<p>anyone know what the avg. debt in loans of all college students is? I'm just wondering because i'm looking at about 20-25,000 and a lot of people have told me that that amount isnt bad at all, but it seems like a LOT to me. any ideas? thanks</p>
<p>I think the amount really varies - from college to college, area to area and person to person. Some people feel anything more than a few thousand is too much, some people will choose a college that allows literally for little or no debt . Some people say don't go into debt more than 1 years worth of salary you expect when you graduate. It's all relative to what's best for you based upon what your expectations are for your life after college. Obviously, the more loans, the more/longer you'll be paying.</p>
<p>I"ve been thinking to go the route of trying to get as few loans as possible year 1 and then start loans year 2, 3 and 4. That might work in our situation. There are probably a lot of people on this board who think $20,000 is no biggie.</p>
<p>It varies greatly by the school you are attending and whether you borrow more than you actually need. </p>
<p>I have several students who are already at $46,000.00 and are barely in their sophomore and junior year. Now, these students have been school hopping for several years and have finally settled at our Institution....only to discover they have no more funding available to finish their degree.</p>
<p>over 40,000 already? wow. i'm from a single parent family with a mom who makes 33-36,000/year, so i've never had a lot of money and 24,000 seems like a tremendous amount, but i guess its not that bad. It worries me a little because i'll be teaching or attending grad. school for an MFA after undergrad, but i figure if i start a career at a high school after undergrad i'll be making at least 30,000, which is more than my loans.</p>
<p>24,000 is a tremendous amount of money.</p>
<p>but is it close to average? i mean i really dont want to be having to pay loans all my life, but its either that or my state school. i could go to my state school loan free, but its not even in the top 150 and is way too big for me.</p>
<p>In the 03/04 school year (the most recent year stats are available, apparently), average student loan debt among graduating seniors was about 19K. Doesn't include parent's PLUS loans:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.finaid.org/loans/%5B/url%5D">http://www.finaid.org/loans/</a></p>
<p>Personally, I would find some way to make it at the state school...a debt free degree is well worth any sacrifice...but that is just my personal opinion. But if one must take out loan money to afford their degree...I think that 24,000 might be decent IF your employment outlook will produce at least twice your loan debt.</p>
<p>well i'm still waiting on some outside scholarships to come through and some outside funding, so if all of that works out my loans could be a lot lower, like 13-16000. but, yes it is a little scary to know that my career (if i teach) will only be about 10-15,000 more than my student loans.</p>
<p>ramsfan:</p>
<p>You can find the average indebtedness for almost every school. If you go to Collegeboard.com and put in the name of the school you're thinking about in the box with the "Find" button (College Quick Finder), and then when it comes up click on "Cost & Financial Aid" and scroll down to "Financial Aid Statisitics" it will be listed there last thing.</p>
<p>A friend's D graduated with 15,000 in debt. She worked for about a year (it might have been 1.5 years) and lived at home. She was able to pay the 15,000 off in one year, and then she applied to law school.</p>
<p>wow, great news from the mailbox. i got in to claremont mckenna with only 3000/year in loans, and notre dame and rice, havent got their financial stuff yet but i'm sure it will be good. awesome, just when i was REALLY starting to worry about this.</p>
<p>You know this question keeps coming up. Keep everything in perspective.</p>
<p>$24,000 debt is a lot of money yes, but a new car with some nice options will run you that, and a million people do that a month in the US and A. Some months its a million and a half!! And you only can get like a max of 6 years to pay that off.</p>