The outlook is terrifying to me:
Loan Balance: $122,000
GradPlus Interest: 7.9%
Loan Term: 30 years
Monthly Loan Payment: $886
# of Payments: 361
It is estimated that you will need an annual salary of at least $106,404.00 to be able to afford to repay this loan. (average median salary post-SAIS is 60k... ) This estimate assumes that 10% of your gross monthly income will be devoted to repaying your student loans. This corresponds to a debt-to-income ratio of 1.1. If you use 15% of your gross monthly income to repay the loan, you will need an annual salary of only $70,936.00, but you may experience some financial difficulty.This corresponds to a debt-to-income ratio of 1.7.
With a loan term of 30 years, you will still be repaying your debt when your children enroll in college.
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I know each person's decision is personal, but do you guys see any hope or solace? Is an MA from SAIS worth the debt or justifiable?
I have 3 options:
1. Stay at my current job and SAVE for 1 more year. I make about 45k now. Can probably save 15k if I really scrimp and scrape.
2. Take the 122,000k plunge and pray that my long term trajectory will be good enough to justify the debt.... Anyone have any experience 5-10 years out of school? What were your salary trajectories like 1 year, 5 year, 10 year out? Have you successfully paid off your loans before your kids enter college?
3. Marry rich. sigh...
I plan to work part-time during the school year but this will only offset my costs by ~$13000 a year.... this still leaves $100k... more money than I've ever borrowed or had in my life....
I'm really torn and am not sure if I can justify this debt.... It's agonizing and sobering to think of the future... I can understand the justification behind 100k+ loan for a JD, MBA, or MD... but what are the earning potentials, on average, for MA in IR at the top schools?
Any advice or insight would be appreciated....