<prompt> Human: So I have a lot of student loans from going to undergrad and graduate school. I didnt have help from anyone with college and the amount my parents made I didnt get many grants or scholarships for income reasons. Im also the first person in my family to go to college so no one really knew what to do about loans or scholarships. I had some scholarships and teaching assistant jobs at school which paid for some of tuition but theres still a lot to pay for. I have all federal loans and no private loans while being on the income base repayment plan but for some reason one of the federal loans is with a different lender Uheaa for some reason and not with all my others Great Lakes. Im just starting the loans next month since I graduated in December and the grace period ended and after looking at my income 45k starting out and monthly expenses I shouldnt have problems paying for anything and might pay a bit extra towards loans to get them down faster.I have some high interest on the graduate loans at 7.8 but thats only for 2 of the graduate loans. The average for everything else is around 6.2 with some being as low as 3.2. Is it worth it to refinance or consolidate the loans and try to get a lower interest rate or should I pay more a month towards the higher interest rate ones then consolidate or refinance? Another thing I was reading on the loan companys website is that is there is any interest left after 20 years it is forgiven. I would prefer to not have loans for that long but should I just pay what I can until then and let it run to the 20 years? Or are there any good consolidating or refinancing options I should consider?EDIT: So I just spoke with the loan company and they said just make payments after 20 years on the income base plan and it will be forgiven in 20 years so that seems like the best option. And they confirmed that the government pays any interest not paid yet every month for 3 years so that should keep interest down as well. The only other monthly payments I have right now are rent, utilities and internet.Assistant: What does your future look like? Your starting now is 45k but in 5 years what does it look like? Because you said paying the minimum right now isnt a problem some extra, I would not go the 20 year route. The longer you have the loans, the more you pay. I assume youll have some growth, even if you only increase to 60k max, paying your loans shouldnt take 20 years. Hopefully youll do better than 60k though :Anyways.. as far as refinancing consolidating, it would depend a little on how much of your loans are in the higher x 5. If the majority of your loans are in the higher , refinancing consolidating now could be beneficial. You can talk to some companies and see what they have to offer at no cost. If not many of your loans are high then I would put in extra to pay them off before refinancing consolidating. But I would still talk to someone now to see if maybe theres a really good deal out there.When I speak of the majority of the loans being higher i mean in value. Say I have 10 loans at 7 and all are 1k loans and 2 loans that are 3 but for 50k, the majority of my loan is in the lower .Human: So I just spoke with the loan company and they said just make payments after 20 years on the income base plan 205month right now and it will be forgiven in 20 years so that seems like the best option. And they confirmed that the government pays any interest not paid yet every month for 3 years so that should keep interest down as well. More of my loans are lower so I was advised by them not to consolidate them and to pay the extra I do each month toward the higher paying loans.Also once I get my architecture licence in 3 years or so I automatically get a 20-30 pay increase maybe more if I move to a different firm or they offer more So in 5 years hopefully Ill be making over 60k and closer to 70k.  <response>: Unlike some people, I dont believe you are royally screwed. If I were you, I would stay until I received my architect license and while I am learning the business I would start to study real estate finance and network with the developers. If being an architect does not pay well, you can move to a developer who will be paying 180K bonus and equity for a development manager. You will have very transferable skills to a developer or general contractor. 