<p>well according to the FinAid.org calculator thing.</p>
<p>This really has me going crazy. I have to take all of these loans just to go to my safety school. I worked hard in high school, get the grades, got into the school I wanted, but I chose to be economical, but I still get screwed?</p>
<p>I'm only a Sophomore now, but I'm racking up debt, and I'll be a teacher after I graduate (hopefully), so I'll be making downwards of $30K a year. But the FinAid thing tells me that "If you use 15% of your gross monthly income to repay the loan, you will need an annual salary of only $50,635.20, but you may experience some financial difficulty.This corresponds to a debt-to-income ratio of 1.1."</p>
<p>what</p>
<p>I know this is merely a calculator, but still...it's depressing.</p>
<p>I really don't know what to do. Am I just stuck repaying loans the rest of my life, and living with my fifty brothers and sisters and my ever-fighting parents?</p>
<p>Ya know, I love America and everything, but I think it's time we join the rest of the civilized world and make education a right, not a luxury solely for the wealthy.</p>
<p>How much are you taking in loans each year? Do your best to earn money during each summer to reduce the loans you need to take for the next year. When you graduate, keep living frugally like a student, and use every penny you can to pay back your loans.</p>
<p>There are federal and I think some state programs that will help you to reduce your student debt when you become a teacher in certain subjects and areas of the country. Try an internet search on ‘teacher loan forgiveness’ for more information.</p>
<p>This was NOT a safety school. A safety school has to be affordable, and clearly your school was not. </p>
<p>Simply choosing an unaffordable school that would accept you does not:
make it a safety school.<br>
mean that the US is a country where only the affluent can afford college. </p>
<p>There were other options:</p>
<p>1) commute to a local CC and then transfer to an affordable U
2) commute to a local U
3) attending a school that gave you enough merit/FA to be affordable.
4) work a LOT over the summer and school year to cover about $5k per year in gap (reducing loans by $20k)</p>
<p>The US taxpayers should not be expected to fund the country’s 18-22 year olds’ sleep-away experience at the various colleges that they might choose. (and when you’re fully employed and paying taxes, you might better understand that.)</p>
<p>Oh, BTW…the rest of the world does NOT provide college to everyone “as a right”. Most other countries severely limit WHO can go to college. I think the US way is better because opportunity for all.</p>
<p>^ also, “right” means that instead of paying off your loans in 10 years you will be paying for everyone for the rest of your life through taxes.</p>
<p>It sounds like the student has either private loans or Plus loans and those aren’t forgiven for those programs. </p>
<p>Also, don’t know what state the student is in, but often getting credentialed requires more than 4 years of schooling. Either one or two more years may be needed, so the student could have more debt for those extra years, plus the accumulated interest.</p>