How much debt is "okay"?

[Puffer Fish]

As you can see in my sig, I'm applying to a lot of schools. I'm in Virginia so only 3 of them are in-state (4 if you count the fact that D.C. schools do 'american student vs international student' instead of 'in-state vs out-of-state/international').

On another forum someone reminded me of the old adage of "don't take out more loans than your first year's salary". If the stats I found online are right, the median salary for SLPs is about $58k. Probably a little less for first-year employees.

By that logic, and provided these stats were right, I could only afford *one* in-state school, and that's if I only paid tuition, not housing or books or course fees or food or gasoline or anything else.

How much debt would be "appropriate" for an SLP to take on? Is going out of state even worth it in the long run if it ends with me having $90,000+ in debt? 

(Full disclosure: my parents are generously going to help me pay for school but I'm treating it as if they are not to both keep myself grounded and to make this question more relatable to everyone)

Edited November 4, 2016 by Puffer Fish

[Allegro8032]

I don't think how much debt is really the right question you need to be asking. What you need to determine is, assuming you start a job straight out of school, how much can you afford in monthly payments to the collector of the debt. This varies greatly on the type of loan you get, the interest rate, your income, and what your other monthly expenditures are, ie. rent, utilities, food, car payments, insurance, mortgage, other expenses, etc.

What would your monthly payment be and could you afford it with your other expenses?
How fast (or slowly) are you willing or able to pay it down?
Considering this number is sitting on your credit report for X amount of time, how much would prevent you from obtaining other purchases you may need to make down the road like a car or a home loan?

Thinking of it in those terms will give you a much better idea if you'd be comfortable with the debt than just the number as a whole.

Edited November 4, 2016 by Allegro8032

[Crimson Wife]

Everyone's situation is different. Someone who is single and fully supporting himself/herself is going to have a different debt comfort level than someone who is married and has a spouse to help pay the bills (and even among married folks, the spouse's salary and whether the spouse has his/her own debt is going to vary).

Another factor is whether you anticipate qualifying for the public service loan forgiveness program. If you go to work for a school, the government (e.g. Early Intervention, the VA, etc.) or a non-profit hospital, then any remaining loan balance will be forgiven after 10 years. If your goal is to have your own private practice, you won't qualify for the PSLFP.

Some place super-expensive like NYU I would personally only consider doing as distance ed while working as a SLPA or other job to help finance the tuition. Even though my hubby is supporting our family on his salary (I'm a SAHM), I don't want to take on six figures' worth of debt just to get my master's.

[jpiccolo]

I'd just say that if you are able to get into a quality school that is cheaper, that is totally worthwhile. I got into a handful of schools out of state which was my preference. In the end I chose a quality in state program that limited my loans to about 24k. Now that I'm close to graduating, I'm relieved to have a small amount of debt with a solid education.