<p>so how are you comp/ele engineers doing in paying off student loans?</p>
<p>I would like to get input from both those that have gone into the workforce with bachelors and graduate degrees (i.e. Masters).</p>
<p>I’m not ECE/CE but I do think engineering students have less debt on average upon graduation than the average students from other majors.</p>
<p>I know my state gives students $5000 if they have a 3.0 GPA and 1100 SAT for 4 years. If you study math, science, engineering, you get an extra $2,500/year begining sophomore year. Also, if you have SAT 1200 and are in the top 3% of class, you get an additional $2,500 regardless of major. And the federal goverment has also given schools money so if you are in top 3% of class and have 1200 SAT scores, all you pay is room and board.</p>
<p>So most engineering students at my school (granted, its a state school) dont have any debt.</p>
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What state is this?</p>
<p>It may be worthwhile asking the university if there are any local companies sponsoring students at the university. There are typically GPA requirements and your name may be used.</p>
<p>I had about 90% of my degrees paid for by companies but that was back in a time when they were much more generous. My only student loan was for $1,000 at 2% to be paid back over 10 years. That’s $9.20 a month though I think that the loan was quarterly. It was paid off rather quickly.</p>
<p>I am a mechanical engineer with 40k in loans. I went to school for 5 years, Ivy League and state school. It was cheaper going to the Ivy because I had lots of grants and lived on campus. When I transferred to the state school I had to take out a big loan because I didn’t qualify for state grants. I got some scholarships later on but still had to pay for school with loans and also used the loan money to pay for my commutes and car maintenance. My mom paid the car payments but I took care of most of the maintenance. I pay $510/month now in school loans. I hate it but it is the cost of getting a good degree and having a good job but if I had done certain things differently I would not have as much debt.</p>
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<p>Don’t worry I, and many others, are in the same boat as you. I’ll probably be around 40k in debt by the time I graduate and I work two jobs in order to support myself. I have my own apartment, pay for my own car and other bills, my own food, clothes, etc. Unless I manage to get a really nice scholarship in the next 2 years I will be about 40k in debt.</p>
<p>no loans my parents pay every bit of my education, lucky me:-)</p>
<p>Parents gave me 20K, I paid the rest. No loans. No debt upon graduation.</p>
<p>I actually turned down a good scholarship to attend my “dream school” which turned out to be more of a hell than anything else. Some of my classmates worked full-time and did okay but I was never good at cramming, hence the need to use loans so I wouldn’t have to worry about having a job. I could complain about the financial burden but at the end of the day I have a job that I like and a job that will not be erased during this recession.</p>
<p>Just wanted to say there are city and state schools for engineering and some of us don’t need to pay back any money for loans i.e. I go to CCNY and tuition is only $4000 a year (if you have really good grades, you can get into the Honors College and go for free) 
I’m glad there are many options for those that want to do engineering but can’t afford it.</p>