How to manage student loan debt

Michelle Singletary:

Soon the sounds of “Pomp and Circumstance” will fade and thousands of college graduates will have to really start facing the music — their education loans.
For them, I have a new tune: Know what you owe.
That should be the mantra for every student borrower because an unsettling number of graduates — and their parents — only have a vague idea of how much has been borrowed. It’s only after the degree has been obtained that they add up the costs. Many don’t know who they borrowed from or how many different loans they have.
In 2008, about two-thirds of students graduating from four-year colleges and universities had student loan debt averaging $23,200, according to data analyzed by the Project on Student Debt, an initiative of the nonprofit Institute for College Access & Success.
Okay, graduates, so now that you have your degree, what do you know about your loans, and how will you manage them?