<p>After four years, Carnegie Mellon will cost me about 100k in loans. However, it will probably be about 8xk (maybe even 7xk), instead because of:</p>
<p>1) Co-op/Internships over the summer will bring in decent funds.
2) I will be working on-campus.
3) The 100k takes into factor some really ridiculous estimates of living expenses. I'm pretty conservative when it comes to spending for luxury.</p>
<p>I'll be majoring in Electrical & and Computer Engineering and according to CMU statistics, the median starting salary is a little over 70k.</p>
<p>Even if I do drop the total loans to the 80's or 70's, I realize that is still quite a lot of debt. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>Same problem here.
Did you factor in the 2.5k your parents will get every year through tax credits and deductions?</p>
<p>^</p>
<p>? Can you explain what that is? I remember vaguely hearing about something about that because Obama was expanding the income bracket to qualify. (I Believe) But I never looked into it.</p>
<p>worth every penny. Very fine school, my oldest son is getting his phd in comp sci there.</p>
<p>That is too much debt…too hard to pay back.</p>
<p>What are your other choices?</p>
<p>median starting salary is a little over 70k.</p>
<p>possibly.</p>
<p>However, as a single person, a chunk will go to state, fed, FICA, and various other taxes, health insurance, etc. If you were to borrow $80k, your payments will be about $900 per month…that’s like 3 extra car payments…</p>
<p>Ask any youngish engineer if he can afford to make 3 EXTRA car payments for 10 LONG years, in addition to his normal living expenses (and perhaps a real car payment.) I doubt you’ll find many/any that will say that they can afford 3 extra car payments.</p>
<p>What are your choices? Graduating with anything more than say $20,000 is generally not advisable even for electrical engineers. </p>
<p>It is a fine school but not known for generous aid. I would not advice it. M2CK above has given a great analogy.</p>
<p>Run the numbers for all of your schools through this calculator [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Award Letter Comparison Tool](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Award Letter Requirements - Finaid) and then see what you think.</p>
<p>Perhaps for you, in your own personal situation, you could conceivably pay off this kind of debt, but where exactly do you propose to find an entity that will loan it to you? You would almost certainly require a co-signer. What is your plan for years three and four if that co-signer no longer is able to qualify for that loan, or is no longer willing to co-sign?</p>
<p>I doubt the average median salary is $70,000 for an undergraduate degree…probably closer to $55-60,000 in today’s dollars and there is no guarantee that you’ll garner an offer at the high end so to be safe use a lower number for calculating what it will cost you over time to pay off the debt. Also as others have pointed out you, alone, will not be able to secure that amount of loans so plan accordingly with your parents as they or someone else will need to co-sign.</p>
<p>NACE has a calculator where you can select your college, GPA, degree and intended location of employment, years of experience, etc. to calculate salaries…it’s pretty accurate as the info is supplied directly from colleges and from employers.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.jobsearchintelligence.com/NACE/jobseekers/salary-calculator.php#[/url]”>http://www.jobsearchintelligence.com/NACE/jobseekers/salary-calculator.php#</a></p>