Hello. I have a direct unsubsidized Stafford loan for graduate school and I would like to know if I can make payments on it before I graduate (throughout my schooling whenever I have some extra money, basically) and if so, how I can go about doing that. Also, if payments can be made, is it possible to designate them as payments toward the principal of the loan?

Thanks very much for your help.

Yes, it is possible to make payments while in school. You should contact your loan lender to set this up - for federal loans, you should contact the Department of Education.

When you contact them, tell them what you would like to do and specify what the payment should go towards (principal or interest). It will automatically be applied to interest unless you specify otherwise.

Making early payments will not lock you into monthly payments, and you will be able to keep your grace period intact.