1. DEBT SOLUTIONS

Best Apps to Help Pay Off Student Loans Faster

Best Apps to Help Pay Off Student Loans Faster
BY Jessica Thiefels
Jun 12, 2019
 - Updated 
Jan 11, 2025
Key Takeaways:
  • Apps can help you pay off student loans faster.
  • You can play games for cash rewards, round up purchases and put that money toward student loans, and use the snowball method to pay off debt.
  • The sooner you start, the faster You'll pay your off your loans.

Student loan debt is at an all-time high. In fact, according to Dept. of Education figures cited by Forbes, Americans owed nearly $1.5 trillion in federal student loans in 2019. If you’re feeling burdened by the heavy weight of expensive student loans, it’s time to make a plan to pay them off once and for all. There are many options for paying down your debt, including debt consolidation, but you may need some help getting started.

If you live through your mobile phone, as many of us do, you should know that there are several apps to help pay off student loans.

ChangED*

If you only make the minimum payment on your loan every month, you’ll end up incurring excessive interest, which means you pay more over the life of the loan. ChangED explains that the average student loan, which totals $39,400, can actually end up costing you more than $60,000 if this is your payment plan.

If you don’t know how to find the extra cash to pay more each month, sign up for ChangED. One of the best apps to help pay off student loans, ChangED rounds up every purchase you make to the next dollar and sets that “spare change” aside. When you reach $100, the money gets put toward your loans, so you can pay more each month.

Without having to actively save extra money yourself, paying more than the minimum is nearly effortless. Plus, ChangED sends the money to your loan provider automatically, so you don’t have one more thing to stress about. All you pay is $1 each month.

Debt Payoff Pro

This debt organization tool helps you use the “debt-snowball” method to pay off your student loans once and for all. Using this approach, you would pay the minimum payments on all your debts until your first debt is paid off. Then you would use the extra payment from the paid off debt and apply it to the next one.

As you pay off debts, you have more and more money to put toward your larger loans, allowing you to pay them off faster, too. The best part is the Debt Payoff Pro app does all the math for you. Once you’ve uploaded your loan amounts, the app calculates each payment, along with interest, principal and remaining balance.

Givling

If you like to play games, this is the app for you. With Givling, you play on a trivia team to win cash to pay off your student loan. You can join games twice a day to answer trivia questions. Here’s how it works, according to its creators:

“Each time you initiate play, you join a three-person team and answer statements true or false until you strike out or reach the statement limit. The more statements you answer correctly, the higher your score. If your team is the highest scoring team when the clock runs out on the competition period, the three of you equally split the cash award.”

You can help others pay off their student loans as well by sponsoring offers, which gets you to the top of the queue, where you can get your loan paid off up to $50,000.

Your student loan provider’s app

Sometimes paying off your student loans faster is just a matter of keeping track of how much you owe and making additional deposits when you get extra cash. That’s why you should download your student loan provider’s apps, like My Great Lakes or My Fed Loan, so you can manage payments anywhere you have a cell signal or Wi-Fi.

Pay off student loan debt faster

Using these apps to help pay off student loans will help you better manage your debt (and your finances in general), paying it down faster and with less stress. Choose the app that’s best for you and download it today. The sooner you get started, the sooner your debt will be gone.

Pay off your student loans and plan for your future

Learning how to pay down your student loan debt, manage money, and plan for your future shouldn’t be stressful. We have developed a comprehensive guide to help you move toward a better financial future. Get started today by downloading our free guide.

*Editor’s Note: The app recommendations in this post are meant as a research tool and guide to give you information on ways to manage student debt. Freedom Debt Relief was not compensated for mentioning any companies listed in this post.

Learn More

We looked at a sample of data from Freedom Debt Relief of people seeking debt relief during November 2024. The data uncovers various trends and statistics about people seeking debt help.

Credit card balances by age group for those seeking debt relief

How do credit card balances vary across different age groups? In November 2024, people seeking debt relief showed the following trends in their open credit card tradelines and average credit card balances:

  • Ages 18-25: Average balance of $9,117 with a monthly payment of $282

  • Ages 26-35: Average balance of $12,438 with a monthly payment of $390

  • Ages 36-50: Average balance of $15,436 with a monthly payment of $431

  • Ages 51-65: Average balance of $16,159 with a monthly payment of $529

  • Ages 65+: Average balance of $16,546 with a monthly payment of $499

These figures show that credit card debt can affect anyone, regardless of age. Managing credit card debt can be challenging, whether you're just starting out or nearing retirement.

Home-secured debt – average debt by selected states

According to the 2023 Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) (using 2022 data) the average home-secured debt for those with a balance was $212,498. The percentage of families with mortgage debt was 42%.

In November 2024, 25% of the debt relief seekers had a mortgage. The average mortgage debt was $236504, and the average monthly payment was $1882.

Here is a quick look at the top five states by average mortgage balance.

State% with a mortgage balanceAverage mortgage balanceAverage monthly payment
California20$391,113$2,710
District of Columbia17$339,911$2,330
Utah31$316,936$2,094
Nevada25$306,258$2,082
Massachusetts28$297,524$2,290

The statistics are based on all debt relief seekers with a mortgage loan balance over $0.

Housing is an important part of a household's expenses. Remember to consider all your debts when looking for a way to get debt relief.

Manage Your Finances Better

Understanding your debt situation is crucial. It could be high credit use, many tradelines, or a low FICO score. The right debt relief can help you manage your money. Begin your journey to financial stability by taking the first step.

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