The Time to Start Repaying Your HELB Loan is Now

Congratulations, Class of 2013! Not only have you graduated from the University you have literally survived two months in the real world (if you graduated in August). The transition into this new life can be overwhelming, between looking for a job, possibly starting a job, looking for a house, moving into a non-campus dwelling and realizing that dealing with the Asian guy at industrial area  can be more hassle than the work itself. And now on top of all of that, there is the looming threat of the HELB student loan payments.(That money you drunk with your boys, took your girl out or bought that stylish weave.)
When you graduate with HELB loans (or leave school without a degree), you automatically have a one year grace period before you start repaying.  Depending on your graduation date, that means you have 8 months or nine left before the Higher Education Loans Board come knocking. And if you’re like many student borrowers, you may be depending HELB to contact you and tell you when they want their money, rather than planning for it. That could be a mistake. Not only is it good to know what you owe HELB in terms of student loan, but there’s always a chance that HELB doesn’t have your current address. Since most of us graduate and move to the cities, in search for greener pastures, the notice letter will definitely end up in the village where you only visit during Christmas.Nevertheless, the fact that you didn’t get a HELB notice doesn’t relieve you from the obligation to start repaying your student loan.
So it’s high time you put down the pumpkin spice latte and start coming up with a loan repayment plan. But just like crash dieting, if you do too much too soon, you’ll give up.
Therefore, make sure that develop a repayment plan which is feasible considering most new graduates earn meager or nothing at all. It is advisable to start paying small amounts to reduce the amount of interest payable to HELB and also protect yourself from the automatic ksh. 5,000 monthly fine on defaulters. You may think HELB are toothless until you try obtaining a loan from our commercial banks without a HELB clearance form.
Do not be caught off-guard, start repaying your HELB student loan, now.