How much student debt did/will you graduate with?

Thomas0302 · Nov 13, 2007

My parents pay my tuition but I got a 5k student loan to help pay for a car.

Connemara · Nov 13, 2007

I wonder how many students take out loans and use them for **** like going on Spring Break. How much oversight (if any) is there re: where the money goes?

Sorry if this seems naive, I've never dealt with loans.

Piobaire · Nov 13, 2007

Originally Posted by carlhuber

I've eliminated all my debt, due to hard work and the exceptionally generous help of my loved ones. My wife is running about $10,000.

I've been thinking and I hope you guys can help me in this, that one of the best investments a person can make, for long time return, is to first pay down debt. Her loans are at about 7.5-8.5% - which is pretty high compared to most other investment goals for pure profit. So I'm currently of the opinion that we should use extra finances to get rid of her college debt before we do things like buy stock, etc.

Thoughts?

Can't you roll things over with Sallie Mae? I mean, I think you're correct for your situation, but out of my original 74k in student loans I have about 58k left. I amortized the 74k over 30 years. I started at 2.85% and after paying on time for the first three years, my rate fell to 1.85%. I could writet a check for the balance but IMO that would be stupid. At 1.85%, that is just about free money and when the cost of capital is that low, I plan to never pay that sucker off early.

Piobaire · Nov 13, 2007

Originally Posted by Connemara

I wonder how many students take out loans and use them for **** like going on Spring Break. How much oversight (if any) is there re: where the money goes?

Sorry if this seems naive, I've never dealt with loans.

You need to sever financial ties with your parents and become your own man.

Droog · Nov 13, 2007

$0 for undergrad, courtesy of parents, and $0 for postgraduate due to fellowship. Both children also $0 since we started saving when they were born (tough to do sometimes, but my wife and I managed to do it).

imageWIS · Nov 13, 2007

Originally Posted by Piobaire

You need to sever financial ties with your parents and become your own woman.

Fixed.

Jon.

Piobaire · Nov 13, 2007

Originally Posted by Piobaire

You need to sever financial ties with your parents and become your own woman.

Originally Posted by imageWIS

Fixed.

Jon.

carlhuber · Nov 13, 2007

Originally Posted by Piobaire

At 1.85%, that is just about free money

That low? Neat. I wonder if hers is so high because she missed one or two payments.

Might be worth looking into getting that reduced, then.

grimslade · Nov 13, 2007

Originally Posted by iammatt

I was talking about the endowment of your poor grad school. Those things aren't really supposed to be free.

The money came from a private foundation, not the school. And when I informed the foundation that I was dropping out of grad school to take a job in journalism, they director of the foundation applauded my choice and said academia was a waste of time. So I don't lose too much sleep over it.

Originally Posted by carlhuber

That low? Neat. I wonder if hers is so high because she missed one or two payments.

Might be worth looking into getting that reduced, then.

Mine are locked in at 7%.

It seemed like a good idea at the time (in 1999, when rates were lower than they'd been in more than 25 years and going higher...).

Earthmover · Nov 13, 2007

Originally Posted by DarkNWorn

Yeah, law school ain't cheap, even at resident prices. I swear there's a price fixing scheme in here somewhere between all the law schools.

Also, the schools are damn stingy with their scholarships. I've yet to meet anyone with any sort of scholarship from any law school.

I had a partial need-based scholarship from Georgetown Law -- 12K for the first two years, and readjusted my 3rd year down to ~3k due to working for a firm over the summer. I still graduated with ~120k in debt. It sucks a lot. I remember Vandy offered about the same amount when they offered admission. I definitely know of people who've gotten close to full rides to go to a place like NYU (in lieu of Yale) for law school. I'd say that's pretty sweet.

But yeah, law schools cost way too much, especially considering that not everyone can get a six figure job once they graduate. Depressingly, tuition seems to be based on that assumption, even at 4th tier schools.

Piobaire · Nov 13, 2007

Originally Posted by DarkNWorn

Yeah, law school ain't cheap, even at resident prices. I swear there's a price fixing scheme in here somewhere between all the law schools.

Well, it's not conscious price fixing, but ever notice as the amount of money the average student can borrow to go to law school, b-school, med school, goes up, so too mysteriously does the tution.

grimslade · Nov 13, 2007

Originally Posted by Piobaire

Well, it's not conscious price fixing, but ever notice as the amount of money the average student can borrow to go to law school, b-school, med school, goes up, so too mysteriously does the tution.

It's basic economics, not price fixing. The availability of loans lowers the effective price, and the schools capture the difference.

Piobaire · Nov 13, 2007

Originally Posted by grimslade

It's basic economics, not price fixing. The availability of loans lowers the effective price, and the schools capture the difference.

Correct, that is why I said it was not conscious price fixing. Each school's tuition committee acts alone to capture the new funds, but they all act. I was momentarily Socratic, hence the answer in the form of a question.

Huntsman · Nov 14, 2007

I finished my undergrad with $60k. I am paying it off at a rate of $1.25k/month. I'm pretty pissed about it constantly.

Stazy · Nov 14, 2007

At least you're paying it off at a reasonably fast rate Huntsman. This thread has made me much more appreciative of the financial help I'm getting from my parents.

How much student debt did/will you graduate with?

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