<p>There is no magic number since it depends largely on the student’s family support structure. If your parents are will and able to help you with your loan burden after you finish college, that can make a huge difference. Where I get nervous is when kids take out large loans (usually with parent co signing it) and the family finances are such that the chances of them being able to help the kid repay is zilch. That is, by the way, how most student get loans in addition to the Staffords. Since the Staffords (and Perkins) are pretty much all that a student can take without co signer, that pretty much represents the maximum kids should be taking without expectation of help in repayment. Even the Staffords can add up to a large amount, especially if the parents do not qualify for PLUS and extra money is given to the student alone. </p>
<p>What are your total loan burdens at UB and at Syracuse? Does it mean that you will be borrowing $6K a year more to go to Syracuse on top of the Stafford loan amount? That means that you will be owing more than $65 at graduation. That’s alot of money to owe. If you decide to go to medical school and continue to borrow, the debt would truly be overwhelming. Figure out what the monthly tab will be for loans of that size for how many years.</p>