USC worth ~$37k debt?

[unclesam]

<p>Hey, i got in as a transfer recently to USC. Im currently in CLAS undecided and didn't get any financial aid... my question is, is USC worth $37k in debt upon graduation?</p>

[moss]

<p>It’d be worth it if you pick a major that has good job opportunities when you graduate.</p>

[drizzit]

<p>37K is about double the guidelines I set for my sons, one of whom is at USC, for debt from ANY university. We agreed it should stay under 20K or not attend that University.</p>

<p>That being said if you are in a Field Like engineering or computer Science where the odds of decent pay right out of college is good then perhaps a bit more debt can be justified. For a Theater or Journalism Major, for example, I doubt I would take on that much debt.</p>

[Hawkwings]

<p>If you didn’t get ANY financial aid, I’d suspect you would have a lot more than $37k in debt when you get out.</p>

[akalboy]

<p>His parents may be financing part of his tuition.</p>

[mdcissp]

<p>What are your other options? Students typically compare all offers to see which university offers the best program at the most affordable price.</p>

[sfgiants]

<p>I think 37k is manageable. It amounts to a monthly payment of about $425, given a 6.8% interest rate and a 10 year repayment schedule. From [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Loan Calculator](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid)</p>

<p>

Loan Calculator</p>

<pre><code>Loan Balance: $37,000.00
Adjusted Loan Balance: $37,000.00
Loan Interest Rate: 6.80%
Loan Fees: 0.00%
Loan Term: 10 years
Minimum Payment: $50.00

Monthly Loan Payment: $425.80
Number of Payments: 120

Cumulative Payments: $51,095.52
Total Interest Paid: $14,095.52
</code></pre>

<p>Note: The monthly loan payment was calculated at 119 payments of $425.80 plus a final payment of $425.32.</p>

<p>It is estimated that you will need an annual salary of at least $51,096.00 to be able to afford to repay this loan. This estimate assumes that 10% of your gross monthly income will be devoted to repaying your student loans. This corresponds to a debt-to-income ratio of 0.7. If you use 15% of your gross monthly income to repay the loan, you will need an annual salary of only $34,064.00, but you may experience some financial difficulty.This corresponds to a debt-to-income ratio of 1.1.</p>

<p>The following table lists the minimum income necessary to repay the debt without encountering a partial economic hardship. Partial economic hardship is defined as having annual education loan payments in excess of 15 percent of discretionary income, where discretionary income is the amount by which Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) exceeds 150 percent of the poverty line. This figure is shown in the Minimum AGI (IBR) column. The Minimum AGI (ICR) column uses an alternate definition of economic hardship, based on 20 percent of discretionary income which is defined as the excess of AGI over 100 percent of the poverty line.</p>

<p>Household Size Minimum AGI (IBR) Minimum AGI (ICR)
1 $50,309.00 $36,378.00
2 $55,919.00 $40,118.00
3 $61,529.00 $43,858.00
4 $67,139.00 $47,598.00
5 $72,749.00 $51,338.00
6 $78,359.00 $55,078.00</p>

<p>These results assume that the student is paying the interest charges on any unsubsidized loans and is not capitalizing the interest while in school. If the student is capitalizing the interest, the cumulative payments and total interest charges will be higher than shown here.</p>

<p>Extended repayment would cut the monthly payment by $143.36 (33.7%) by increasing the loan term to 20 years but would also increase the total interest paid over the life of the loan by $16,690.08 (118.4%), a factor of 2.18 increase. FinAid recommends sticking with the shortest loan term you can afford. After all, do you really want to still be repaying your own student loans when your children enroll in college?

</p>