<p>I'm scared of getting into debt. </p>
<p>Should I get into debt for an undergrad accounting degree? Is it just me or are the only people whom complain about paying student loans are liberal arts majors/graduates of profit schools?</p>
<p>Doing a little research I've found that Accountants have great earning potential and an always demanding job market. I've got plans to attend law school afterwards though, and it has always been my dream to get my JD, I just chose accounting as my undergrad degree.</p>
<p>You will be living in the absolute poor house the first couple of years after you graduate. For accounting, you can find a cheaper school and let the CPA put you on a somewhat level playing field with better schools…I’m a CC transfer and I sort of advocate for doing it. I went there for 4 years trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I got an A.S. in Audio Engineering and then ended up switching to Business. All in all, I ended up with $8k in loans when it could have been $40k if I did the same thing at a university. It can be harder transferring into the good publics, but many private Tier 1’s that tend to be in the Top 75 range are no problem and still offer good prospects. Not to mention it’ll knock that $80k to about $55K for the same school you’re talking about…</p>
<p>If your dream is to be a lawyer, then you should major in something you are much more passionate about then just something random that appears to be safe. For one thing, your GPA would likely be much higher (killer for law school) and for another thing, I dont know to many accountants who chose the job because they thought it was fulfilling. </p>
<p>Lawschool is anywhere from 150K to 200+K. If you go for accounting and Law that puts you at -230K. Not worth it. Liberal art majors get more grants than business majors, why dont you try that instead of arbitrarily (as the way I percieved it from your posts) picking out something you may end up hating?</p>
<p>debt is something Im worried about too and I’m only going to have about half as much as you. schools a gamble. some win and some lose. it is not just the liberal arts students that have trouble getting jobs. </p>
<p>to me, 80K sounds like too much. but i dont really know. go online or talk to your financial aid office. there is a “debt calculator” that will let you know what your monthly payment will be depending on how much and what types of debt you take out. there is a certain percentage of your future income that you don’t want the payment to be above. Your school should provide you with average starting salary. </p>
<p>Of course that assumes you can get an acctg related job. which isnt easy. </p>
<p>i agree with derekallen. CC for your 1st 2 years will save you butloads of money, and the quality of education is often higher than what you would get at a four year.</p>
<p>I’m not sure about getting a better education…I’ve been to 3 CC’s in my time. 2 were absolutely terrible. The good one required teachers to have a Master’s and 5 years of experience. For freshmen and sophomore classes, you will without question have smaller classes which is good though.</p>
<p>Well, i do have a small sample. I’ve been to one cc and one state school. </p>
<p>State school had huge (often over 200 students per class) classes in begginning courses. CC usually had under 40. CC teachers did not always have phd’s, although I know at least 2 of mine did. State school teachers often have phds, although for those beggining classes, that you are taking your 1st two years, its pretty usual to have grad students teaching them. Although in reality, you don’t need a phd teaching beginning courses. State school teachers are often kept on for their research ability, while community college teachers are kept on for their teaching ability. Although, I definitely had some craptastic teachers in both too. Also my cc had more resources (tutoring, math study labs with teachers and upper level students, and faculty/teacher access) than my state school. </p>
<p>The quality change was easily apparant. It boggles my mind that state schools charge so much more, when there are so many more students in each classroom than a cc. it took so much more self-motivation to attend a 300 person acctg class where it was hard to ask questions than a 25 person acctg class where my instructor knew my name. </p>
<p>although of course, actual college is funner than cc. & you do want phd’s teaching upper level coursework.</p>
<p>If you take out 80k to obtain a BA in accounting you will be completely broke when you graduate. If you attend law school and take out more loans you will end up as one of those student debt horror story posterchilds. I bet that you end up with 250k in loans after law school if you go that route. The payment on that would consume at least 1/3 of your take home pay even if you got a big law job. With a smal firm job you would be living in your parents basement eating ramen noodles for a decade after graduation as the payments would eat up 3/4ths of your take home pay!!! Remember you need and in tact credit history to obtain a job with a CPA firm. The most debt I think is appropriate for an accounting degree is 30k. That is also based on the assumption it is a AACSB accredited degree with decent campus recruiting not an online degree.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m making sure to stick with “don’t borrow more than your starting salary” rule…</p>
<p>Thats prob a good rule…if you know how much your starting salary will be. </p>
<p>But for some students, who dont have rich parents, don’t get much aid…etc. They have to take on alot of debt. Depending on living costs & the cost of the college, most likely more than 30K.</p>
<p>I just try to work of the averages. Lol. My university has a really good list of salary reports broken down to Major, Employer, Position and Salary…I understand most schools don’t advertise so well though.</p>