Is graduating with $30k-$35k in student debt considered a lot of debt, or is that a reasonable amount to take on? I understand circumstances differ but just speaking in relative terms.
Thank you
I believe this is a fairly reasonable amount. If you are a dependent undergraduate student who borrows the maximum you are allowed in Direct Stafford loans every year, you will leave school with approximately 27k in loans - which is right around the national average.
Depends on your major. If you’re an art major, then it can be too much. If you’re an eng’g major, then it’s probably not a big deal.
As long as none of it is private student loans!
How long would you say it takes people to pay back that amount, if one had no children and majored in something in between the salary range of an art major and an engineering major(i.e. nursing)? Still being relative.
Thanks for the responses as well, lines up with what I was thinking.
Your loan schedule will be for 10 years, and I’d say most will take that full 10 years, if not more, to repay it. Some will try to pay it early, others will defer for a period of time, others may go on the income based repayment or other similar plans and stretch it out even longer.
But I’d say most people get a loan payment and just pay it monthly as scheduled.
Well, it depends. Some people are able to live at home for a few years while working (if they can get a job near home), and quickly pay down their loans. Some don’t have that option or they’re in a relationship at that point.
Nurses can make pretty good money, so if you’re thrifty, you could pay it off in 5 years probably. Otherwise, 10.
Whether a given level of debt is “too much” does depend on the following:
- Your likely earnings after graduation.
- Your spending habits.
A frugal engineer is more likely to be able to pay off a level of debt that would be serious trouble for a spendy biology graduate (non-medical school).
Why would this matter as long as this $30,000 is the ONLY student debt?
The terms of private loans are generally not as favorable as the government loan programs.
Alright, thanks guys.
One way to lower your debt is to get the cheaper living option (like a triple dorm), lower but REASONABLE meal plan, waive school insurance (if possible). I’m cheap AF so I did all of this. Only had to take out 1k for this year, but then again, I got a good amount of aid.
Yeah, I’m planning on doing some of those things, but when doing some calculations using what NPCs give me the costs still come to about $7.5k-$9k lol. Still better than the $12k-$13k that comes up originally.
All bets are off until you get your actual financial aid award. The net proce calculators should be viewed as an estimate only.
Also, who will take out the loans for you in excess of the Direct Loan amounts per year. For example…freshman year, you can take only $5500 in your name.
Are your parents contributing anything towards your college costs?
Ik, just getting a general idea of where it might be.
What is the source of the ‘original’ estimate if npc gives 7 to 9?
You can run a loan repayment calculator, very simple. finaid.com has one. Use a 10 yr repayment. 27k runs just over $300 per month I think. they will also estimate what you have to make to support the payment. If you are smart and use any bonus to pay down the loan you can get it done earlier. Or if you can live like a student for a couple of years even if making more, or live with parents etc.
I had meant that the NPC’s gave 12-13, and where they show how they came up w/ the amount, I reduced the costs to match what I planned on having(i.e. if they show that they used dorms that cost 4,400 per whatever, but I intended on using a dorm that would come to 2800, then I would make the adjustments).
Those are few and far between, if they exist at all.
35k is a bit over national average, but it should be manageable.
http://housing.ua.edu/pdfs/2015-2016%20Residence%20Hall%20Rates.pdf
I believe I may have used this for one of them, someone had posted it in another thread.