<p>Hi everyone,
This is a more or less general question directed at my peers. I wanted to ask how much everybody else owes total, private and federal, so I can get a ball park assessment of whether I owe a lot or not.</p>
<p>I owe about $45,000.00 in federal loans, and I also owe another $20,000.00 as a private loan. So I owe a total of $65,000.00, and after capitalized interest when my loans went into repayment, It totaled to about 69k. Currently I'm paying ~$700 a month.</p>
<p>Is this a lot compared to others? I know it's not super uncommon for people to be over $50,000.00 in debt after schooling, from what I hear on the radio, so I wonder if this is the average. The ideal is obviously to owe nothing, but how much on average to people owe after schooling? </p>
<p>Thanks, if anyone cares to share.</p>
<p>Yes, it is a lot. My daughter will owe about $20,000 when she graduates (and thinks that is a “butt load of debt” - her words), my son owed about $10,000. </p>
<p>The general advice here is to try and avoid graduating with more than the maximum aggregate of federal student loans ($31,000 for a dependent student). </p>
<p>The average debt I hear quoted is in the region of $22,000, not $50k. $50k is high.</p>
<p>My S will own $2100.00 when he graduates this May. Do you owe that much for your undergrad?</p>
<p>Wow. Yeah you owe A LOT! 
Did you at least get a job where you could pay that off comfortably?</p>
<p>I owe currently 30k but am not finished. I’ll probably be 40k when I’m done. And still have to do graduate school for a year or two. Sucks having debt. I’ll be an accountant/CPA when I’m done but also have my husband’s income to pay debt off so shouldn’t be too insane.</p>
<p>*It totaled to about 69k. Currently I’m paying ~$700 a month.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Yikes! That’s a lot.</p>
<p>how much are you earning now? </p>
<p>What is your line of work?</p>
<p>Do you live at home or are you in your own apt?</p>
<p>When did you graduate? How long have you been making those payments?</p>
<p>My kids have very minimal debt, $3500 each. That was to make sure they took freshman year seriously! </p>
<p>You do have a lot of debt, but it is what it is. If it were me, I would pay it off as quickly as possible. I would live well under my means and throw all I could at the loans. That is me, though … I detest debt. Others may feel otherwise. My opinion, though, is that you need to pay off the loans before you do things like buy a nice car, commit to a big mortgage, take fancy vacations, etc.</p>
<p>kelsmom, mom2collegekids, HurricaneMom, swimcatsmom… wow a lot of moms in here. I was hoping to get some feedback from my peers.</p>
<p>Well, it’s not all from my undergraduate degree. I went to graduate school, for a ms, for about a year and a half, so that makes up a huge chunk of my debt. Though, I didn’t finish the MS. I’m glad a didn’t though, because it wasn’t really what I wanted, and if I did It would have wasted a hell of a lot of money.</p>
<p>My degree is in computer science, and though I’m actually not in work right now, from what it looks like, there are tons of jobs for my degree. The reason why I’m not working immediately right now is because I’m being more selective (usually I take whatever I can get, but I always wind up working some stupid job).</p>
<p>My parents are actually covering my debts. They really badly wanted me to go to college, so they agreed to pay for it, so long as I went.</p>
<p>alphonse23,</p>
<p>There’s nothing wrong with getting a job just to bring in income and then still always being on the lookout for something better. You should consider doing that if for nothing else to be a nice child and help your parents out in paying the debt.</p>
<p>As for the actual debt, I suppose that’s pretty high. I have read recently that the average amount of student loan debt per student rose to ~$25,000, but again that was just for undergrads. You can subtract the debt you incurred from your MS and see how what’s left over compares to that figure.</p>
<p>Oh, google gave me the article I think I read:
[Average</a> student loan debt tops $25,000 - Nov. 3, 2011](<a href=“http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/03/pf/student_loan_debt/index.htm]Average”>Average student loan debt tops $25,000 - Nov. 3, 2011)</p>
<p>My parents are actually covering my debts.</p>
<p>Well, that’s a different situation. If you were having to pay your student loans (as many students have to), that kind of debt would be an issue for many. </p>
<p>I don’t think most students have the kind of debt that you’re talking about.</p>