<p>I'm not sure how many of you are the kind to read magazines, but I was surprised to come across MIT in an article about indebted students. November 14th's issue (yes, 2005. I have no clue how that works) features former MIT student Manuel Gomboa (class of 1997), and mentions he graduated $30,000 in debt. This figure is significantly higher than the average quoted by the common data set ($20,079).</p>
<p>The whole article is really interesting and talks about student loans and the value of education in America. It starts on page 77, and the story of Gomboa's family starts on page 83.</p>
<p>Granted, I'm not one to follow statistics, so I thought I'd bring it here to the forums. How do you current MIT students feel about what you are paying for your education? Do you consider it worth it in the long run? What about you alums, what was the situation like for you (albeit times have changed quite a bit).</p>
<p>Well, to be honest, I'm not exactly sure how much I'll be graduating with in loans (my dad takes care of all that money stuff), but it's not going to be a small dollar amount. MIT is great about providing financial aid for demonstrated need, but for those of us from middle-class homes... well, the federal government doesn't seem to think we need much in the way of financial aid.</p>
<p>I do make about $10 an hour at my UROP, so I make enough to take care of my normal monetary expenses. I really appreciate the ability to do that so I'm not asking my parents for money all the time. But tickets home for Thanksgiving are about $500 this year, and so I had to make the decision not to ask my parents to finance that. It's tough.</p>
<p>I do feel that it's been worth it (and of course my family hasn't been forced into poverty or anything like that). Still, considering that I'll never be rich as a researcher, I know I'll be paying student loans for a long time.</p>
<p>Mollie... your experience is saddening. I know researchers don't make a lot of money... but isn't the money from graduate school enough along with the salary to get rid of those loans?</p>
<p>What? Mollieb is a graduate student now? lol</p>
<p>Anyway... I probably won't be that much in debt, but that's primarily due to my parents taking loans. MIT covers a good amount, but we still have a sizeable expected contribution decided by the FAFSA folks. When I graduate, I will of course help my parents pay it back. </p>
<p>Oh, I won't have to start paying back the money until after graduate school -- if you're still a full-time student, they defer making you pay the loans back. So I won't have to pay until I'm a postdoc, when I'll be making a decent (although certainly not exorbitant) salary. (And as Timur alluded, the government does pay for graduate school in science and engineering, so my undergraduate education will be the end of my loan-taking.) </p>
<p>I hope I haven't discouraged anyone. If admitted, you'll get a financial aid offer -- it's not like you have to say you're coming before they tell you how much you have to pay. Finances should never be a reason for someone not to apply.</p>
<p>I wish I could remember exactly how much I'll have in loans by the time I graduate. I imagine it's probably in the vicinity of $20k. (Some of you may not think that's actually that much money. Well, I am cheap.) And I'm marrying a rocket scientist for godssakes! Don't worry about me, I'm not going to go hungry paying off my MIT student loans. :)</p>
<p>I agree with what mit2007mit is saying -- it's not really MIT, it's the FAFSA. What I'm paying at MIT is what I'd be paying at any other expensive private school in the country.</p>