<prompt> Human: Last month I paid off one of my student loans, whoo hoo 909 4.5!I was checking my credit score because Id like to find a good cash-back rewards credit card. When I checked my credit score, I found that I had been docked down some points because I closed an account AKA, the student loan that I had paid off.Question One: Am I seriously going to be penalized every time I pay off a loan?! This is absurd to me and completely contradicts every bit of financial advice Ive heard. Reducing and paying off debt shouldnt go against me :Question Two: Is this just a short-term deduction in my credit score, and paying off loans in full will ultimately raise my credit score in the long-term?Question Three: Is a student loan really supposed to be treated as a closed account, when its paid off? Ive had this with credit cards in the past, which I thought was appropriate, but this also applies to paying the balance of a loan??tl;dr: Frustrated because I feel like my credit score is being reduced irrationally.  <response>: Its closed. Now you have a different average age of accounts, different account mix, etc. so yes youre penalized for paying off debt. And think about it from a creditors perspective? The BEST customer is not one who can PAY OFF loans, but one who makes interest payments ongoing forever. 