<p>Are you talking about $17K total or $17k a year for 4 years?</p>
<p>If you are talking about $17k a year for 4 years are you planning to pay the interest each year as you go along or deffer it until you finish school? If you deffer it it will be added to the loan and you will pay interest on the interest. At the end of 4 years the $68,000 you have borrowed will have grown, assuming an 8% interest rate, to @ $83,000.</p>
<p>To pay that off over 10 years would be $1007 a month every month for 10 years and require an annual salary of @ $120,000 to comfortably afford the payment. You would end up paying a total of @ $121,000 so @ $53,000 in interest.</p>
<p>If you paid it over 20 years you would have a monthly payment of @ $700 a month for 20 years and require an annual salary of @ $83,000 to comfortably afford the payment. You would end up paying a total of $167,000 so $99,000 interest on your original loan of $68,000.</p>