with no job or degree.  Lenders get low risk borrowers and borrowers get lower interest rates.

We are currently tracking and reviewing 15 different lenders offering student loan refinancing services.

A good job and a good credit score go a long way, but being a smart consumer is also very important.

Lenders often change interest rates and the lenders offering the best rates for short-term loans may not offer the best rates for longer loans.  We track the lenders offering the best refinance rates for fixed-rate and variable-rate loans in the 5, 7, 10, 15, and 20 year repayment lengths.

The trick is to target a few lenders that might offer the best deal and check rates with multiple companies.  This is because the lowest advertised rate and the actual rate offered can be different.

Student loans definitely make saving for retirement a major challenge.  The good news is that there are student loan strategies to pay off debt and make retirement a possibility.

Qualifying for a mortgage when you have student loans is difficult, but definitely not impossible.  Student loan borrowers interested in home ownership can use a number of strategies to buy a house without student loans getting in the way.

In a perfect world scholarships cover the cost of school.  In reality, sometimes student loans are a necessary evil.  The key is keeping borrowing at a minimum and making smart decisions.  Learn how to plan and pay for college.