<prompt> Human: Would paying off my student loans in full immediately decrease my credit rating over the long term vs making the minimum payment and paying it off over the next five years?Assistant: The advantage of having a good credit score is being able to secure financing on better terms, therefore paying less interest. Paying extra interest in order to get a better score defeats the point. Human: Fair point...unless youre paying a little extra interest on that 10k in student loans so you could take out a 500k mortgage. Then wouldnt it be worth it?  <response>: Paying the loans off early decreases your debt to income ratio which is a good thing and improves your credit scorehow big of mortgage you qualify for as well as the rates. No, paying it off early wont damage your score. I assure you. 