Student loans

The countdown begins in Washington to come up with a budget before midnight tomorrow, and one place cuts could come from are federal student loan programs.

I co-signed a friend's private graduate student loans in 2005. She was an international student, which is why she needed the co-signer to get approved. In 2007, she had a stroke and moved home to Costa Rica. She hasn't gotten a job and taken responsibility for paying the loans since then. How can I get off of the loan agreement as a co-signer? Ryanne, Washington D.C.

My husband and I have extra money each month, a healthy emergency savings account, and we save for retirement through our work plans. (I should point out we are in our 20s.) We recently bought a home and now have a mortgage of $130,000 at 4 percent interest. We also have approximately $80,000 in student loan debt for our graduate degrees at 6.8 percent interest. With our extra spending money each month, should we tackle the student loan debt first? Pay down the mortgage? Both? Or some other option? Carolyn, Duluth, MN

We have a student loan for our daughter of about $120,000. Should we use our retirement funds to pay it off? Our house will be paid off in 5 years and we have about $20,000 in revolving debt. Please advise. Thanks. James, Houston, TX

Question: Having $138,000 in student loans at 9% I would pay just about $160,000 in interest if I go 20 years to get forgiveness for the loan. Is...

Question: My son has been accepted to a good out of state private college after completing his 2 year degree at a local community college. However,...

Question: I have a question about what term to refinance for given that I have a child that will enter college in about 15 years. If I refinance...

President Obama's aid to student borrowers is okay. It will allow graduates to consolidate and reduce the interest rates on their student loans. It...

College students graduate with thousands of dollars in student loans. So, what would happen if we just eliminated that debt?

Question: My husband has a consolidated private student loan of $47,000. Our interest rate is 9% which seems really high for this market. We pay a...