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Student loan debt is at an all-time high, with roughly a trillion dollars owed in private and federal loans. With the six-month grace period at an end, it's time for graduates from the class of 2011 to start making payments.

Most students with federal loans will automatically be put on a 10-year standard repayment plan.

"It's a schedule where you make 120 monthly payments and after those 120 payments, you're done," says Michael Turner of the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation.

With an average loan balance of $25,000, 10 years at an interest rate of 6.8 percent should put a monthly payment at about $287. It's a lot of money for a group of graduates facing a 9.1 percent unemployment rate.

Luckily, Turner says there are ways to lower the monthly bill. For one thing, students can ask for an extended plan, spreading the payments out for 20 years rather than 10.

"So what they will do is, they'll do the same formula, except instead of 120 payments, it may be 240 payments," says Turner.

There is a catch. While it may shave about $100 off the monthly bill, the student will pay a lot more in interest, more than double over the life of that loan. According to FinAid.org, a student repaying $25,000 over 10 years will pay $9,524, compared to $20,801 in interest when someone pays the same amount over 20 years.

"We always warn students, if you're paying your loans over a longer period of time, you're paying more in interest," says Turner.

Another option for students with low or no income is the Income Based Repayment plan, where the service looks at what the debtor make and what he or she owes.

"Based on that, they try to tailor a payment that works with the student's income, not to exceed 15 percent of their annual income," says Turner.

Again, though, this will extend the payments past 10 years, meaning debtors will pay more in interest.

To lessen monthly payments without increasing the length of the loan, Turner suggests the graduated repayment plan. It lets students stay on the 10-year payment track, but the payments start out lower and gradually increase.

"And then next year we might increase that. Instead of 25 percent of the full payment, you may pay 30 percent, and each year it will get progressively higher," says Turner.

Finally, to save time and money, students can set up automatic debit payments. Turner says some servicers will lower the interest rate by 0.25 percent just for enrolling.