I am looking at Northwestern University taking on 20,000 total in debt vs WashU with no debt and possibly some money left over. I’m leaning toward Northwestern, but everyone tells me less debt = better. That is, everyone except for my mom, who says that 20,000 will not make much of a dent in my monthly pay check when I get into the work force so I shouldn’t include that in my decision. Thoughts?
For schools that are both as strong as those two, I’m with the crowd saying you should avoid the debt. You’re not getting a significantly better education at Northwestern vs WashU.
But, in general if the debt is only from the federal student loan program, that is considered manageable because the federal programs can adjust your payment to your income.
What if you take into account the fact that I actually like Northwestern better than WashU, not just because it is more competitive? It has a better program for my major and the weather is a lot better. Not that WashU doesn’t offer my major, but there won’t be much opportunity for research.
Does your major generally have paid summer internships such as computer science, math or engineering? If so you may be able to shrink the debt load.
There will most likely be no paid summer internships. Also I will probably end up pursuing a PhD if I stick with my major. Idk if that really means anything, being as those programs would not put me into more debt, but it means that I would probably have a higher salary than with just undergrad.
Do either of those colleges have funds for students that intern at a non profit? At my kid’s college they do. $2400 isn’t a lot but it is something. https://www.smith.edu/cdo/praxis_stipends.php
Contact the career centers and ask.
$20,000 doesn’t scare me off in general but I hate to think that this would be accruing interest while you are in grad school.
What is your major?
Wanting to go into a PhD program is another reason to avoid undergraduate debt. You know you have more education coming, and you can’t know those costs at this point in time.
However, $20K isn’t a lot of debt if you’re working.
I know NU funds some summer work experiences. Not sure about WashU.
@AroundHere: Any PhD program worth entering will be funded.
@PurpleTitan In STEM, that is true for sure. I’m not sure that’s true all fields. Also, if these loans are not subsidized, the loans will be deferred during grad school but interest will accrue, creating a hidden cost to further schooling.
And even if the tuition is funded, the salary as an RA or TA might not match the local cost of living and a loan or something may be needed to live or eat decently.
Even though a PhD will be funded, that’s not a reason to take on undergrad debt that will grow like crazy throughout the whole process.
If all the loans are subsidized, then maybe fine. But if that’s $20k of unsub loans…what will it be like 6-8 years later?
Also…many PhDs don’t earn a whole lot for awhile. Some never earn a lot.
WashU and NU are peer schools. Call NU and tell them that you’ll commit if they’ll match your net cost at WashU
@AroundHere, true, many PhD’s outside of STEM and the social sciences aren’t funded and IMO, they’re not worth entering (unless you have money to spend; say, splurging on a PhD instead of several new cars or something). Paying for a PhD definitely doesn’t make sense from a ROI perspective.
In what universe is the weather at Northwestern better than at Wash U?
“What if you take into account the fact that I actually like Northwestern better than WashU… and the weather is a lot better.”
Wha? /
Anything over your expected starting salary is considered too much. It is pretty expected that lots of kids will take out the maximum in federal loans. it is pretty much built into the college packages. $20k is not unusual at all.
Think if it as a percentage of your starting salary. Figure on repaying 15% of the base amount per year. If you are an english major, you may make $30K/yr. 20K is 2/3rds of your salary and would require about 15% of your take home pay, an unacceptably high amount. You’d need a 2nd job to pay it off. If you are a CS major, you may make $65K as a starting salary, so only about 7% of your take home pay would be needed, probably manageable.
But zero debt is best. You will have much more flexibility.
20,000 total for the whole time you’re there? There’s always a chance your co op will pay out enough for you to put it towards your loans.
Co op??
OOPS, I read northEASTern not northWESTern
Most of the programs I looked at are fully funded plus stipends, and I won’t be expected to start paying if the debt until graduating so it really is 20,000. What I don’t really understand is whether that’s a lot or not because I’ve gotten mixed responses.