How much student loan debt do you/did you have?

[kenny]

Zero.

 

[monarch64]

None.

 

[NOYFB]

I don't know the exact figure, but it's somewhere around $80K (undergrad and grad).

 

[MissStepcut]

It occurs to me that I should have asked when you graduated, since tuition has sharply risen at pretty much every institution relative to inflation. I was probably among the last grads of my undergrad for whom it was feasible to pay our own way through school (without taking time off to save up).

 

[Dancing Fire]

[quote="thing2of2|

Yeah well, it bothers me a lot that my tax dollars go to pay jackholes like Michele Bachmann who spew nothing but idiocy and hate, but that's life as an American! Also, ALL Americans use government as their Plan B for retirement, last I checked. [/quote]

thing2...so how much are you donating to her campaign?...

 

[tigian]

My parents paid for my undergrad degree and I graduated with $70K from grad school. My monthly payments are quite manageable and I've been able to pay extra at the end of each year since I started repaying my loan, so I'm down to $60K. Such a large loan, but I don't regret it at all.

 

[Autumnovember]

It occurs to me that I should have asked when you graduated, since tuition has sharply risen at pretty much every institution relative to inflation. I was probably among the last grads of my undergrad for whom it was feasible to pay our own way through school (without taking time off to save up).

I was supposed to graduate in 2009 but I transferred so it ended up being 2010. I'll graduate with the rest of my debt in 2012 and I'll graduate with more debt in 2014.

 

[Resonance.Of.Life]

ughhhhhhh.....75k as of right now.

It definitely sucks but part of me is glad that I'll be able to say that I paid for college without anyone's help.

.. are you in Cali? If so.. you wouldn't happen to be going to WCU are you? I just graduated with their first BSN class in June of this year !

back to the OP: I have 67k in student loans due to going to an accelerated private nursing program.

 

[zoebartlett]

Alright, I will be brave and go first. My JD is going to cost me... $160k. Ouch. Luckily I paid for undergrad out-of-pocket by working during school, sharing a tiny apartment with other girls, a little bit of help from parents (maybe 20% of the total cost) and graduating early.

If I can't pay back my student loans, there is a Federal program that will bail me out. So it may turn out that you will be paying for my fancy private school law degree.

ETA: Thanks Yenny for going first!

This bothers me _ a lot. The idea that my tax dollars go to somebody who willingly took on a huge amount of debt and uses the government as their plan B is not okay. I can only hope that high taxes will bite you in the rear after you obtain your fancy degree.

Yeah well, it bothers me a lot that my tax dollars go to pay jackholes like Michele Bachmann who spew nothing but idiocy and hate, but that's life as an American! Also, ALL Americans use government as their Plan B for retirement, last I checked.

I think I love you, Thing2.

 

[kas baby]

I have about 45K and I just graduated this spring. I received quite a bit in scholarships, grants, and academic awards, all of which I worked very hard to earn. My parents are so far in debt that they couldn't even think about helping me out other than a pat on the back. I plan on continuing my education at grad school for medicine, all of which will be paid for by me.

 

[iheartscience]

Alright, I will be brave and go first. My JD is going to cost me... $160k. Ouch. Luckily I paid for undergrad out-of-pocket by working during school, sharing a tiny apartment with other girls, a little bit of help from parents (maybe 20% of the total cost) and graduating early.

If I can't pay back my student loans, there is a Federal program that will bail me out. So it may turn out that you will be paying for my fancy private school law degree.

ETA: Thanks Yenny for going first!

This bothers me _ a lot. The idea that my tax dollars go to somebody who willingly took on a huge amount of debt and uses the government as their plan B is not okay. I can only hope that high taxes will bite you in the rear after you obtain your fancy degree.

Yeah well, it bothers me a lot that my tax dollars go to pay jackholes like Michele Bachmann who spew nothing but idiocy and hate, but that's life as an American! Also, ALL Americans use government as their Plan B for retirement, last I checked.

I think I love you, Thing2.

And I you!

 

[iheartscience]

[quote="thing2of2|

Yeah well, it bothers me a lot that my tax dollars go to pay jackholes like Michele Bachmann who spew nothing but idiocy and hate, but that's life as an American! Also, ALL Americans use government as their Plan B for retirement, last I checked.

thing2...so how much are you donating to her campaign?... [/quote]

I was totally going to donate a TON, but unfortunately I already gave all my money to Americans 4 Socialism/Marxism/Anti-Colonialism Kenyan Commies.

 

[vc10um]

Nearly $100K with 4 years of undergrad and 1 year of graduate school. Over 1/3 of that is from my freshman year alone, because I was an out of state student that year and so I paid through the nose at Michigan.

I received my Bachelor's in 2006 and my Master's in 2007.

 

[charbie]

I graduated with approx. $32k in student loan debt. I went to a public university and graduated in 2007. I received some grants for grades, as well as scholarships my sophomore year because of my student involvement. I received "assistance" from my mom in the form of her taking out a loan that I agreed to pay back because I had maxed out what I could take on my own from direct loans and perkins.
I worked through school, but used that to fund any sort of extra curricular activities, it didn't really go to my education. My loans paid for rent, tuition, and books. I was determined not to let finances mean I couldn't have the college experience I wanted to have, and im proud I didn't compromise.

I am eternally grateful for my husband who grew up very poor but smart, so his education was funded through scholarships and grants . His grandmother did help with any lose ends, and he also worked through school. Since there aren't two of us having to make major loan payments, we have been able to afford to save more money and pay down loans at the same time. In fact, just last week, we paid off my first student loan (the one in my mom's name) bc it had the highest interest and we had a little bit of extra money in savings.

So at this point there is about $15k left to pay off, and we are looking for that to be paid off within the next two years.

Gosh, I just realized we've knocked out half my student loan debt in 3.5 years of making payments....rock on! And we have paid off my car, too! Gosh, my husband is a financial guru we don't make that much money!

 

[charbie]

Nearly $100K with 4 years of undergrad and 1 year of graduate school. Over 1/3 of that is from my freshman year alone, because I was an out of state student that year and so I paid through the nose at Michigan.

I received my Bachelor's in 2006 and my Master's in 2007.

Now, vc, you seem like an intelligent woman...but why in the WORLD would you pay EXTRA to be out of state at M*CH*G@N? Who pays extra to go to THAT school.


you earned that one on the thread about where you graduated from...go bucks!

 

[purselover]

I was very lucky and my parents paid my undergrad and first semester of grad school. When I finish up my degree I'll owe about $30k and DH owes about $160k for law school and a bit of undergrad that was left. Fortunately his job will allow him to pay that back in a few years so we're not overly worried about our debt.

 

[centralsquare]

Had about 150k (DH and me) from grad school but paid off.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

None. Dad paid for first degree; I paid for the others. Thanks goodness for scholarships and of course.....husband and savings/jobs. We have an RESP for my son who is starting University in a week. Glad we saved--things are MUCH more costly these days.....(again thankful for scholarships!!)

cheers--Sharon

 

[E B]

Not a penny. My husband and I both went to state schools and took full course loads each semester, so our parents paid. Depending on the cost of tuition in 20 years (and how responsible my children are), we hope to offer them the same deal.

 

[wannaBMrsH]

I attended a private university in Texas and while I was on full scholarship for the first two years, my GPA dropped below the requisite right before my junior year. I ended up graduating with about $56k in loans. Luckily, I paid most of it off and I had less than 10k in debt last year when I quit my job. We went ahead and paid the balance so I wouldn't worry about it while I was out of work, but it was a huge lesson for me and DH. I'd been paying what is the equivalent to a mortgage for almost 10 years!

My younger brother graduated with about 6k in school debt and we recently went ahead and paid off the balance (2k) as a birthday present to him. But, the next brother, we told him it was better to have no debt and he started two weeks ago with zero debt. We (Parents, brother 1 and me) are going to pay as much as we can out of pocket just so he won't have that over his head. My 17-year-old sister will be in college next year and we are doing the same thing for her. It is unbelievable that in today's economy ANYONE would choose to take on as much debt as I did ten years ago.

 

[that_someone_special]

$69k ... but I don't owe that amount anymore. I had some college money and some has been paid off.

A friend of mine has like $140k now.

 

[charbie]

I attended a private university in Texas and while I was on full scholarship for the first two years, my GPA dropped below the requisite right before my junior year. I ended up graduating with about $56k in loans. Luckily, I paid most of it off and I had less than 10k in debt last year when I quit my job. We went ahead and paid the balance so I wouldn't worry about it while I was out of work, but it was a huge lesson for me and DH. I'd been paying what is the equivalent to a mortgage for almost 10 years!

My younger brother graduated with about 6k in school debt and we recently went ahead and paid off the balance (2k) as a birthday present to him. But, the next brother, we told him it was better to have no debt and he started two weeks ago with zero debt. We (Parents, brother 1 and me) are going to pay as much as we can out of pocket just so he won't have that over his head. My 17-year-old sister will be in college next year and we are doing the same thing for her. It is unbelievable that in today's economy ANYONE would choose to take on as much debt as I did ten years ago.

Can I join your family? That's very generous of you, how great it must feel to be able to help out your family like that! I hope we can one day do the same if our family needs our help.

 

[wannaBMrsH]

I attended a private university in Texas and while I was on full scholarship for the first two years, my GPA dropped below the requisite right before my junior year. I ended up graduating with about $56k in loans. Luckily, I paid most of it off and I had less than 10k in debt last year when I quit my job. We went ahead and paid the balance so I wouldn't worry about it while I was out of work, but it was a huge lesson for me and DH. I'd been paying what is the equivalent to a mortgage for almost 10 years!

My younger brother graduated with about 6k in school debt and we recently went ahead and paid off the balance (2k) as a birthday present to him. But, the next brother, we told him it was better to have no debt and he started two weeks ago with zero debt. We (Parents, brother 1 and me) are going to pay as much as we can out of pocket just so he won't have that over his head. My 17-year-old sister will be in college next year and we are doing the same thing for her. It is unbelievable that in today's economy ANYONE would choose to take on as much debt as I did ten years ago.

Can I join your family? That's very generous of you, how great it must feel to be able to help out your family like that! I hope we can one day do the same if our family needs our help.

It's not sooo fantastic a deal, brother 1 went to a state school and brother 2 is starting at community college so we aren't laying out thousands and thousands. I am really proud of brother 2 because he is going back after working 8 years and realizing that a BA is pretty much the equivalent of a HS diploma 20-30 years ago. And he has kids so none of us want him to stress about taking food from his table to get his degree. My youngest sister is so freakin fantastic that I am honored that she would ask me for anything!

 

[PugLover]

Luckily no undergrad debt but my DDS will total about $300K :/ I'm trying not to think about it too much...

 

[charbie]

I attended a private university in Texas and while I was on full scholarship for the first two years, my GPA dropped below the requisite right before my junior year. I ended up graduating with about $56k in loans. Luckily, I paid most of it off and I had less than 10k in debt last year when I quit my job. We went ahead and paid the balance so I wouldn't worry about it while I was out of work, but it was a huge lesson for me and DH. I'd been paying what is the equivalent to a mortgage for almost 10 years!

My younger brother graduated with about 6k in school debt and we recently went ahead and paid off the balance (2k) as a birthday present to him. But, the next brother, we told him it was better to have no debt and he started two weeks ago with zero debt. We (Parents, brother 1 and me) are going to pay as much as we can out of pocket just so he won't have that over his head. My 17-year-old sister will be in college next year and we are doing the same thing for her. It is unbelievable that in today's economy ANYONE would choose to take on as much debt as I did ten years ago.

Can I join your family? That's very generous of you, how great it must feel to be able to help out your family like that! I hope we can one day do the same if our family needs our help.

It's not sooo fantastic a deal, brother 1 went to a state school and brother 2 is starting at community college so we aren't laying out thousands and thousands. I am really proud of brother 2 because he is going back after working 8 years and realizing that a BA is pretty much the equivalent of a HS diploma 20-30 years ago. And he has kids so none of us want him to stress about taking food from his table to get his degree. My youngest sister is so freakin fantastic that I am honored that she would ask me for anything!

Expensive or not, its very commendable, and I applaud you for helping your family realize their dreams of higher education. Its great to see siblings help one another out like that, since many cannot or would not.

 

[wildcat03]

Alright, I will be brave and go first. My JD is going to cost me... $160k. Ouch. Luckily I paid for undergrad out-of-pocket by working during school, sharing a tiny apartment with other girls, a little bit of help from parents (maybe 20% of the total cost) and graduating early.

If I can't pay back my student loans, there is a Federal program that will bail me out. So it may turn out that you will be paying for my fancy private school law degree.

ETA: Thanks Yenny for going first!

This bothers me _ a lot. The idea that my tax dollars go to somebody who willingly took on a huge amount of debt and uses the government as their plan B is not okay. I can only hope that high taxes will bite you in the rear after you obtain your fancy degree.

I have mountains, literally mountains of student debt. Other than that, just a small car loan. No credit card debt or unsecured loans.

I just had to take a minute to address this comment. I, too, am hoping to earn loan repayment through 10 years of public service. As a doctor, my first 4 years are coming through residency - which is essentially mandatory, during which I'm paid somewhere around 50k/year (bear in mind that I am 30 years old with a doctoral degree).

What is residency? I spend my days (and nights, and weekends) taking care of patients in a large teaching hospital. My pay and benefits are largely funded by Medicare in return for my service to Medicare and Medicaid patients. I work somewhere around 80 hours a week. If I am lucky, I get a full weekend (Saturday AND Sunday) off a month. If I am really lucky, I will get Christmas off this year and it will be the first major holiday I've spent with my family in 3 years. I spend my time outside of work on research projects and at least 5 hours a week on necessary administrative tasks related to residency. Oh, and I also study. Daily. In the last month alone, I have been punched by one patient and had my rear end fondled by another and one woman hit me with her cane when I told her that her adult daughter had died. Amongst my greatest talents these days, I would certainly list that I am capable of caring for patients for 30 hours straight - without sleep and often with only two meals in there. How do I know this? I've done it. Every 4th day. For months on end. I LOVE what I do. It is an honor and a privilege to take care of people when they need you the most. The path to this profession is long, hard, and EXPENSIVE. I went from age 24 to age 28 without anything more than a couple token paychecks a year (weekends, nannying, etc.). I won't see a real "doctor" paycheck until I'm 32 at the very earliest. So yes, I willingly took on a huge amount of debt. And yet here I am, putting it to use for the common good. Wouldn't you like to have a doctor available to you when you need one?

 

[texaskj]

None. My parents spent about $25 grand for my BA in journalism. Not going to college was not an option for me. They started buying savings bonds when I was five.
If my parents wouldn't have paid, my grandparents would have. There simply was no question for my cousins or me that we would not go. My paternal grandmother grew up in Kentucky in a house with a dirt floor. Education was a big deal to her.

 

[Haven]

Alright, I will be brave and go first. My JD is going to cost me... $160k. Ouch. Luckily I paid for undergrad out-of-pocket by working during school, sharing a tiny apartment with other girls, a little bit of help from parents (maybe 20% of the total cost) and graduating early.

If I can't pay back my student loans, there is a Federal program that will bail me out. So it may turn out that you will be paying for my fancy private school law degree.

ETA: Thanks Yenny for going first!

This bothers me _ a lot. The idea that my tax dollars go to somebody who willingly took on a huge amount of debt and uses the government as their plan B is not okay. I can only hope that high taxes will bite you in the rear after you obtain your fancy degree.

I have mountains, literally mountains of student debt. Other than that, just a small car loan. No credit card debt or unsecured loans.

I just had to take a minute to address this comment. I, too, am hoping to earn loan repayment through 10 years of public service. As a doctor, my first 4 years are coming through residency - which is essentially mandatory, during which I'm paid somewhere around 50k/year (bear in mind that I am 30 years old with a doctoral degree).

What is residency? I spend my days (and nights, and weekends) taking care of patients in a large teaching hospital. My pay and benefits are largely funded by Medicare in return for my service to Medicare and Medicaid patients. I work somewhere around 80 hours a week. If I am lucky, I get a full weekend (Saturday AND Sunday) off a month. If I am really lucky, I will get Christmas off this year and it will be the first major holiday I've spent with my family in 3 years. I spend my time outside of work on research projects and at least 5 hours a week on necessary administrative tasks related to residency. Oh, and I also study. Daily. In the last month alone, I have been punched by one patient and had my rear end fondled by another and one woman hit me with her cane when I told her that her adult daughter had died. Amongst my greatest talents these days, I would certainly list that I am capable of caring for patients for 30 hours straight - without sleep and often with only two meals in there. How do I know this? I've done it. Every 4th day. For months on end. I LOVE what I do. It is an honor and a privilege to take care of people when they need you the most. The path to this profession is long, hard, and EXPENSIVE. I went from age 24 to age 28 without anything more than a couple token paychecks a year (weekends, nannying, etc.). I won't see a real "doctor" paycheck until I'm 32 at the very earliest. So yes, I willingly took on a huge amount of debt. And yet here I am, putting it to use for the common good. Wouldn't you like to have a doctor available to you when you need one?

Yes, absolutely.

But one thing that does bother me is that doctors work for 30 hours straight. I would not want to be treated by a doctor who has been working for even 15 hours straight. That is very unsettling. I've seen posters complain about these type of work shifts before, and it always boggles my mind. I imagine everyone who does this sort of extended work must *think* they are on their A-game the entire time, but I can't believe that. My husband's mother died in a hospital due to an error made by her doctor, and whenever I read posts like this I wonder if he was just working too darn long at the time. (Sorry for the threadjack. I wish you and others who treat people didn't have to work so long and hard. Thank you for what you do.)

 

[Fly Girl]

I had about $3k in student loans when I graduated back in the 1970's, but my graduation present from my parents was a check for $3k. We used the money as a down payment on a car and to move and furnish our first apartment, and paid off the student loan in a few years. DH had no loans because of his scholarships.

We saved and paid in cash for both of our children's college education. Our youngest graduated this spring so we are done with college payments now. Our son is sooooo grateful to not have any student loans, when he sees how some of his friends are struggling. I'm glad we could do this for our kids.

 

[wildcat03]

Yes, absolutely.

But one thing that does bother me is that doctors work for 30 hours straight. I would not want to be treated by a doctor who has been working for even 15 hours straight. That is very unsettling. I've seen posters complain about these type of work shifts before, and it always boggles my mind. I imagine everyone who does this sort of extended work must *think* they are on their A-game the entire time, but I can't believe that. My husband's mother died in a hospital due to an error made by her doctor, and whenever I read posts like this I wonder if he was just working too darn long at the time. (Sorry for the threadjack. I wish you and others who treat people didn't have to work so long and hard. Thank you for what you do.)

I don't think there's a remote possibility that anyone is on their A-game after about 12 hours. Maybe 14-15 if it's been a light day otherwise. After that point, there's a sharp drop off in functioning. I always tell anyone who objects that change in our shift length will never come from within the profession - it's going to have to be public outrage (such as the Libby Zion case) that brings about change. When we talk about wanting it, we're accused of being pansies. There have been some slow steps made over the years. As of July 1, our newest doctors can only work 14 hours at a stretch, and anyone with one year of training can work up to 28 hours at a time. I'm truly sorry for your family's loss.