# Student Loan Debt



## Glacial (Jun 16, 2010)

How much student loan debt do you have?


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## tutliputli (Feb 22, 2009)

About £9,500 I think.


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## Giraffe (Sep 7, 2010)

I'm at around $60,000 now. I'll be around $170,000 when I graduate. But I'm going into healthcare, so everyone's like that.


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## Glacial (Jun 16, 2010)

Giraffe said:


> I'm at around $60,000 now. I'll be around $170,000 when I graduate. But I'm going into healthcare, so everyone's like that.


What specific area of healthcare? I am working on a degree in Health Information Management and it is really expensive because of the enormous amount of credits required--90 for the A.A and 90 more for the B.S.


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## AussiePea (Mar 27, 2007)

$32k. We don't pay interest on it though and only have to pay it back if I earn a decent wage. Pretty good system.


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## Banzai (Jun 4, 2009)

Giraffe said:


> I'm at around $60,000 now. I'll be around $170,000 when I graduate. But I'm going into healthcare, so everyone's like that.


Wow!


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## wjc75225 (Jul 24, 2010)

$0. Thanks mom and dad! My education was $35,000/year.


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## broseph (Jan 18, 2010)

Gonna have about 30,000$ by the time I get my BS. And then there's grad school.


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## Giraffe (Sep 7, 2010)

Saving Face said:


> What specific area of healthcare? I am working on a degree in Health Information Management and it is really expensive because of the enormous amount of credits required--90 for the A.A and 90 more for the B.S.


Pharmacy school.


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## Perfectionist (Mar 19, 2004)

0. I'm two semesters away from finising my BSc. Yaaaaaay.

This will probably totes change on the offchance I actually attempt grad school though.


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## alte (Sep 4, 2010)

$134,000


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## Manfi (May 30, 2010)

Giraffe said:


> I'm at around $60,000 now. I'll be around $170,000 when I graduate. But I'm going into healthcare, so everyone's like that.





alte said:


> $134,000


holy fudge!!!!!!

In total I have borrowed around 10K but I gave 5K back so right now I only have 5K. By the time I graduate it will be around 15K.


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## alte (Sep 4, 2010)

Manfi said:


> holy fudge!!!!!!
> 
> In total I have borrowed around 10K but I gave 5K back so right now I only have 5K. By the time I graduate it will be around 15K.


It is still less than the average medical student debt (156k in 2009).
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/abo...on/advocacy-policy/medical-student-debt.shtml
I am hoping to pay off most of my loans by living at home during residency. Many times this is not an option so it is usual to defer loans till after residency, while all the while they accrue interest (so it is not uncommon to see 150k turn to 250-300k by the time you are ready to start paying back :S).


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## ryanb (Nov 16, 2009)

*


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## Witan (Jun 13, 2009)

Ospi said:


> $32k. We don't pay interest on it though and only have to pay it back if I earn a decent wage. Pretty good system.


$20,000 (USD), *and* I have to pay interest, *and* I have to pay regardless of whether I have a job or not.

Pretty **** system.


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## melissa75 (Feb 16, 2010)

$80K (bachelor's degree and master's degree), and I've added in the interest that I've calculated I'll end up paying. 

I worked minimum wage throughout college, too.


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## whiterabbit (Jan 20, 2006)

£14,021.33 

I don't have to start repaying until I'm earning above £15,000, which will surely never happen. I feel guilty about it though. I'd like to pay it all back.


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## Lasair (Jan 25, 2010)

I don't have any, thank you Ireland, I payed 2,000 for registration this year and will have to pay accommodation and travel which I have been saving all summer for


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## CopadoMexicano (Aug 21, 2004)

zero


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## Podee (Aug 4, 2011)

I don't like to think about it :s I've done my first year twice so that's something like £6,000 in fees and then £6,000 in loans, and then another two lots of that. Wish I'd sorted out my sa before it cost me a couple of grand =/


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## huh (Mar 19, 2007)

$32,000

How depressing  I don't make nearly enough to pay it all off anytime soon.


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## AllToAll (Jul 6, 2011)

$15,000 or so. It's probably going to go up to $22,000 depending on when I finally graduate. Had I not paid $3,500 out off pocket every semester, it would've been double. At the same time I had to work full-time my first two years of college to pay that. It's debatable whether or not working so much was a good idea...


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## scottishdude (Sep 4, 2011)

Wow reading these im amazed. I was banging on about our nhs here in scotland on another thread. I went to university for three years and incurred no debt and finished with a batchelors degree. Not only did my tuition fees get paid but i recieved an additionial 2000 quid to help me out throughout the study. I feel it for you guys accross the pond.


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## kelsomania (Oct 12, 2010)

27,000


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## Glacial (Jun 16, 2010)

jhanniffy said:


> I don't have any, thank you Ireland, I payed 2,000 for registration this year and will have to pay accommodation and travel which I have been saving all summer for


So, exactly how does a college education get funded in Ireland? Sounds like I need to come there lol...but I am sure you have to be a citizen??


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## Glacial (Jun 16, 2010)

scottishdude said:


> Wow reading these im amazed. I was banging on about our nhs here in scotland on another thread. I went to university for three years and incurred no debt and finished with a batchelors degree. Not only did my tuition fees get paid but i recieved an additionial 2000 quid to help me out throughout the study. I feel it for you guys accross the pond.


Can you answer the question I asked to just above this one? ^


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## Resonance (Feb 11, 2010)

Lets see, about...hmm

~3.5k*3=10.5k
+
~4.5k*3=13.5k
____________
~25kish, seeing as how approximate my figures are, probably under 30k anyway. There is interest on top of that, though, but I only have to pay it back once I am earning 15k+ p/a.

Still, I intend to move abroad to make it difficult for them to collect, then give them a hard time about it over the phone, like they did for me when I applied for the damn thing.


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## Lasair (Jan 25, 2010)

Saving Face said:


> So, exactly how does a college education get funded in Ireland? Sounds like I need to come there lol...but I am sure you have to be a citizen??


The state pays it as in our taxes - you get your first degree free, apart from regestration fee, and after that you have to pay. I also got a state grant of 3,000 last year to help me out and will hopefully get the same this year. If you want to be an international student it costs and as far as I know unless from England it costs a lot....


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## loquaciousintrovert (May 23, 2011)

Too much. 

Nothing I'll be able to pay back anytime soon, so I've decided to just ignore them. At least I'm not required to pay anything on them right now, since I'm too ****ing poor. Still, if I paid nothing for 20 years, they'd double in size. How nice. Yay, interest.


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## scottishdude (Sep 4, 2011)

Saving Face said:


> Can you answer the question I asked to just above this one? ^


Again first degree is free here in scotland. Only to scottish resedents. If your english and study in scotland it is quite expensive. If you google saas funding in scotland you might find some info. It pays for the three years ( four if hounors degree ) however the carnagie trust paid for my degree, again google "the carnagie trust for the universities of scotland". Because i havnt recieved saas funding i can now use my three years for post grad study in another subject or study at masters level. The conservative government are trying to stop it but we have a devolved parlement here in scotland ( we elected scottish nationalists in our parlament) and education is a devolved issue ( similar to state and national law in us i think ) we get free universal health care. Free prescriptions and medicine. Free eye and dental checkups and free education school college and university some areas recieve free entry to sports facilities like the gym, swimming as well as football pitches and sports halls .the amount of extra tax we pay is TINY for what we recieve in return. I would gladly pay ten times the tax for what we get but really its that small it goes unnoticed. I just dont get how some americans slate our nhs and we have some of the best universities in the world.


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## Revenwyn (Apr 11, 2011)

$40,000 so far and I'm technically not even a Junior. 

I might not go back... my learning disability is greatly interfering with my progress.


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## Glacial (Jun 16, 2010)

Thanks jhannify and scottishdude...sure sounds a lot better than the U.S. all around, epspecially in terms of education and health care. I would take my education as far as I could given the opportunity, but unfortunately here education can depend on how much debt your willing to take on.


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## Syndacus (Aug 9, 2011)

Currently have paid about 50% of it off. Took out a Sallie Mae loan for massage school tuition which was $8900 + $500 in books/supplies. I could've paid it off long ago, but I'm building credit by having the school just take it directly out of my bank account every month for the next 6 years. I feel pity for those who take a bull**** major and having to pay 50k in student loans when they can't make the money back at all with the job they have.


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## Wacky Wednesdays (Apr 10, 2011)

wjc75225 said:


> $0. Thanks mom and dad!


Same. Mum forked out so much to pay for my fees + living costs. But it's so much more worse because they expect you to get really good grades and if you f- up, it's their $ you're tossing down the drain. It made me study really hard but the expectations were a bit much.


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## loquaciousintrovert (May 23, 2011)

I would prefer that to owing as much money as the cost of a new Lexus.

In the end, it doesn't really matter if you have debt or not. Life is hard for everyone. Also, it's possible to just not pay it ever. I'm lucky because my loans are under a plan where I don't have to pay anything as long as my income is below a certain amount. And after 25 years, they get forgiven. It could be worse. Still, I wish I'd been smarter and not taken that out. 

My major will probably never earn me more than $40,000 a year.


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## Cerrada (May 26, 2009)

About $24,000. I would -love- to get my Masters but I think I'll probably end up waiting til I have most of that crap paid off to do it. I think I'll be in my mid-thirties by the time that happens. :s


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## laura024 (Aug 11, 2006)

About 20k already. x[


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## loquaciousintrovert (May 23, 2011)

I would seriously recommend anyone that isn't done yet try to avoid taking out more loans. Apply for scholarships if you can, work more to try to pay some of your way through school, ask family members if you have that option, to help you with school. Anything to avoid taking out loans--they're absolute poison.

I'm still grateful to owe what I do. There are people with ridiculous amounts--70k, 80k.

But they usually have master's degrees and such. I have 40k in debt just for a B.A. Ugh.

Another bit of advice would be to try to graduate on time. If I'd graduated when I was supposed to, I'd have half the debt I do.


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## laura024 (Aug 11, 2006)

Yeah, this semester I was able to avoid taking out any federal loans. I owe almost $800 out of pocket, but I'd much rather pay it now than later with interest.


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## Kwtrader (Oct 10, 2007)

i had 13.5K not including interest but its low right now 2% something. right now i got about 9.4K left to payoff.

i pay about $160 a month.


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## CourtneyB (Jul 31, 2010)

My parents offered to pay for college. I tried one class and between my almost-full time job and the amount of work that was required it was just too overwhelming and too much to handle. I ended up quitting and now if I want to go back I have to pay for it. It makes me feel sick to my stomach thinking about it. They told me, "This is your only chance. After this, if you want to go back you have to pay for it."

I wasn't ready for college back then, I was immature. And I blew my chance. I was hoping to meet people, mostly. I wasn't even really going for the education aspect, just to try to make friends and no one was social in the class. It almost makes me want to cry knowing I screwed that chance up. I always do these types of things. When I was a teen I had a "free ride". I made decisions when I wasn't ready for the responsibilities and now I have to pay for it with my own money. Sorry for the semi-rant :| sometimes I feel like I'm going to be a failure because I never got that college education everyone claims you need to get a decent-paying job. "Without a degree you won't get a good job."


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## artandis (Jun 5, 2011)

None thanks to scholarships, my parents, and working overtime every summer. That will change if I get into the masters program I want.


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## stillirise (Aug 4, 2011)

(to nobody in particular) I am so friggin' sick of people pretending the reason that they don't have student debt is because they had a part time job. I have a scholarship worth 6k. If I work a part time job then we can chop off another ~8k over the course of three years. Yet I'm still coming out of University with ~30k in debt (this includes housing and food). Working part time isn't the reason you are debtless. The reason is parental contribution. The _whole _ reason.

To the children of low income people: you can get an education. It is a sound financial option (look at the wage differences between college graduates and highschool graduates). Just be prepared for people who have never suffered in their lives to cringe when they hear about how much an education _really_ costs.

edit: haha, numbers were wrong :S


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## Revenwyn (Apr 11, 2011)

CourtneyB said:


> My parents offered to pay for college. I tried one class and between my almost-full time job and the amount of work that was required it was just too overwhelming and too much to handle. I ended up quitting and now if I want to go back I have to pay for it. It makes me feel sick to my stomach thinking about it. They told me, "This is your only chance. After this, if you want to go back you have to pay for it."
> 
> I wasn't ready for college back then, I was immature. And I blew my chance. I was hoping to meet people, mostly. I wasn't even really going for the education aspect, just to try to make friends and no one was social in the class. It almost makes me want to cry knowing I screwed that chance up. I always do these types of things. When I was a teen I had a "free ride". I made decisions when I wasn't ready for the responsibilities and now I have to pay for it with my own money. Sorry for the semi-rant :| sometimes I feel like I'm going to be a failure because I never got that college education everyone claims you need to get a decent-paying job. "Without a degree you won't get a good job."


Yeah, I did this too. Only in my case it was mostly my learning disability.

Right now people can't get jobs even WITH their degrees, since there are so few jobs to be had, unless you're the best candidate from the BEST school for that field.

It seems that if you have a degree you're classed as overqualified for minimum wage food service or retail positions, regardless if you can get a job in your field or not. So right now, everyone's equally screwed.


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## Rixy (Oct 4, 2009)

This is why I ducked out of going to university this year. I just don't have any idea on what to do with my life. It seemed like a big risk to me. My school treated me like a ****ing freak for trying to find an alternative in life.


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## lyssado707 (Oct 29, 2004)

$0. My mom's on disability for severe OCD & Crohn disease, & I grew up low class. So grants & fee waivers, woo.


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## stillirise (Aug 4, 2011)

lyssado707 said:


> $0. My mom's on disability for severe OCD & Crohn disease, & I grew up low class. So grants & fee waivers, woo.


Darn you, stop messing up my complaining .


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## lyssado707 (Oct 29, 2004)

stillirise said:


> Darn you, stop messing up my complaining .


lol


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## VanDamMan (Nov 2, 2009)

I came out of school with about $55K in debt. I did inexpensive community college, worked full/part time, and had a small scholarship. Very little help from parents. 

The ROI on undergraduate majors in humanities and social science make college an illogical choice.


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## loquaciousintrovert (May 23, 2011)

I don't entirely agree. I'm glad I learned a lot in college. College isn't a vocational school. It's not all about getting a job, it's about learning things too. You can't put a price on being educated.

I just don't think my education was worth all the debt I have. I should have been able to graduate debt free, like some lucky people here. Oh well.


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## SusanStorm (Oct 27, 2006)

I have about 75000$ and I'll only have a bachelors degree when I'm finished  Luckily we don't have a lot of fees and stuff here because then it would have been much higher.

Oh well I guess I'll finish paying it off in about 30 years or so :b


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## moneyput (Sep 15, 2011)

Fortunately I don't have any. And I've heard Student loan default at highest level in years. I hope they take consideration for the students, since it would help a lot. Just let them pay for it as soon as they already have one.


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## Xande (Jul 18, 2011)

Although I mostly thought of college as a place to go to get a degree to get a job (and still do think this), it was a good experience overall, I miss it lol hate the real world. 

Came out with a bit of debt but managed to pay it off by living at home to save up lol.


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## Lone Raccoon (Jun 5, 2011)

overall 22k student loans 5k, with another 4k directly owed on my last colleges balance... is life wonderful or what?


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## alte (Sep 4, 2010)

alte said:


> $134,000


With help from parents and by living extremely frugally and saving 60% of my income, I am down to 100k debt now in only 3 months since start of residency. Yay!


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## Deadguy (Aug 19, 2011)

I'm 31 and have paid it down to $1,300. I plan on having it all paid off by the end of the year  

If I had not failed out of graduate school after three semesters, I'd probably have a lot more to pay off.


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## rosettas stoned (Jan 16, 2011)

A little over $22,000, which is only about $3000 down from the original principal amount. I've been making payments for about a year now. The interest is brutal >_<.


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## ForeverInBloom (Oct 4, 2010)

Giraffe said:


> I'm at around $60,000 now. I'll be around $170,000 when I graduate. But I'm going into healthcare, so everyone's like that.


If I get into the school of my dreams, it'll probably be close to that, maybe $80,000. Then the medical school debt might arise.


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## blue the puppy (Jul 23, 2011)

i was lucky (for lack of a better word) in that my mom had put aside some of the social security we were getting after my dad passed. also, i went to a public school so that was less money, at least in comparison to private schools. it got tougher toward the end but i managed to get out with relatively little in student loan debt, which i was able to pay back in a couple years.


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## GoFlyers (Nov 4, 2010)

I'm at $12k right now I think. I'll be around ~$20k when I graduate. My parents are helping out a lot. I would of probably dropped out if they didn't cause I hate school, but mind as well try and finish cause my loan should be manageable.


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## Haydsmom2007 (Oct 16, 2009)

so far only $5500 and that will be all of it by the time I graduate with my bachelors. I only took that out to pay for daycare for a year. I might take out another $1000 to pay for preschool for the rest of the year...

I get the majority of my tuition paid for in grants... $2,750 per semester, and $1,000 per semester from a scholarship. That covers most of it... my tuition is about $4,000. And my grandpa gives me $4,000 a semester to pay for my school so I basically just get to keep the grant/scholarship money. That's nice. So I don't really have to work as much. I live with my parents as well.


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