<p>I have a friend who is going to Stanford over Berkeley for business. He is paying for stanford by himself and is going to be in debt around 190k. We have told him he is making a mistake but he is confident that he will do better at stanford compared to at berkeley</p>
<p>Consider these figures:</p>
<p>170,000 student loan debt @ 4.0% interest, paid off over 10 years
$50,000 salary first year out</p>
<p>Your monthly salary will be $4,167.
Taxes, SS, medicare, etc. take about 1/3 leaving you with about $2750.
According to the FinAid loan calculator, your monthly payment will be $1,721.17.
This leaves you with just over $1000/month.</p>
<p>Will you have a car payment? Auto insurance? Rent? Utilities? Health insurance? Will you eat?</p>
<p>According to FinAid, you should have an annual salary of at least $206,540 in order to have a loan this big.</p>
<p>I’m a father looking at the same issue. I’m wondering if this year is a lot worse, or has it always been like this? I get the feeling that financial aid has dried up, but administration keeps the tuition rising. This isn’t just a Georgetown issue. All schools my son got into (except in-state UCs) are $50K~$55K per year. UCs are over $30K in state (you can’t ignore room and board, even if staying off campus). </p>
<p>I’m looking at $135K parent contribution over 4 years for Georgetown. I love the school, but $135K?? I’m middle class in expensive to live Calif. In addition to my son admitted to GU, I have a daughter who is a sophomore in HS and a son in 5th grade (long road ahead). I’ll end up with Plus Loans for much of it. Student loans? Yeah, right. Kids are limited to around $6K Federal loans per year these days. They now shove everything onto the parents. Also, don’t buy into the science fiction of meeting 100% of demonstrated need, it’s the need they demonstrate not the need you demonstrate. Sorry to sound bitter, but it’s really unfair to kids (not to mention parents).</p>
<p>I’m guessing paying for MSB and the new science building is behind a lot of this. </p>
<p>Seems like to go to Georgetown either:</p>
<p>1) You are independently wealthy.
2) Destitute and probably on the street so you have a full ride.</p>
<p>Does Georgetown really want middle-class kids? Seems like a resoundingly loud no. Cura Personalis, but definitely not every Personalis!!!</p>
<p>Assuming a $50k salary right out of college is not at all a safe bet if you’re going into government service.</p>
<p>Base starting government salary for someone with a bachelor’s degree and no experience is the GS-5 grade, about $32,000. You need to get to the GS-9 grade (master’s degree) before starting at $50,000.</p>
<p>Do NOT borrow $170,000, or even $88,000, for a bachelor’s degree. That debt will be a boat-anchor on your entire life. You cannot afford either Georgetown or AU.</p>
<p>That amount of debt for an undergrad looking for IR work is beyond impractical. Take the full ride at State U (and the opportunities that come with a full ride). Summer internships in DC are always an option, as is transferring if you find your State U situation utterly unbearable (unlikely, IMO).</p>