Student Loan Debt...

[Agschmid]

Just curious as to the DU average situation... This poll refers to "school" as the most recent level of higher ed you have completed.

My personal story... I went to a private school which charged $43,000 a year I graduated in 9 semesters so 4.5 years. I graduated within the last 10 years and I still have about $5,000 left on my debt. I make about $50,000 a year and have made paying down my debt a huge focus.

Just curious as to where the DU group as a whole is... Feel free to share comments.

18 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Less than 5 years out of school, debt paid off.
	1 (6%)
	Less than 5 years out of school, still paying debt off.
	4 (22%)
	More than 5 years out of school but less than 10 years out, debt paid off.
	0 (0%)
	More than 5 years out of school but less than 10 years, still paying debt off.
	1 (6%)
	Greater than 10 years out of school, debt paid.
	5 (28%)
	Greater than 10 years out of school, still paying debt off.
	6 (33%)
	Other, please comment below.
	1 (6%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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[PasadenaTrudy]

1. Never had student debt

Went to college in the 90s on grants and parent's support. I went to a junior college then a state uni.

[gopiscrap]

2. I was extremely lucky

My dad had died in Vietnam (US Military war death) and I got SSI and VA (War orphan indemnity and compensation) all through college plus I had 6 credits of History going into college and also 12 credits of German. I was blest to have a total debt of 146.83 graduating and that was for parking tickets and library fines.

[beachbum bob]

4. nice concerning the debt

sad about the situation

[gopiscrap]

5. yeah, but it could have been so much worse

I personally could have had a father who did not die in the military but just as a civilian...then I would not have had college paid for, so I consider myself extremely lucky in that respect. It also deeply influenced my anti war attitudes that I have now.

[KansDem]

10. Same here...

My dad retired from the Navy due to a service-connected disability. He died a few months later. I attended college on his GI bill.

I was 22 months old when he died. I would have gladly foregone collecting his benefits for college if he could've seen me grow up.

I wish I knew him...

[gopiscrap]

16. I agree with you

luckily I had 7.5 years with him..he died a week before Christmas when I was 7 years old.

[KansDem]

22. At the next DU meetup, I'll buy you a beer...

...and we'll toast our dads.



[font size="1"]Anyone can be a "father," but it takes someone special to be a "dad."[font size="2"]

[gopiscrap]

25. sounds cool

where do you live?

[KansDem]

28. Kansas City

Live in Kansas, work in Missouri. Guess you might say I've got the "best" of both worlds!

[beachbum bob]

3. I went to college in my late 30's and incurred around

$20,000 in debt. I spent 6yrs doing college, starting out at a community college as it was 25% the cost of a 4yr school and then transferred fto finish my undergraduate and graduate schooling were I obtained a master's degree. I afforded this by a combination of grants, scholarships and cashing in a IRA and limiting loans to something I could pay off in 4 or 5yrs (which I did). Many of the kids I was in school with racked up $50-60,000 (or more) and to me that was reprehensible debt load to be saddled with when entering a job market. Easily available loans made this possible. Universities made it a business and could care less for the students welfare. This was profit motivated, pure and simple. Parents were foolish to go along with it as kids really don't know any better. When you a sophomore, do really worry about life after college or repaying loans? Dd kids really understand debt or the FACT that student loans are not covered in typical bankruptcy situations no matter what other people may say.

Hearing about $100,000, $200,00 or more debt loads is extremely sad but the fact of the matter, what did these kids expect to happen?

Easy loans, lax enrollment criteria and devil may care attitude did, and still is doing the damage. People have to stop whining about it and start taking action. Politicians respond to pressure. There are millions of students and parents in this boat. Time for them to do something. Good lord

[Agschmid]

7. Question...

How would you know:

limiting loans to something I could pay off in 4 or 5yrs

It seems odd that you know you'd be guaranteed a job with a certain level if income which would allow you to pay off your debt?

[beachbum bob]

19. the field i was i had worked in

For years. I knew what I would be making upon graduation. I wasn't some kid going out into the work force

[Agschmid]

23. Makes a big difference then huh?

[beachbum bob]

26. yep it does.

I knew $45-50,000 was where I was going to start. Knew my debt be done in 5yrs.

[duffyduff]

9. Being self-righteous doesn't win you friends

I have 10k in debt and CAN'T pay it because of an employer who illegally fired me back in 2008 and I have YET to find ANYTHING that I can even BEGIN to make payments on it.

The debt is close to 15 years old.

And, by the way, I WORKED my way through undergraduate and graduate school but incurred debt when I had to when I student taught (no working outside jobs allowed). A few years I taught only to be illegally fired.

[Inspired]

13. Easy loans

No kidding! My daughter took out all the loans she could....against my advice. She had no clue what she was getting into. You can only warn so much with adult aged kids. The last 2 years she was older, qualified for more, spent it like crazy.

I do feel bad for her because she has tons of debt but I also recognize it is her own doing. A big lesson learned for her. I help her but she knows this is hers to pay off.

[duffyduff]

17. Doesn't explain the situation for non-traditional students who have debt

but have been dumped into a sinking economy thanks to being unemployed and CAN'T pay the loans off.

There are even people who are retirement age who still have outstanding student loans--and most of those aren't due to co-signing for their kids.

[Igel]

36. People have to be ruthlessly realistic when it comes to student debt.

Most undergrads are barely aware that reality exists or what it is.

They've had their view of reality distorted by having parents who coddle and fund everything for them.

Or they've had their view of post-college reality distorted by parents made bitter by hard, unrewarding work and living in a low-income environment.

[Agschmid]

45. I think I was too sheltered...

It worked out okay but when I first went into it I really had no idea how much it would all cost!

[beachbum bob]

24. tough to watch

Been there myself with my kids and step kids. Don't want to hear the advice because they know it all already.

[tblue37]

29. I teach college, and while I believe tuition rates, textbook costs, and

many other college costs are a racket, I am also appalled at the carelessness of students who take on the debt. I know one boy, 23 years old now, who took out $80,000 in loans over 3 semesters, but because of poor attendance ended up flunking out--even though he is bright and capable. For example, he earned an "A" in one class, but it was converted to a "D" because of poor attendance. That sort of thing happened to him in other classes, too, but in many classes he not only lost points for nonattendance, but also because he did badly on exams. He didn't learn material covered in class, didn't do a lot of the assigned readings, etc.

I also see many students in my freshman English courses who are so unprepared for college level work that I know they can't maintain a passing GPA, so the loan money they take out for their first 2 or 3 semesters is a complete waste.

Many students also don't recognize the loans as real money or real debt. That is part of why they keep taking out more loans, even when it is obvious that they are not likely to be able to pay their debt. But it is also a large part of why they don't take on part time jobs and why they spend extravagantly rather than trying to be even a little bit frugal.

I know one girl who ended up with $1000 more in loan money than she needed for her expenses one year. Instead of saving it for the next year's expenses, she decided to have an "adventure." She had never been to a casino, so she went to one and gambled away the entire $1000 in one short evening!

I also am appalled by kids from families of limited means who refuse to start out at jucos, where they can earn about 2 years' worth of credits while paying about 1/2 the cost per credit, and while saving money while living at home or sharing an apartment with friends to save on living expenses. And since jucos have such flexible class schedules to accommodate adult students and people with families and jobs, the student could have a part time job while taking a full class load, or take a part time class load while working a full time job.

I asked one desperately indebted student why she had come to the university her freshman year, when her older sister had wisely gone to juco for two years before transfering to the university. She said she wanted to enjoy the FULL college experience, including sports, sorority life, parties, etc.

Oh, and there was a student in my class a year ago whose GPA was destroyed by her having to work two jobs--one full time, one part time. She never slept (except in class, when she managed to attend, which was only about half the time), never had time to do homework, and was constantly sick from stress and exhaustion.

But she was in a sorority, dang it, and she wasn't going to give that up, even though she openly admitted she couldn't afford it!

She ended up having to leave the sorority, because they have a GPA minimum, and eventually she had to drop out of school, too, because she couldn't maintain the even lower GPA required to stay in school.

Too many kids go deeply into debt--and many parents foolishly go into debt, too--when the kids are too academically unprepared and too immature to handle college level work or to carefully handle their finances so they don't have to keep borrowing more and more and more.

For a variety of reasons, each year approximately 20%-25% of all first-year students across the country fail to complete their first year of college. Although the debt they rack up during their brief time in college is disastrous for many of them, in a way they are the lucky ones, because they leave school before they have had a chance to rack up the level of debt their peers who stay in school end up taking on.

[Agschmid]

37. Thanks for the thoughtful response.

I was a bit of a bad student and ended up doing an extra semester due to my extracurricular activities. It sure seems foolish now but at the time I saw nothing wrong with it...

Maturity makes a hell of a difference.

[IdaBriggs]

40. I have a friend who is in a low earning career.

She loves her career. She will never make "great" money at it. She used student loans to pay her living expenses while she got three associate degrees.

She will be paying the loans off for the rest of her life.

She is a lovely person, but I am not sure why she "needed" the third associate degree. I suspect it was to delay having to start paying back the loans, but I am not going to ask.

[Vashta Nerada]

6. I'm in graduate school.

I have a mountain of student loan debt that hopefully I'll be able to start paying off once I get my Master's.

[sharp_stick]

8. It took me pretty much 10 years

to the day to pay it off.

[Inspired]

11. My daughter is on a 25 year payment plan.

Which sucks. Her degree is in early elementary education which means her income potential is pretty low. She could get a low income deferment but I think it is more important to try to get this paid off by having lower payments now and putting in extra when she can.

[duffyduff]

15. Elementary Ed is a VERY bad major because of the glut of people in it

It's almost impossible to get hired on a public school district anywhere in the country with elementary certification.

I have two certifications--elementary and special ed--in one state and am in the process of getting special ed in another state, but jobs are extremely difficult to get in Oregon since nobody can retire.

[trackfan]

12. Other. 10+ years, never had student debt.

UCLA cost $232/quarter.

[Blue_In_AK]

14. Back when I graduated from college (1968)

my tuition was $50 a semester. Books ran about $250. I was able to put myself through school with the money I made in summer jobs.

[Agschmid]

18. It's like another world now!

Congrats.

[beachbum bob]

21. to true but this is

A result of easy loans and colleges ramping up cost...to take advantage of it. I was a TA for both years of grad school. I watched professors get full year paid for sabbaticals. You want to see a system full of scams? Take a close look at higher education...diploma mills...salaries and pensions inside it

[Blue_In_AK]

41. I know.

My lawyer daughter ran up a six-figure debt getting through college and law school (Colorado State and U of Oregon). She's been out of law school since 2003 and will probably be paying on this until well into her 40s. At least she's been steadily employed unlike some of her fellow graduates.

My other two daughters have some college but never graduated, which is a pity since they're both quite clever. They've done okay, though. The oldest is office manager for a law firm in Denver and the youngest is a systems administrator for our credit union. They don't make as much as the lawyer, but at least they don't have the debt.

It's really not fair what they're doing to kids today.

[treestar]

58. Which is how it ought to be

Hard to see what's changed. Maybe it's the computers and fancy equipment the schools probably think they have to have?

[Aerows]

20. I was lucky

I got a scholarship, a work study position, and financial support from my family.

[Tikki]

27. My husband paid my way through college in the mid-'90's and it was ...

grueling the amount of financial cutbacks we had to make. I quit my job to go to school full-time
and if it wasn't for the free city bus to University, I doubt we would have made it financially. I had to drive 20+
miles one-way, both ways to get to the free transportation.

A couple of quarters I had to read the text books out of the campus library daily because I couldn't afford the texts.

And this was realistically the only time in my life I could have done this…do I regret it?…no
but it breaks my heart to think of what my family sacrificed for me..

I graduated with no debt.


Tikki

[shenmue]

30. I had tons of part time and temp jobs when I was first out of school

Scrimped and saved every penny. Got the loan paid off four years after I left school.

[Agschmid]

31. Good job! I am close to done...

Next is a house.

[Broken_Hero]

32. My wife's situation is

a year out from finishing her MBA and we still owe a ton of $$$

[Logical]

33. My dad paid for my college. Union plumber. n-t

[MineralMan]

34. I'm 68 years old. There were no student loans when I went to college.

I graduated thanks to the GI bill, which paid $256 per month. That covered the costs at my state university almost. I needed only a little more for living costs. But I bought used textbooks and that kind of thing and shared a run down house with two other vets.

Times are way different now.

[bhikkhu]

35. I'm still working on the last bits of a bachelor's degree, and paying off loans

I wound up with about 20K for the two years I spent recently (last enrolled class 4 years ago) at a state university, and have paid that down to 14k so far.

If not for the debt I would have kept going, but between my rising debt level, the recession, and the disappearance of the jobs I was working towards, the wind left the sails, so to speak. I'll probably finish the degree early next year just for the sake of finishing it, but I can do that through CLEP exams at this point - much cheaper.

I do highly value the experience, however, and would probably go on into a master's program if money were no object.

[a la izquierda]

38. I'll be paying this off forever.

I have three degrees, BA, MA, PhD. Had to borrow my way through as my parents said I was on my own. I am a first year university professor in a giant university. I do not get paid badly, nut not well either. University profs do not make six figures unless one is an Econ, Law, or Med professor. I can do the loan forgiveness program, but right now, I can't even afford to make minimum payments until I get on my feet.

It pretty much sucks...and I was responsible with my borrowing. I just had the misfortune of growing up and going to school in very expensive states.

[nolabear]

43. Hang in there kiddo. You're paying it forward as much as back.

[a la izquierda]

51. I know...

the hardest part is looking out at my students, many of whom do not give a rat's ass about what I'm teaching them. There are many days when I think "I should be an activist at a non-profit." I have a friend who does this and I envy him. He's applying for academic jobs now. I've warned him.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I do appreciate it and after the weekend of grading, I needed it!

[mike_c]

44. the bad news is....

I'm in pretty much the same boat, but nearly twenty years later. My loans were in default for a few years at the beginning-- try paying over $1000 monthly on a post-doc's $25K salary (which seemed luxurious at the time, in the early 1990s, as it came with health insurance and after nearly ten years living on student work stipends). I've been paying for the last 15 years or so though, and got the payments reduced to a more affordable $700 or so a month once I got an actual tenure track job, but after 15 years the principle of my original $70K or so has only declined by about $5K. I'll reach retirement age within the next 5 years or so. I'll not only not work long enough to pay off the debt, but I likely won't live long enough even if I work until the day I die.

Only in America would creating a generation of indentured servants in exchange for the education that enables their servitude seem like a good idea.

[Vashta Nerada]

47. This is a little off topic, but...

did you have to get student loans to get your PhD? I'm thinking about going for my Doctorate in the fall of 2014 and I'm wondering if I'll have to take out loans to pay for that.

[a la izquierda]

48. I had to take out some...

to pay for fees and to cover some living expenses. I had a stipend and my tuition covered, but the stipend was below poverty level and didn't cover summer. Some programs are different than others.

My friends who are foreigners are very, very fortunate.

Moral of the story: marry someone with a great job.

[Vashta Nerada]

49. Ouch.

Thanks for the info.

[a la izquierda]

50. I was kidding about the marriage part.

Sort of. My best friend from grad school and I had this very conversation this morning. Depressing reality.

[laundry_queen]

39. Other.

I'm still in school. I'm currently in my last year. No debt - yet. Still trying to figure out how to pay next semester. All of my expenses have skyrocketed by my income hasn't. I may have to take fewer courses - but too few courses and I lose my supplementary insurance and I take a couple of expensive meds. Decisions....I may have to find a second p/t job.

Now my situation is different. First of all, I'm in Canada so my tuition is significantly less. Second - I have an income (spousal and child support) that allows me to pay for my tuition as I go.

Hopefully when I graduate I'm able to get a good job just in time to help my oldest child pay for her education so she's never stuck in my situation (my parents refused to help me, and I couldn't get a loan at the time so I dropped out after my first year when I was 19). I want her to get her education before she's in her 30s. It's much easier when you are younger, IMO.

[nolabear]

42. Paid as I went. But I went mostly as a working adult.

Sure put things in perspective. It was a job, and at the same time they were working for me, and I avoided so much of that "they're parents that I have to please" garbage. We were a team, designed to make me succeed. I never had a single prof who didn't respect that.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

46. I had to pay back the VA $900 because of their overpayments to me.

I had briefly dropped out of college and they continued to send me the checks of $300 per month. I was broke and out of work.

Who am to look a gift horse in the mouth?

They caught up with me went I went for a VA loan for a house.

[peacebird]

52. My dad was a Marine (wwii, korea, and vietnam); mom became a real estate agent

while he was in vietnam and put her earnings towards "extras" for the family, which meant college tuition for my brother and I.

We graduated with no debt as a result! A gift we passed on to my son. We were very lucky.

[Turbineguy]

53. I had a small loan

I paid it off a few months after I graduated. Of course in those days it was believed that the more you earned the better off society would be as a whole and that therefore education was a good societal investment.

[roamer65]

54. Mostly grants for me, some loan.

However, I watched the grants slowly disappear under Ronnie Raygun. Most of this problem is due to his mismanagement of the country.

[CFLDem]

55. Still paying...

But the year 2021 will be a great year for me! (Hopefully sooner if I can get a higher paying job, not that I'm complaining).

[drthais]

56. only took out loans the last 2 years of my doctorate....

borrowed 22,500.00 all told
It was 36K when I graduated (interest)
I paid faithfully for TEN YEARS
and it was down to....34K!
We refinanced the house and paid it off
I could see it was a racket and I would never, ever be able to pay it off.
The original Stafford loan was sold three times
and I could never keep up up with who owned it and what was up with such a slow pay-back.
the new owner will ALWAYS say they have no history on the loan.

My three children have NO student loan debt
we did everything we could to make sure they did not wind up in the same situation.
it's a nightmare.

[treestar]

57. I had 20K of debt

including law school. I paid it off over the next 15 years. The interest rates had been very low at the time. The payment was a major budget thing, almost as much as a car payment on a simple car. It was great to get it paid off. At the time, the loans paid for a lot, the rest my summer job income and parent's doing.

Taking out the loan was also my parents' doing, as I was way too naive, immature and lacking in basic knowledge to even know I could apply. My parents basically took charge of it all and the loans were part of their plan. Don't know if they would have paid it off if they'd had to.

To me, that underlines the whole personal responsibility meme as being a little unfair here, and the people involved are usually very young, even though adults. You don't suddenly gain wisdom because you turned 18.

[beachbum bob]

59. you are correct. kids are taken advantages advantage

Of....but you still are responsible. And if parents are forcing the issue...they have responsibility too. Colleges which are profit centers and easy loans with no way out is clearly a bad deal. People got to get a voice.

[phylny]

60. For my first degree, a BA awarded in 1980,

my "debt" was $1000, a loan we took out the year my father was out of work. That was the extent of my debt, and I paid it off in about a year (the payments were about $50/month, but I ended up just paying it off early).

For my second and third, BHS in 1996 & MHS in 1999, no debt - my husband and I paid as I went. It would be very difficult for most students today to do this on their own.

We promised our daughters that they'd receive their college educations, paid by us, for four years. Anything after that, they'd pay for.

Our first decided to go for a Masters degree that she didn't finish, and has about $20K in debt left. Our middle had to go for a ninth semester, and took out a loan for $9,000 that she paid off in a year. Our youngest has no debt, but will incur debt for her graduate degree unless she gets some money from whatever school she attends.

Today's students are being screwed over big time.

[MadrasT]

61. Other: More than 10 years out of school, never had any debt.

BS from a state university. Worked full time, went to school part time. It took 6 years and my employers paid for most of it. It was the hardest 6 years of my life (literally all I did was work and go to school) but at least I didn't owe anyone $$ when I was done.

[Liberal_in_LA]

62. max debt allowed was only 9500 when i went to school in the 80s

Now seems like unlimited amount allowed