$230,000 in undergrad debt!!!

[moralresearcher]

3. At this point, who the hell cares? Youre so far into debt you might as well get a higher degree. I dont know anyone who is debt free after college. Do what you want and dont let imaginary numbers determine how you live your life.

I'm graduating this spring with no debt and *gasp* savings (which will probably be blown on moving expenses, but whatever). It's possible if you get scholarships (and no, none of mine were need-based aid) and work while in school and live within your means and stick to a budget.

[geniusatresearch]

I'm graduating this spring with no debt and *gasp* savings (which will probably be blown on moving expenses, but whatever). It's possible if you get scholarships (and no, none of mine were need-based aid) and work while in school and live within your means and stick to a budget.

I am also ladened by a large amount of debts from undergraduate study. However, from my perspective, if we want to clear out my debt ASAP and meanwhile could accumulate to some extent money in a short time, I think it is a better choice for us to further education and find a dream job with high pay. Only this we could solve the two tough issues. What do you think? Because as an udnergraduate, you are too fresh to get a high pay and hardly start a very attractive salary.

[mudlark]

I am also ladened by a large amount of debts from undergraduate study. However, from my perspective, if we want to clear out my debt ASAP and meanwhile could accumulate to some extent money in a short time, I think it is a better choice for us to further education and find a dream job with high pay. Only this we could solve the two tough issues. What do you think? Because as an udnergraduate, you are too fresh to get a high pay and hardly start a very attractive salary.

This assumes that pay increases with education level, which isn't always the case. As a fresh undergrad, you'll have to get an entry level job and pay some dues, yes, but as a fresh MA grad you may end up in the same position, only a year or two behind everyone else. One of my good friends finished his undergrad on time, and started working right away. Most of the rest of us started grad school, or added another major, or took time off to travel/teach English/etc. He was envious of the others at first, but now that he's been with the company for a few years he has worked his way into a rewarding position with good pay and good perks (regular travel to Europe!) while a lot of his friends are still patching together rent with near-minimum wage retail jobs and daydreaming about grand plans for the future.

[Genomic Repairman]

Man what the hell did you do to rack up 230k, where you buying blow for the entire college campus. Dude you better start buying lottery tickets and hoping like hell you hit it big. I'm surprised the private lenders would even keep giving you a loan, did your parents co-sign? You are left with two options, you either have to be the best drug dealer ever or fake your death.

[StrangeLight]

I am also ladened by a large amount of debts from undergraduate study. However, from my perspective, if we want to clear out my debt ASAP and meanwhile could accumulate to some extent money in a short time, I think it is a better choice for us to further education and find a dream job with high pay. Only this we could solve the two tough issues. What do you think? Because as an udnergraduate, you are too fresh to get a high pay and hardly start a very attractive salary.

work on an oil rig. (yes, i realize you're in environmental engineering, but depending on your politics, this may help you either know your industry or know your enemy.) you can clear $100,000 easily in your first year on a rig.

there are lots of horrible, dangerous, depressing, soul-crushing, mind-bending, high-paying jobs out there for people willing to put their life and sanity on hold. it's a good way to kill off your debt.

i know this may seem like really impractical advice, but if i were the OP i'd consider something this drastic. even one year, cutting that debt in half would make the rest of his/her life a hell of a lot more manageable.

[hogmommy]

Um, wow! To the person who suggested that this loan burden can be paid off with an $80k salary, I'm going to have to beg to differ. My husband makes more than $90k a year (8 years out of undergrad, business and the reason why I only applied to one local school) and there is no way $2600/month in loan burden could be doable. Our biggest expense is a $1600/month mortgage. Yes, we are comfortable, but still have to budget very carefully. An extra grand a month combined with car payments, insurance, utilities, etc. would break us.

[cleisthenes]

$90,000/year would be enough to pay off a $2,600 monthly payment if you live alone and have minimal expenses. Assuming you're grossing about $65,000 and paying $31,200 per annum, that leaves about $30,000 to cover things like rent and food, which, if you're not buying jetskis left and right, is wayyy more than enough.

[hogmommy]

$90,000/year would be enough to pay off a $2,600 monthly payment if you live alone and have minimal expenses. Assuming you're grossing about $65,000 and paying $31,200 per annum, that leaves about $30,000 to cover things like rent and food, which, if you're not buying jetskis left and right, is wayyy more than enough.

Crunching the numbers makes it looks like a feasible option, but I am living the reality. Living on $90k a year as a single person might be doable, but it would be very, very hard.

Using your numbers:

30,000 a year after loan repayment:

minus 12,000 for rent (unless you live somewhere cheaper) =$18k

minus car payment (let's say $300/month) = $14,400

minus (hopefully) a 401k contribution (at the very least $100.month)= $13,200

minus food/eating out= $10,800

minus utilities = approx $200, $300 if you include phone, cable and internet access (potentially much higher) = $7200

minus car insurance $80/month for one car) = $6420

minus gas (let's say one 12 gallon tank a week @ $2.4/gallon) = $4920

minus getting sick 3x a year = $75 total in copays +$100 in meds = $4745

After all of this you have less than $400 a month to live on. Maybe that sounds like a great number, but my accounting does not include clothing, books, childcare (if you do have a child), personal hygiene items, gifts, etc.

Money flies out of most everyone's hands without their realization. It costs a lot to live these days!

[cleisthenes]

all of what you say is true, but your numbers are high in my opinion. if you live in an extremely expensive place where you drive a great deal in an inefficient car and eat out a lot, then perhaps. look, as a grad student living in an expensive part of the country, i will have a stipend of about 23k. That has to cover all of the expenses you list there. Luckily I live with my partner who has similar funding, so cumulatively we gross around $45k, which ends up being what we net too because that's poor enough not to pay much in taxes. but taht is manageable for us because we are frugal, we cook for ourselves and rarely eat out unless absolute necessary, we drive a fuel-efficient car that we purchased from money we saved from grants and awards that the two of us won, etc. etc. (By the way, if you can't win grants and awards, I wouldn't recommend going into the academy, as you really WILL have a hard time financially.)

Now, if we had children or were ill and needed lots of medical care/medications, if we had to make car payments because we bought an expensive new car instead of a cheap, reliable old car. If we went to movies instead of watching them on netflix, etc. etc., then yes, it would be hard. Life choices. If you want one thing, it often makes it hard to have another.

[PaperChaser]

EVERYONE going into education should know about this ...http://www.ibrinfo.org/ It's called Income Based Repayment and it is help for folks with public loan debt, especially folks going into the public sector: govt, education, non-profits, etc.

Also, stop freaking the poor guy out. He isn't going to die or starve or anything. (From someone with 90K in undergrad debt). This situation depends highly on the percentage of your debt that is truly private. The public debt can be paid back in 10 years if you go into higher ed after you graduate.

VERY SAGE ADVICE! Relatively few people know about IBR and the write-off after ten years IF you go into "public service." (Otherwise, it's 20.) You do need to make sure that your loans qualify for IBR (private loans won't). Your debt load is high and your potential earning power is mediocre; however, you're already pretty far in money-wise, and if getting a graduate degree means you can pay back more of your debt, it's probably not a bad choice.

Common misconceptions about bankruptcy as a FYI: student loans are NEVER discharged in Chapter 7 bankruptcy (the only kind worth doing/"fresh start" bankruptcy). If your insolvency is caused by your excessive loan debt, you MAY be able to have the payments restructured (NOT wiped out) in a Chapter 11 or 13 bankruptcy. You have to be able to show that you didn't knowingly take out more loans than you reasonably thought you could pay back (I'm stating this in non-lawyer language, but if you want more info on bankruptcy, check out 11 United States Code 101 et seq.). I think you know that you're probably not going to be able to pay back your existing loans, let alone more loans, unless you make far more money than is reasonably anticipated for someone in your field...ten-plus times your current salary.

Still, I'm a lawyer not a financial professional. You should definitely seek professional financial counseling to determine what's best for you. Good luck!

[David17]

I'm in a similar situation though yours is definitely a different order of magnitude. I'm starting out grad school with $115,000 in student loan debt. I know what you mean when you say you worry about it everyday because I do too. The only thing that you can really do is try to maximize your long term earning potential. If the difference in getting a graduate degree over 20 or 30 years of salary outweighs the added interest on deferring your loans during grad school then do it. DO NOT consolidate your federal and private loans. The federal government does have programs set up where they will help you to reduce your federal loan debt if you can't pay it. The private loans are basically immune from bankruptcy and the only way you get out of them is if you die. After you have exhausted any federal help with your loans then you can consolidate them and that will save you some money on interest. You can negotiate with the companies to get extended repayment terms with lower monthly payments based on what you can afford but that just adds more interest in the long run.

What I am planning to do after I (hopefully) find a job is:

• start repaying as much on the highest interest loan as possible and pay the minimum on the rest
• The interest rates float so consolidate after I know I've gotten the best interest rate possible and the most federal forgiveness possible
• Get as long of a repayment term as possible so that my monthly payments are minimal
• Pay as much as I possibly can over the minimum payments so that I get out from under it sooner but I can afford to scale back if I need to.
• Every pay raise that I get will go directly into increasing my loan repayments.

If you wait to consolidate until you've been paying on the loans for a while you can get a good fixed rate, help from the feds on their loans, and a 30 year term (in addition to maybe 10 years of just paying unconsolidated loans to total 40 years of repayment) so that you can have as low of a monthly payment as possible. This is the only way I've come up with so that the loan payments wont be crushing.

[zachidacki]

Public service loan forgiveness exists, especially if you're going into education. If you are considering a career in public service you can have the remaining balance on your loans forgiven after 10 years if you make your payments on time. This applies to federal direct loans only, however. Teaching forgiveness programs are available in a lot of states so look into those options.

You should not consider filing for bankruptcy because generally speaking, it is almost impossible to get your student loans discharged unless they are severely impacting your ability to live - and not in the sense that you lack a social life, but as in you are struggling to pay for food because of your student loan burden.

Your debt can be tailored to your income. Your payments are going to be high anyway, so you may as well get continued education that can boost your earning potential.

The original poster wants to do a degree in Higher Ed Administration, not just "education" in the broad sense of the word. That being said, I doubt that would qualify for public service loan forgiveness, even if working for a public university.

Also, to the original poster, keep in mind that Higher Ed Admin programs do offer assistantships. It is very possible to do your masters and go into no further debt. Research programs, talk and meet with faculty, and apply for assistantships. It's actually quite pointless to do a degree in Higher Ed Admin without having an assistantship because, like most PhD programs, the job market looks for those with experience. Without the experience you would fall flat, or end up in rural Louisiana or something (not hating, just saying). For some great Higher Ed Admin programs, look at University of Vermont, Miami U of Ohio, Loyola Chicago, Seattle University... actually, I would apply to all of the Jesuit schools that offer this degree. Jesuit schools are typically pretty free with money (especially if you're a minority - race, sexual minority, low-income in particular), and they love love love Higher Ed Administration. The schools are often located in desirable cities, too.

As some people have mentioned, consider (while living with your folks to save on rent) doing a year of AmeriCorps, or City Year, or something of the like, to get at least some of your federal loans reduced. (You can defer your current federal loans during this period, too. As for your private loans, check with the lender.) This will also make you more desirable a candidate for a masters program that works with youth (development), so it would be perfect for a degree in Higher Ed Administration.

Just be very aware that Higher Ed Admin programs do offer assistantship and tuition remission. It's just a matter of making the right connections and picking the right school. Also, once you get the Higher Ed degree, you will make a decent wage. Consider taking positions as a Resident Hall Director where you will get a salary and free lodging and usually free board. You may have to live like a college student until you're 35, but you'll be making a dent in your massive student loan debt.

Good luck.

Edit: Also, if I'm not mistaken, I thought you couldn't get out of student loans even with bankruptcy... Is that true?

Edited March 8, 2010 by zachidacki

[ANP]

Two words, Tang:

MARRY RICH.

[HelloKaty37]

I just wonder what kind of private lender kept giving you loans when you started getting that far into debt. My brother (who is a banker) talks all the time about irresponsible lending on the part of some banks but I didn't know it had gotten this bad... Surely they know that's almost impossible to pay back with just a BA in Sociology!

And speaking as someone whose close family did have to declare bankruptcy, I can tell you that is the very last thing you want to do, even if it is an option for some of your debt. You will never be able to get a home loan or car loan with reasonable interest or cosign for your children when they grow up... it's bad stuff.

[zerolife]

wow my first reaction was get the best grad degree you can and then skip country. I see people talking about 90k a year but I highly doubt you (or any one in the US) are going to make anything close to that number anytime soon (likely never), especially with a degree in Education. I wonder how you got yourself into this debt in the first place. I've gone to the most expensive college in the US (GW) and I really don't know anyone who has borrowed anything close to your number since most students nowaday receive at least some financial aid (unless your family is super-rich in which case you don't have to worry about paying back yourself anyway). I really don't have any really good ideas for you. I think if I were in your shoes I would see if I can get a significant break from the lender (if they are smart they would do it knowing your situation). If not, I would seriously consider moving somewhere else or file bankrupcy. I know it's not morally the best thing to do but the same can be said for the lenders allowing you to take that big of a loan and not giving you some type of break so you can actually have a chance to pay back.