How much student debt do you have?

[vityaz]

This might be a bit too personal, but I was wondering how much debt everyone took on for school (undergrad + grad). For people that have already completed grad school, how long did it take you to pay off?

[PhDerp]

HAHAHAHAHAHahahahahaha... +sobbing+

A lot. I don't even want to say it. Like, two and a half times as much as my state's average (which is $29k)*. I got sick multiple times after the refund date in my undergrad instutiton, and I couldn't get any financial aid (I mean, because my family's fine, so not without reason! I am not complaining!).

The thing is: I owe my family so much money... But I'm allowed to start paying them back after grad school.

 

The good news is, I don't plan on accruing any more debt to my family, or to anyone, in grad school!

 

*According to projectonstudentdebt.org/state_by_state-data.php

[CommPhD20]

I have whatever four years of unsubsidized Stafford Loans are...somewhere in the upper 20s, plus around $1000 of accumulated interest.

[peachypie]

0.  and just about to start grad school and i don't anticipate taking out a loan for that with my stipends.

[the_sheath]

Right around 30k...hmmm. Well it could be worse?

[GeoDUDE!]

I have 13k... not bad since my ugrad was 55k a year.

[Maleficent999]

Right around $10k. Thankfully, I attended a city college for 2 years and transferred to a 4-year school for my last 2 years. I took out about $5k in gov't subsidized student loans a year at my degree-granting institution to pay for my tuition and covered the rest + my living expenses by working basically full-time. I don't anticipate taking out any more loans in grad school.

[perfectionist]

0. And I really hope I don't end up accumulating any in grad school.

[Monochrome Spring]

About $10k, but I plan on paying off most of it in grad school since it looks like my fellowship is pretty good for the area. I don't plan on taking out any loans in graduate school.

Edited February 17, 2014 by Monochrome Spring

[LittleDarlings]

0 right now and hopefully 0 in grad school

[Eigen]

0 for undergrad and 0 for grad school. 

 

Went to a regional state school and worked + scholarships for undergrad, and got good funding packages for grad school. But to be honest, I wouldn't have done grad school if I'd had to pay for it. 

[pears]

Undergrad: 0. I "paid" for half with a 4-year scholarship; my parents each paid the remaining two quarters.

Grad: $19,000 this year. I have about $10,000 available for use, although that's mostly going toward rent and food right now, since my summer wages are all but drained. If I get a paid TAship for next year, I should end up with another $5000, tops.

 

All in all, not too bad, although it puts a major damper on my ability to attend a PhD program within the few years after I finish up my MA.

[likemythesis]

Around $8000 but my dad is paying that off. I've saved enough from work study and summers to pay it myself, but he's making it his high school/college graduation gift to me so I have a little less to worry about in grad school. We'll see how much I'll have after I hear about funding. Siigh.

[Pitangus]

Another $0 here. For undergrad I had a scholarship to a small liberal arts college with lower tuition than more well-known schools, and the college was close enough to my house that I could live at home and commute easily. I worked and TAed to pay for books etc. 

 

Like Eigen, I probably wouldn't have gone to graduate school if I had to pay for it.

Edited February 17, 2014 by Pitangus

[MadtownJacket]

0 for undergrad, and I expect between 0-5,000 for grad school.  Definitely worth it.

[Queen of Kale]

$11k all subsidized loans + $3k I borrowed from my parents. Not terrible considering I went back as an adult & independently funded student. But, cheaper schools like the one I went to for undergrad are having a harder & harder time scraping by. Many times with reputations adversely influenced by taking on my older part time students or transfer students who don't count towards "graduated in X years" stats.  

[gingin6789]

$40k.  I console myself with the fact that that's how much ONE year of tuition and fees costs at a private school.

[surefire]

I'm Canadian, so different context.

I didn't qualify for our provincial loan system (OSAP) in undergrad. I was on a scholarship that paid half my tuition and I worked throughout. I took a 20k student line of credit.

 

At this point, I've paid it down to 14.5k. I intend to pay it off while in grad school and accrue no further debt in the meantime. While I'm still in my grad program, the interest is very small (works out to about $60/month), so it would be great to knock it out while I'm still in the program!

[zipykido]

I had about 30k after graduating undergraduate. I took two years off to work and gain experience before starting grade school so I was able to get it down to about 24k before starting graduate school. My grad program is fully funded so I'm still paying it off while in grad school. Just remember that you can defer student loans while in graduate schools so subsidized loans will not accrue interest during grad school. So while I was working, my payments were close to $400 but now since most of my loans are subsidized I'm only paying about $250 but the principle payment is still about the same. I'm just working on paying off $4000 in unsubsidized loans right now while in graduate school. I could theoretically pay them all off now but I don't want to dip into my rainy day fund too much.

[legan]

$0 for undergrad. (Thanks, parents!)

 

For grad school, I'm anticipating about $10K, and I'm not happy about having to get loans. I think my parents might contribute again, so all I'll have to worry about is living expenses, hopefully.

[schaetzelein]

um... I try not to think about it, but.. $80k with grad and undergrad, with interest and everything. My parents do not help AT ALL, though they wish they could have. They have offered to assist me in paying them off once I graduate, thankfully.

 

Edit:

 

I did go to private schools for both graduate and undergrad degrees, but the real thing that made me poor was going to grad school in an insanely expensive city. (San Francisco)

Edited February 18, 2014 by schaetzelein

[pyrocide]

Oh man, I feel pretty lucky. 

Came out of UG with only $4.8K in debt after going to to a college that was $42-43K a year. However, that school also had an average award of $40-41K for need-based financial aid, so I was very very lucky in that regard. Only a bit of that left to pay off, and I anticipate no loans needed for graduate studies. 

[biotechie]

Somehow I survived Undergrad with no debt (academic scholarship) and managed a funded MS at the same institution.

 

I anticipate no debt for my PhD studies since I'm not spending much at all, here.... however, one caveat to not having any debt as a 24-year old is that you have literally no credit. I couldn't even get a credit card. Luckily my credit union through the school is going to help me get one to work on establishing some credit, but it is quite annoying. I don't /need/ a card, but I do need credit in the future if I want to buy a car or house. >.<

[spectastic]

um... I try not to think about it, but.. $80k with grad and undergrad, with interest and everything. My parents do not help AT ALL, though they wish they could have. They have offered to assist me in paying them off once I graduate, thankfully.

 

Edit:

 

I did go to private schools for both graduate and undergrad degrees, but the real thing that made me poor was going to grad school in an insanely expensive city. (San Francisco)

more expensive than New York City, I've heard.

 

 

I have zero debt, and I'm very happy about that. 

Edited February 19, 2014 by spectastic

[PhDerp]

um... I try not to think about it, but.. $80k with grad and undergrad, with interest and everything. My parents do not help AT ALL, though they wish they could have. They have offered to assist me in paying them off once I graduate, thankfully.

 

Edit:

 

I did go to private schools for both graduate and undergrad degrees, but the real thing that made me poor was going to grad school in an insanely expensive city. (San Francisco)

 

I feel a little less crazy now for having this amount of debt. I was beginning to think I somehow did this all wrong!

 

 

Somehow I survived Undergrad with no debt (academic scholarship) and managed a funded MS at the same institution.

 

I anticipate no debt for my PhD studies since I'm not spending much at all, here.... however, one caveat to not having any debt as a 24-year old is that you have literally no credit. I couldn't even get a credit card. Luckily my credit union through the school is going to help me get one to work on establishing some credit, but it is quite annoying. I don't /need/ a card, but I do need credit in the future if I want to buy a car or house. >.<

 

That's a good point... I actually appreciate my debt now somewhat, considering how it earned me my credit score. Plus, it made me get a bunch of jobs, which really beefed up my resume!

 

edit: second quote on

Edited February 19, 2014 by PhDerp