Nearly two-thirds of all four-year college students graduate with student loan debt. This number is completely understandable given the state of the economy and rising costs of higher education. The scary part is that many students go into college not knowing how many loans they have, who owns their loans and how much they will have to pay back after graduation.

In a recent Los Angeles Times article one graduate explains her situation, “I’m in default on my student loans. I don’t know how many there are, I don’t know who owns them, and I don’t know how to start paying them off.” Unfortunately, this woman is not alone. At the Student Loan Network we get phone calls every day from students in similar situations. Too many people have taken a back seat when it comes to their student loans and let their debt take control of them.

When it comes to debt it is important to recognize that ignoring it will not make it go away. In fact, ignoring debt is probably the worst thing a person can do. If you do not know what your loan situation is when you graduate your first priority should be to figure it out. Most loans have a six month grace period, but do not delay your research. When your loans come to term you want to have your repayment plan in order. The Department of Education’s loan tracking department can help you figure out how many loans you have and how much you owe.

If you know that you are not going to be able to make payments on time you should investigate alternative options like deferment or forbearance. Many people do not know that if they are unemployed, going to grad school, or participating in some kind of service program that they are probably eligible for loan deferment. If you do not qualify for deferment or forbearance you might be able to consolidate your loans. Consolidation gives you a lower monthly payment and extends your loan term. If you do not take any of these measures and still do not make payments things can get ugly.

When you fail to make student loan payments for more than 270 days their loans go into a default status. So defaulting on your loans is no big deal, right? Wrong! Defaulting on your loans can have serious long-term consequences. First, you will have debt collectors literally knocking down your door. They will try to get in touch with you any way possible and to be honest, ignoring them will only make them work more aggressively to find you. Secondly, you will ruin your credit score for a very long time. Credit scores run between 850 and 300, 850 being the best and 300 being the worst. Your credit score determines if you will be able to get loans in the future. If you have a bad credit score you will have a very hard time getting any lender to trust you. This can take years to rectify. Finally, you will have an extremely hard time renting an apartment, buying a car and maybe even getting a new job. Landlords, loan financers and potential employers can all legally get your credit score and if they do not like what they see they can deny you an opportunity.

The moral of this story is do not let your debt take control of you. Reverse the situation and take control of your debt. Learn everything you can about your debts and organize a payment schedule so you do not miss payments. Most importantly do not let your loans overwhelm you because not matter what your situation is there is a way to manage your obligations.