Student Loans

[Rebecca]

Anyone else indebted for forever because of them?

I owe about $150,000 for my law school loans. Unfortunately, I consolidated right after school (about 8 years ago) when the interest rate was around 8%. My monthly payments are now $1070 a month. And I make a whopping $49,000 a year as a public interest lawyer (yeah, my own fault).

[Mal Reynolds]

Education cost required to become a public interest attorney: $150,000.

Being able to sleep at night? Priceless.

I know a lot of big firm lawyers who hate their lives. The thing is, they became big firm lawyers to pay off their loans. They thought they could just work hard for 3-4 years and then move in house to a less insane job.

But in order to fit in at the big law firms, they start piling on more debt to keep up appearances (i.e. bigger houses, golf club memberships, a second Mercedes). So once they get in they could never escape.

[amandajane]

I'm still studying, going into the 3rd year of a 4 year bachelor of design photography degree. My loans are at about $7,000 now, I only hope I can pay them off when I find work and still live to a reasonable standard. The govt take a large percentage of your pay here straight out of your bank account as soon as you earn over about $17,000 a year, which is not a lot in NZ dollars!

[Rebecca]

Originally Posted by Mal Reynolds

Education cost required to become a public interest attorney: $150,000.

Being able to sleep at night? Priceless.

I know a lot of big firm lawyers who hate their lives. The thing is, they became big firm lawyers to pay off their loans. They thought they could just work hard for 3-4 years and then move in house to a less insane job.

But in order to fit in at the big law firms, they start piling on more debt to keep up appearances (i.e. bigger houses, golf club memberships, a second Mercedes). So once they get in they could never escape.

interesting...I was at a bar association happy hour last week and ran into some former classmates (I'm now 8 years out of school and the only one who didn't go to a firm). They were discussing their custom made $400 shirts. Seriously. I asked them why they didn't just go to the Gap and buy a $30 shirt and donate the rest to charity. Their response? We already donate to charity.

Ugh.

[breadandbutter]

Oh that's what happens with the concept of "study now pay later" that some schools offer. I didn't really understand how the tuition could get paid off. Well, what I can say is, at least you got to finish school and have a respectable job even if it meant have a debt forever.

[jhanseth]

Originally Posted by Rebecca

My monthly payments are now $1070 a month. And I make a whopping $49,000 a year as a public interest lawyer (yeah, my own fault).

OUCH. That must hurt.

I'm still paying off my student loans from undergrad, to the tune of $280/month. I recently decided to quit my job as a computer programmer and go to massage school (see tomorrow's post on Queercents for more!), which means that I just went into more debt, about $10k more in total. Once I graduate, I suspect my monthly student loan payment will go up to $350 - $400.

Still painful, but not nearly as painful as yours!

[Rebecca]

Originally Posted by jhanseth

OUCH. That must hurt.

Yeah...I hate Sallie Mae.

The only "good" news is that Pres. Bush signed this bill into law last october which is a huge loan forgiveness plan for public interest lawyers. it'll also put a cap on the max monthly payment in relation to income. It should cut my payment in more than half. Under the plan, I'll end up paying about $50,000 for my $150,000 education instead of the $300,000 I'd end up paying to the loan companies.

The catch is that you have to stay a public interest lawyer for 10 years. I've been in it for 8, but the law won't be retroactive so I won't get any credit for all of the time I've already put in. Oh well.

[FightinTxAggie98]

I took out loans to go to medical school, but had to withdrawal because I couldn't afford to continue. I now have about $350,000 in student loans and no marketable skills. Consider yourself lucky!

[Jess]

Wow. What an eye-opener. So far I have roughly $5,500 in loans taken out, all of which are Federal Stafford Subsidized Loans, but that doesn't include what will be disbursed next semester or over the next two years. I expect to have ~$15,000 in loans when I graduate. (Currently, total expenses at my school are almost 50k a year.) I feel lucky, though - one of my friends took out $17,000 for freshman year alone. Yikes.

While this is great, I also anticipate that I'll be going to grad and/or perhaps law school at some point, which will add to my loans. I'll have to see, but that would certainly change things.

Also, did everyone see the news about the Sallie Mae woes?

[quitejaded]

It's a little ridiculous to me! You shouldn't have to pay so much for education. I guess since you are in graduate school, it makes more sense, but man... I don't know if it is worth it to me. If my parents stop paying for my schooling, I'm either getting a job or going to a cheaper college.