U.S. Bank understands that it can be difficult deciding how to pay your tuition and other education costs. Here's a crash course to help you understand your loan options.

Lesson 1: Help from the Federal Government and U.S. Bank
Lesson 2: Borrowing what you can afford
Lesson 3: Loan counseling

Lesson 1: Help from the Federal Government and U.S. Bank

Review your loan options - The Federal Family Education Loan Program was created to help students and their families obtain affordable loans to pay for college. To find out how the U.S. Bank's federal and supplemental loans can help you pay tuition and other education expenses, review our Types of Student Loans pages.

Tax Benefits - Great news about educational expenses and your taxes!

Some educational expenses may provide tax benefits for individuals in certain income brackets.

• Tax deductions for qualified tuition and related expenses (Deduction for Higher Learning) and for federal and private student loans (Student Loan Interest deduction.)
• Tax credits for degree-seeking students in the first two years of a program (Hope Scholarship Credit) or for students who are not in the first two years of a program (Lifetime Learning Credit.)

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Lesson 2: Borrowing what you can afford

Determine your income - One way to determine the amount of debt you can reasonably handle is to estimate your earnings once you're out of school and in the workplace. Be conservative, since it's difficult to predict the job market and how long it will take to land the job of your dreams. For help determining average earnings for specific careers, consult the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics

Set a Budget - How much you should borrow really depends on how much you will be able to pay when the loan is due. Here's our guideline: your monthly student loan payment should not be more than 8% of your monthly salary. Another reminder: when you calculate your income and what you'll have available for bill paying, be sure to factor in other debts (e.g., credit cards) as well as your day-to-day living expenses. To estimate your monthly budget, input your estimated income and expenses in our monthly budget helper.

Borrow wisely - To assist you in planning how much you could borrow, check out our loan repayment calculator. Note that most student loans allow you 120 months to repay your loan. By changing your total debt amount you can see how your monthly payments would change.

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Lesson 3: Loan counseling

When you take out a student loan, you become legally obligated to repay that loan according to the terms of your agreement. To understand your rights and responsibilities, your school will require you to participate in loan counseling, which may be available to you online. To access loan counseling, click here.

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