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Was it worth it? What degree did you gain from taking these loans? Thanks :)
I have a engineering degree from a private school, but no loans. If I had to take out loans, would it be worth it?? Umm, the degree yes, the the school.... HELL NO! Public school would have suffice. I work with people now with all sorts of backgrounds, from state school to MIT, and we probably make about the same, or at least not enough difference to justify the tuitions. If I had known this years ago when picking schools, I would have gone public route too.
Edit: I'm also really lucky that my employer paid for my graduate degree.
I am incredibly fortunate to have no student loans from my undergraduate degree. I would love to get a graduate degree, but this is the one thing holding me back.
I'm not going to college, but I'll answe for my husband. He's a senior this year and getting his bachelor's and going on to his PhD and so far he has $15K. Which is pretty awesome since all his friends and my sister has $30K after 4 years. Oh, he's majoring in structural/ civil engineering and going to the...3rd (i think) best tech school in america. So it's very worth it for us.
Worth it is relative. :) I paid for my undergrad as I was going to school (and busted my ass to do so) - that was worth it. Now I'm doing my masters and will take out around $60k after all is said and done (currently I'm around $8k). In my field, more education does not a raise or promotion make. :) Worth it for me because I've always wanted a masters, and I would like the option to be able to teach at the university level when I'm older.
ETA: I've budgeted for the loans, and I'm paying them down as I'm attending school. I also love the university I chose.
my employer paid for my last degree (part time while working) and in exchange i also got 3yrs of guaranteed employment at $80+K plus bonuses per year so win win for me
in australia, if you dont want to/cant afford to prepay your degree, we have something called HECS which means once you earn over $45K you start paying a small percentage (4%) of your gross income to repay your university fees, the more you earn the higher the % - max is 8% per year
I have over $50,000 (and actually had over $75.000, but have paid a lot down). I have a J.D. It was worth it, even though I don't practice or make a ton of money, but it's still like having a mortgage on a little piece of paper. Oh well, at least the debt dies with me if I die before it's paid off.
I'll admit it... i'm in the last category, >75000 for a bachelors, masters and doctorate. Worth it? not sure yet.
I have an associates and bachelors, with just under $20k in loans. Most are subsidized, so I only have to pay face value. Was it worth it? I thought it would be, but if I stay in the profession I'm in (which I plan to) it wouldn't have made a bit of difference
I have about 17000 in loans I am paying on right now. It blows lol
Ha I know I am going to win this one. By the time I finish Medical School (2 years left) I will owe $250,000! It kind of makes me want to vomit so I try not to think about it. At least I'll have job security, though. And yes, my fiance is aware hehe.
I was lucky enough to only have to take loans out my last year of graduate school. Was it worth it? Well I got a Masters in Social Work ... so money wise no. But I will have more opportunities in my career with a masters and I'm proud to have earned my degree. It's still annoying to have friends that took out as much as me and got different degrees (even just bachelors) and make more than me.
@mblab: Tell me about it. My bro is on track for 6 figures, and he's got his bachelors from University of Phx and less experience in his field than I have in mine. Oh well. I guess if I was in it for the money, I would have done something other than design. :(
@bellagio: I know! It's easy to say we're not in our field for the money because it's the truth. But it doesn't make me happy when everyone seems to makes more than me. Many deserving fields are greatly underpaid, but for instance a starting salary for a teacher here is more than what I make with my masters as a social worker. (And I have a better paying than most social work position.)
I had $10K when I graduated. 3 years later and it's under $7K. We haven't prioritized paying it down beyond the minimum payment each month because it's "good debt" and we're working on saving up in other areas.
I have about $45,000. Was it worth it? I don't think so, not for my degree. I have a degree in Journalism and I now work in Underwriting. There's no correlation. I know lots of people who make almost as much as I do and don't have any sort of post secondary education. I am proud of my degree though so I try not to think about how much I have to start paying back in just a few short months.
I fall into the 35-50 category. I am curious as to how others have managed to leave school with no debt?!! I got a Kinesiology degree with a certified exercise physiologist certificate so I make about the most I can make with my degree. Oh well it was worth it. I had a lot of fun :)
I had $16k in loans in 2004. Today, I have about $3k left on it. This is my Master's degree. I got it in Public History. It helped me get my foot in the door in my industry: records management. For me, it was worth it. Right now, I'm working towards a professional certification to make myself even more marketable.
I'm not exactly sure the exact number, but last year I had 11K, then I took out another 5500 plus 1000 for this summer. So, somewhere around 17,500. It is a suffocating thought because I still have one more undergrad year left PLUS another summer where I will need to take out a loan =[ The sucky part is I am just now finding out that career opportunities for my degree are scarce (Bachelor of Psychology). I will need to at least earn a Master's and that will mean more loans.
I think right around 25 or 30 for 4 years. I have a BA in Elementary Education and that amount does cover a semester of living abroad. The degree is worth it but not at the cost especially if I was still living in South Dakota, the lowest paying state for teachers. Now that we're living in Wyoming, it's not terrible if I can find an actual teaching job.
Yup, for me it was worth it. Without the help of my university giving me schooling and internships, I wouldn't be where I'm at right now. Now in the current economy, I'm not so sure. I graduated 5 years ago and had no trouble finding a job.
@yrret107: Now in the current economy, I'm not so sure. I graduated 5 years ago and had no trouble finding a job.
This is a great point! My FI graduated in 2009, and can't find entry level work in her field. I've tried casually looking/interviewing for other jobs in my field in the last year or two and had more competition (and no call backs) than I can ever remember.
I left undergrad with about $25,000 in student loans for my journalism degree. I have about $15,000 left to pay off.
All in all I'd say it was worth it. Only having that amount of money in loans after attending one of the nation's most expensive universities really isn't bad in my eye.
I HAD 34K in student loans. I am down to 7K now. Considering I am making 70K with paid health insurance, and 6 weeks vacation - yeah it was worth it.
Owe $9000 right now. I worked full time when getting my BA in Psychology and came out of university debt free. When I went to college after and got my diploma in social work I could't work as much and owe what I owe now! I would say it was worth it. Difficult finding full-time employment in my field, but I got on part-time where I did my internship, and full-time at a job unrelated to my field until I find something!
I Have about $25k in loans. My degree is in Psychology and I'm currently underemployed in an unrelated field but it was totally worth it. I want to go back for a Master's to make it easier to work in my field.
around 12000. I'm lucky that my parents paid for all my undergrad except for one semester [hence the student loans]. My degree is in Psychology and Counseling...employed fulltime using that degree. I'll go back to grad school though and probably rack up more debt then. but yes, worth it. I'll never regret going to school. It's where I met him after all :)
I have less than $20,000 but I know it's worthless, not going to say what it is though. I have to go back but we're going to wait to see how I feel about staying home and I know I won't go back until we have paid both of ours off. He'll have around $30,000 when he gradutes. He's in computer engineering from a very reputable engineering school, so hopefully it's worth it. We'll find out this coming school year as he has several career fairs that I hope lands him a job.
I have a lot since I have a JD from a private school. If I had to do it all over again, I'd get a JD from a public school. I've paid down more than 50k and still owe a lot. HOWEVER, I am able to work in a field where I earn more than I would have as a psych major. BTW, I graduated with a BA and no loans. All my loans are from getting a JD.
I have about 80k total. 9k of that is from undergrad-- totally worth it. 71 is from law school--- totally not worth it.
I mean... money-wise in the long run maybe? I definitely make more now and have more earning potential than if I had just an undergrad degree.
But I don't like being a lawyer. And I can't quit because I can't afford to pay my loans if I do lol. So for me personally... knowing what I know now, not worth it.
Between federal and my one private loan I have 35k. My parents were able to take PLUS loans out and paid them off within the year of getting them for my first three years for which I am VERY grateful.
Financially, it will never make sense. I will have to take out at least another couple thousand for my MA and after that I will be lucky to make 35k/year (when the economy tanked, museums were one of the first things to be cut and will be last to be reinstated in state budgets so there are very slim pickings in the job market).
Socially, it makes a bit more sense. I met DH, some great friends and contacts in my field, was able to take a class from a friend and former coworker of the director of my first choice grad program, and was able to experience another part of the country (even if I can't wait to get out of here).
My grad school loans will be far less and make much more sense.
**edit** I forgot about my last federal loan, which bumps me up to 42k. Ugh.
It's pretty sad your last category is $75k, given how far above it I am. About $120k left, mostly from grad school. Originally over $200k - maybe $225k at best guess. Worth it, it lets me have the career I wanted (law), even though I lost my job a while back. I could pay off about 75% of that today if I wanted to drain my savings account - 100% if you included my retirement money.
FI has zero. He had only small loans from college (got a lot of financial aid) which are now paid off and he got paid to go to grad school.
I owe $40k; my college was pretty expensive and even though I had a ton of financial aid and grants, I still ended up with that much in loans. I guess it was worth it in terms of gaining life and work/publishing experience, but I don't have a great job now and feel like I'm wasting my degree. Oh well. Something better will come along.
I am debt free! However, at one point I had more than $200k in school debt. I had a ton of grants and scholarship money, but I coudn't stop going to school. I have a masters in psych and I am almost done with my docterate, but i'm not sure if I'm going to finish, since I don't want to do it as a career.
I'll have about 20k when I graduate in a year. I'm not in an extremely lucrative field but as long as I can find a job I should be able to pay them off pretty fast (though saving for a mortgage will probably take priority.) It's worth it because those are mostly from living expenses* - I was lucky enough to get some good scholarships and grants. At that rate, going to state school wouldn't have been any cheaper, and I wouldn't have any chance at my career without a degree.
*I've also worked throughout college, and even took a year off to work full-time. Kinda strange to think about where all that money went ...
@mblab: Ah dont tell me that! LOL. I am getting my masters in Social Work! LOL
I have around 20k, 17k left. I would have more but thankfully through a combination of scholarships, my own money and my parents paying I only took out loans for 2 years. (I also lived at home so that helped a ton).
I have a degree in French and linguistics and a post graduate certificate in project management. I don't think that either of them was worth it. I can't get a job in my field with just those qualifications and at the moment I am unwilling to go back to school. I got my real estate license instead and it looks like it will be something I enjoy doing for at least a few years :)
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