<prompt> Human: Started out with 35k in student loan debt in 2007. Paid on the loan, never missed a payment. Just paid off the balance almost 18k a few days ago. Ill have my car loan paid off in January about a year early. After that Ill be left with just my home mortgage and one small installment loan. I pay off my CCs every month. So by the end of the year Ill have paid off over 21k in debt. Ive been researching online to see how this may affect may credit score mainly the student loan portion , but I havent found a good answer. Anyone else have any experience with a similar situation?Edit:Thanks for all the great responses!It seems like either way you look at it paying these debts was certainly a good thing, even if it comes at the expense of a credit score ding.  <response>: You dont need to have debt to increase your credit score. Im not advocating not getting new debt whatsoever but only get new debt that you need. Keep up with monthly payments and your score will stay high 