<p>As a foil to some of the student loan horror stories, below is (admittedly common sense) advice from a UIUC grad with a masters degree in Human Resources and Industrial Relations. Granted, most of the student loan debt stories are about the outliers at each end of the spectrum, so your mileage may vary.</p>
<p>Upon graduation he got an $80K/yr job as an HR manager at a paper mill (with sign on bonus and relocation) and implemented a plan to get his loans repaid. From LinkedIn, its appears the mill job was in Escanaba, MI in the Upper Peninsula, so cost of living was probably on the low side.</p>
<p>Sounds great–it is nice to hear something from the other side of the spectrum. But I wonder what percentage of new grads can get jobs paying 80K/year? So many are unemployed or underemployed.</p>
<p>From his LinkIn profile (that was linked in the Yahoo story) is appears he had a summer job at GE in Cincinnati that involved union coordination, negotiations and strike planning. The job at the paper mill in Escanaba appears to have also involved coordination with the local unions. It guess he had good experience for the high paying job upon graduation and was probably a stellar student.</p>
<p>Also his tip #13 :
Learn to negotiate. “This could mean salaries, sign on bonuses, relocation, or lower interest rates,” Burr says. “I negotiated my salary and sign on bonus and bumped them up a couple thousand dollars, then was able to put my bonus and relocation straight to my loans.”</p>
<p>Nice article that shows that these bills can be paid down with self-discipline, but the numbers aren’t realistic for a lot of students. I know plenty of people who finished grad programs with that kind of debt who will be paying it off for years because they didn’t score a position that pays $80k right out of grad school. A more useful article would be something along the lines of “I paid down $74,000 in student loan debt in five years on an annual salary of $40,000”.</p>
<p>Good story.
Remember that for students who graduate with debt (not all do) that the average debt is around $30k. So he was almost 2.5 times that and still managed.</p>
<p>I remember graduating in the dark ages and landed a solid job along with a bunch of my friends. Despite their debt, they all went out and got new cars and went on expensive vacations via their credit cards. Some ran into debt problems and complained about their student loans.</p>
<p>… and to take it a step further “I paid down $74,000 in student loan debt in five years on an annual salary of $40,000 while living in Manhattan (or SOMA)” :)</p>
<p><<<<
Upon graduation he got an $80K/yr job as an HR manager at a paper mill (with sign on bonus and relocation) and implemented a plan to get his loans repaid. From LinkedIn, its appears the mill job was in Escanaba, MI in the Upper Peninsula, so cost of living was probably on the low side.
<<<<</p>
<p>sounds like nearly all of this debt was grad school debt, but either way, he had a masters degree, not just a bs degree which is what we deal with here…</p>
<p>how much was the sign on bonus?? did he apply that to the debt?</p>
<p>.>>.
In 2012, he managed to repay more than $42,000. The next year he paid off nearly $27,000, and finally, this year, he paid back the remaining $5,000.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>from those numbers, it sounds like he put his sign on bonus towards the first year of repayment.</p>
<p>Burr says. “I negotiated my salary and sign on bonus and bumped them up a couple thousand dollars, then was able to put my bonus and relocation straight to my loans.”</p>
<p>“When I got out of grad school, I basically doubled my salary. I’d never had that kind of income before, but I put the extra towards my loans,” he says.</p>
<p>Hmm… it doesn’t sound like he was the “normal” college student to start with. Plus he is older,he is 31…</p>
<p>Even with a BS/A I can see how a well paying job can yield payment of student loans if a person is frugal and living in the Midwest. Son acquired a healthy bank balance in two years.</p>
<p>the devil is in the details. no 18 year old should lightly look at this story and think, “I can borrow that much for undergrad and be fine.” getting a signing bonus and unneeded relocation costs shouldn’t be counted on.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids
It also appears that he was uniquely qualified for a niche position of labor relations, which is not something that is available for all students coming directly out of college. The salary he was earning at combined with the cost of living in the job’s area would be as if he was making a salary deep into the six figures if he was living in a metropolitan area, which isn’t the case with most post-graduation jobs</p>
<p>While it makes for a good story, it was probably not the wisest financial decision. Student loan interest is a tax deduction. At 80k per year plus bonuses he would be in the 28% tax bracket. A few good deductions like student loan interest drops him to the 25% bracket easily. Use some of that money to buy a house and get a mortgage deduction, invest in a 401k and a IRA and he might make it down to the 15% bracket.<br>
No debt is truly “good debt”, but if there was such a thing Student loans would make the list. </p>
<p>“But I wonder what percentage of new grads can get jobs paying 80K/year?”
I wonder what percentage of people with post graduate degrees and decades of experience in a field not HR, but say engineering, IT (and great reputation, recommendations) are getting offerred $80k? Not many in our city, out region, few states around us. Maybe in CA or NYC, where I would NOT live even if they offer me $1 mln, opinion that is shared with many of my frineds.</p>
<p>Regardless of the actual details/$$, the principles of his methods are the take-away here. Not delaying repayment, not overspending once a good salary is achieved, and living below one’s means. </p>
<p>Perhaps I am not reading your question correctly. Are you suggesting that engineers aren’t getting offered $80000 in rural areas? Definitely making more than that just a couple of yrs out of school here.</p>
<p>I think people are wondering how many newly-minted BS/BA degree folks get jobs like that…they are the ones who post on CC thinking they can take on $60K+ loans and pay them off.</p>
<p>Living frugally for a few more years and getting rid of debt as fast as possible means that one is free to do whatever thereafter.</p>
<p>Plenty of kids graduate and think they have to have the better car, the apartment in a hipper neighborhood, blow money on bar bills and eating almost every meal out…bringing a sandwich for lunch most days can easily save $150 a month or more.</p>