About how much Student Loan debt are you in?

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Some info I was curious about.

1)How much?

2) Have you started paying if NO then when do you start paying/How much will monthly payments be?

3) Out of state college/in state (which did you attend)

4) If you aren't done and have X amount how much MORE do you think you'll need to take out to finish college? and what is your field/major?

I'm trying to gauge my future life. Right now I'm getting Financial Aid which will help me get through the regular State College (2 year) Then onto an actual University with a dorm!! ! I'm not sure how much I should consider taking out. I'm on SSID so perhaps I can get help financially for being on disability or maybe not. (I have never looked into it.) Sadly with College at a University I don't want to be labeled disabled I can function ok. I'm not sure how that will work either.

Thanks.

1) $0, paid off last month (and starting to sink in). Borrowed $40,000 and probably paid $60,000 by the time interest is calculated

2) Started in 2001 with many forbearances. Initial monthly payment was $350, brought down to $170, then about 3 years ago, I started to seriously pay them off sending upwards of $800 - $3000/month

3) Went to local community college for first 2 years then private college for last 2 years. Obtained 2 Associates and 1 Bachelors in the process.


4) N/A

I majored in Computer Science with a minor in Math and Psychology.

As for the school knowing you are on disability/considered disabled, I do not think that is as much of a stigma as it was in the 90s. When I was in the Community College, I was working alongside a student who was a quadrapalegic. If you do not need any special services, then do not ask for them and no one other than the financial aid office (and maybe the bursar) will be any to the wiser.

1) I owe ~$13,000. I will probably owe a little under $28,000 when I graduate in two years.

2) I will have to pay once I graduate. I am worried about finding a job on time. I will have to pay around $600 a month. If I get a good job, I would like to pay $800 a month.

3) I attend a state college. I have to take out so many loans because they raised the tuition 38% in the last two years.

4) I won't have to take out any more. I only take out loans for living expenses. (I have no family help). I am a computer engineering major.

I do not know how financial aid will view SSD. I wanted to get SSD for living expenses but they denied me (even though I am diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder).

I'll have about $28,000 or so when I graduate. After that I'm going to grad school, so I won't be paying it back just yet. I don't actually know what the expected monthly payments will be. I'm at a private school on full-tuition scholarship; the loans are for books and living expenses. I'm in math/biology.

A word of caution: I have yet to hear a single person say they liked living in a dorm. I hated it for the one semester I did it.

1)How much?

None.

2) Have you started paying if NO then when do you start paying/How much will monthly payments be?

NA

3) Out of state college/in state (which did you attend).

NCSU in state, pretty low tuition.

4) If you aren't done and have X amount how much MORE do you think you'll need to take out to finish college? and what is your field/major?

I am studying Chemical Engineering and depending on what kind of job I work next summer I may or may not need to borrow a little for my last year.



That depends a lot on what you can expect to earn, which is determined by your major and internships or research you do during school (good grades help too). You probably won't have any real idea about this until you're a year or two in.

Oh, and don't pay full price for textbooks. They're a complete ripoff! I used to pay several hundred a year for them until I found out you can usually get a previous or international edition for $10-20.

None, never liked that there fancy book learnin.

None. My undergrad schooling was covered by scholarship and I stayed at home until graduation, so I had no room and board, either. In grad school I had a fellowship which covered tuition and all my expenses. All was in-state.

Never had any debt.

I worked full time during my undergraduate experience to pay for it.

It took me six years though, and combined with AS made socializing utterly impossible.

I desperately wish I could go back in time to when I was in High School and tell myself to forget about college and instead work on starting my own business.

My "career" isn't worth all the pain and sacrifice I endured to get it.

So far none; I have not had to use any of my loan money to pay for tuition and I live at home so no living expenses. I will probably be able to pay all my loan money back in one payment if i don't have to use any of it.

1)How much?

Currently over $100K. Started out at $65K (more or less). Never found a job that could support me AND pay back the loans, so the interest kept accumulating faster that I could make payments. I pretty much have over $300 in just interest that needs to be paid every month.

2) Have you started paying if NO then when do you start paying/How much will monthly payments be?

Yes and no. Got into the Income Contingent Repayment program which mandates that my payments can not exceed 20% of my discretionary income (Gross Income - poverty level for my size household). This keeps payments manageable, but I'm not paying anywhere near what it would take to be on track to getting the debt paid off. Had I just got a job making $25K a year when I got out of school, I could have been able to make payments towards full repayment. Even that wasn't available then.

3) Out of state college/in state (which did you attend)

Attended an "in state" private school after transferring over from community college. Went "out of state" but got in-state tuition after 12 months since I established my residence there.


I know you are working for a future, but I urge everyone to avoid student loans like it was a plague. The lenders have been given a free pass on most all of the consumer protection laws, they can not only fail to disclose stuff any other lender would be obligated to tell you, but they have been known to lie or at least misrepresent information. They have draconian and unappealable powers for collection should you default or have a dispute, and bankruptcy discharge is almost totally removed.

It is the worst type of debt to get attached to. Especially when you consider the common problem people with AS have in getting ANY job, nonetheless a good job.

I realized this all too late. Currently, around 10k, with another 6k coming this year to get me on campus and away from my blasted parents. I found out through the people around me, College is sort of a 'death sentence' as I can't hold down most minimum wage jobs. I'm running from the debt, just putting it off as long as I can.

Living from year to year in the system that drives me mad, maybe I can pay it off with work study. Honestly, I don't think I could handle a 20+ hour job and school at the same time, when my parents are demanding I get on SSD if I am to live with them due to past job experiences. The anxiety would drive me crazy, and social issues only exacerbate the problem.

Then I realize that it's likely I finish this scenario either in a professional setting (which I will struggle in and dislike intensely) or nothing at all (especially if I get a doctorate in history). Suddenly, I'm going to be stuck in this cycle for 7-8 years instead of 4-5.

Going back, maybe I go into graphic design. Intellectual Capital just isn't important these days....

All your horror stories have me scared!! !! Student Loan Debt sounds like HELL! and is obviously nothing compared to a measly $2,500 Laptop (the most debt I've had to pay off BTW). I don't have a vehicle but I am in the same shoes as another poster with getting away from parents) my parents don't want me taking Psychology AT ALL so they say I need to do that at the dorm. Hopefully I can find a friend/boyfriend to move in with (I NEED to take Developmental Psychology at the State College BEFORE going to University!! !).

Good.

It is.

You're right.

If the average student had a clue about how horrible student lending practices are, we'd see real reform, but all the kids (and parents) care about is getting $$$ to get that pointless piece of paper.

It's a very imbalanced power relationship. I need to get an education, but I have no credit history, so they are free to pursue predatory lending practices against me. The government has done nothing to stop this, in fact my congressman (soon-to-be Speaker of the House John Boehner) has been complicit in the fraud. We need serious student lending reform, but more than that we need our public universities to be properly funded and of a reasonable quality at low cost. In Ohio there isn't really that much savings by going to a public school, and the quality is lacking.