The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: legacyoneup on October 07, 2013, 10:28:57 PM
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looking to review trends in student debt over time.
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2011: upwards of $115k.
I was naive, I was foolish, I had no concept of the hole I was digging for myself when I took out that first loan in 2007. The good news? I found NMHD and MMM last year and now my debt is down to about $85k. I'm slowly climbing out of that hole :)
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2005. $30,000 which includes a master's degree. Paid off!
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2006: None.
Between academic and athletic scholarships, a summer job, and the generosity of my parents, I graduated without any debt.
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Dang. I'm old, single and debt free.
2000
$33,000
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Undergrad - 1977 - no debt (I worked as a waitress, attended a public university and received Social Security survivor benefits from the death of my father)
Graduate school - 1981 - $2,000 debt (I worked for a year in between as a lab tech, was paid as a teaching assistant during grad school, took out just the one loan for $2,000.)
Med School - 1985 - $20,000 debt (I worked for one summer between first and second year.Received some grant money - maybe the equivalent of the Pell grant? - and had one small scholarship for a few hundred dollars. Again,attended a public university. Ate a lot of beans and rice).
Even at the time, it was a very small amount of debt for a medical student - I knew colleagues who owed $100k - $150k.
I was fortunate in that the University of California was inexpensive and high quality; I worked where possible; I was experienced at stretching a dollar (beans and rice, sewed my own clothes etc); and received the social security money and grants. I only lived at home for my first year of college, but could have saved even more if I had not moved out.
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1995- BA Had about $22,000
1997- Teaching program added a few more thousand.
My husband graduated with his BA without ant debt, but then racked up about $23,000 on grad school a few years ago. :(
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Finished my BA in 2006, my first master's in 2008 and my second master's in 2011.
No debt, education in Holland is cheap compared to the US: 2000-2500 per year (2 semesters). We don't pay per course or per credit. We just pay a fixed tuition fee and we can take as many courses as we like.
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Undergrad -- 1996 and $40k
Grad School -- 1999 and another $80k
I paid off $20k, my dad paid off $20k and my husband paid off the last $80k.
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2011: $0
Scholarships for tuition and some living expenses, parents helped with remainder of living expenses, I had a part time job for fun money.
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1997, $6000.
Most of that was car related, as I lived at home but had to travel quite a ways. At first I had my own car, but it died and then I did a combination of biking 10km to the nearest bus stop, and borrowing my parent's car. I worked co-op terms and summer jobs throughout university and mostly paid for everything. I didn't have the best grades, but I did OK.
When I graduated, my parents (whom I borrowed the money from) forgave my debt so I guess I ended up with $0.
Then I made a huge splash into consumerism when I bought a BRAND NEW Toyota Tercel. But I drove it into the ground over the course of 15 years :)
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1983, undergrad, no debt, thanks for parents.
2000, Doctorate, $16,000 debt, paid off in 2004.
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2005 - No debt. I took a year off between high school and university to work full time, worked through all of my summers and crappy (but OK paying) jobs. I was lucky to be able to have my parents to cover half the costs of housing and food.
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2015, $0 for three degrees.
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1990 - 0 debt (parents paid) for my BS in finance
2012 - 0 debt MS in National Resourced Strategy - Uncle Sugar paid for this one!
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2009 - $13k. Would have been less if I had applied for federal and state aid =(
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2103 - $0, thanks to scholarships, jobs, and generous parents the first couple years
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2103 - $0, thanks to scholarships, jobs, and generous parents the first couple years
Guys! I found a time traveler! We're on to you, Russ.
I didn't graduate, so I don't have anything else to really contribute. :) 0 college debt though!
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2011, about $24k federal and $12k private
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Class of 2000 with a BA in English, $18K all federal loans.
I had it all paid off by 2006.
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2011 with no debt, thanks to scholarships and my benevolent parents.
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2008; $6K in student loans. I spent 5 years there so I could work more/pay for more. My parents helped w/ books, computers, tuition if I needed it. The $6K came from my first year. It's still not paid off as it's at 2.35% interest.
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2004, $0. A million thanks to my generous parents and a hell of a deal for in-state tuition at a big, public university.
I cannot possibly state how grateful I am that they talked me out of going to Tulane...
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I thought I was one of the oldest here, and this proves it.
1988 and 1990 -- no debt.
Few people borrowed money when I was in college, and the rest of us thought they were making bad choices. Thinking back to my experience and looking at my college daughter today, I see lots of differences in our experiences (though we both chose rather similar state schools in the same area). Her friends are borrowing more, but from what she says, not many of them have jobs -- she's one of the few who works. Even in the summer months, many of them aren't working. They do not seem to have the concept of "borrowing is bad" that we had back in the 80s.
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Me: Graduated from college in 2005, no SL debt. (extremely privileged by generous parents, and promise not to take that for granted)
Wife: Took out around 63k between 2004 and 2008 for undergrad and masters. (in 1999, her parents spent her college fund on a wood burning stove due to fear of Y2K)
2009: 65k (a few of her deferments still accumulated interest)
2011: 60k
Now: around 48k
4-5 years from now: $0
MMM and all of you on the Forum have given us the ultimate motivation to knock 'em out as soon as possible.
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2007, no debt from a combination of going to state university, working part time jobs the entire time, and parents contributing as well.
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Undergrad - 2003 - $0 (parents paid as long as I lived at home and kept my job)
Graduate school - 2009 - $37k - now $0 (paid off after DH's $15k) - kept about $10k of this as our "emergency fund" which was kind of dumb but we weren't sure when we'd be able to get jobs so we started paying back aggressively once we landed full-time work
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Dh 1994 no debt- he had pell grant and worked part time throughout college.
Me-1997 no debt thanks to parents saving and paying for it.
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B.A., 1990, $10k (other costs covered by my mom). Ph.D., 1997, $0K. Paid off the u'grad loans while in grad school.
If you want actual data, not just message board anecdotes, on the topic, you might look here: http://www.newyorkfed.org/newsevents/mediaadvisory/2013/Lee022813.pdf , or here: http://projectonstudentdebt.org/state_by_state-data.php , or perhaps see if you can access the data collected and licensed here:
http://www.petersonsdata.com/
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2002 - $0 debt
I applied for and received a number of scholarships my senior year of high school. The majority of the programs deposited the money directly into my account at university. Since I already received full tuition, room, board, and a stipend at my school, the resulting positive balance in my account turned into a lovely check that I would deposit into my personal accounts every semester.
As I wound up working all four years, I never touched this "school money."
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2012: finished with a Masters degree and 0 debt, thanks to generous parents, some odd jobs, and starting school when tuition rates were still £3,000 and some change per year in the UK.
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2005: $12.5k.
My sister-
2012 (Physical Therapist) - $115k.
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2006 - undergrad 0 debt. my parents paid out of pocket and incurred 0 debt
2012 - graduate school - 0 debt, my company paid for it and i owe them 2 years before i can leave (which i don't plan on ever doing)
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I graduated 2004, hubs in 2003. We married in 2004 (before I graduated) so these numbers are combined.
Student loans: $12,500
Credit cards: $13,000
I'm proud to say all of that is loooong gone. :-)
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Graduated with BA in 2002, $17,000 in student loans--paid back in 18 months. Attended 5 graduate classes in 2006-2007, did not graduate (moved out of state, married and had kid), ended up with $18,500 in loans, with $12,500 still to pay back.
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Myself: 2007 - 0 undergrad
My Wife: 2008 - 0 undergrad, gradschool 2012 ~29k (currently down to 6k remaining)
My father had a nice 529 plan for me that had a little left in it at the end.
My wife had her parents cover a bunch, and had some scholarships for a few things while in undergrad. For gradschool she took out the SLs before we got married, and finished up her schooling just after we got married. Been crushing the debt as hard as we can.
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2008 - $0
Grad school - pay as I go, 1 class per semester. Paying cash, so no debt.
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2010: a little over 70K for double major BS and MA. not really chipping away at it since I am currently planning on using PSLF in 2020.
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My sister-
2012 (Physical Therapist) - $115k.
College fees seem to be getting out of hand. This is ridiculous. I sure hope this doesn't become the norm.
Mine :
Graduated in 2001 : Parents paid $400 in college fees altogether (state college); scholarship covered the rest.
Yes, I'm old too....
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1994 - $0 student loans. Thanks mom and dad!
Also, $8k credit card debt, all facepunchy. It could have been much, much worse. It was high enough to feel like an emergency for a 22 year old back then, but low enough that I could get it taken care of.
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1981, 1 class short of a masters, $0.
spouse: 2000, phd, $8000.
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I went later in life. Graduated 2004, $19k in SL's... paid off in 2007.
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BS: 2000
MA: 2005
Had 42ish in total student loan debt. Still paying 205/mo.
Wife had 10-15ish in total student loan debt.
A 2005 BA grad; 2011 Master's.
Master's = $0. She got a job at a university that had deeply reduced tuition for employees to pay it off.
Her monthly bill is 140ish.
Both of us are locked in at 3.25%.
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1981, $0
combination of parents + summer internships (in engineering)
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1990, BS, College of Engineering - U of Illinois, $0 (Thanks, Dad.)
Dad owned his own business and in a no-doubt illegal tax dodging move, put me on his payroll as a salaried employee who just coincidentally earned roughly annual tuition + fees + room + board.
I did occasionally do a bit of work for the company a few times a year but certainly nothing worth as much as I got paid.
Wife - BS Math/English, + MBA, finally completed 2008 or so, $100,000+ in student loans. We keep our finances fairly separate because we have very different cash management styles so I'm not entirely sure to be honest.
[Edited to add wife.]
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Me--2001: $0 Debt (scholarships, summer jobs, and working as an RA senior year)
Husband--2001: $0 Debt (parents and part-time job)
*Husband's parents also bought us a new car as a graduation present. It's been the only vehicle we have owned during our marriage. Starting out married life at age 22 with only needing to pay for rent, utilities, groceries, and gas made having a high savings rate possible (and made the decision for me to stay home with babies an easy one). We are really grateful and try to tell them so every now and then--they always brush it off, but I think they do like hearing it.
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2008 - $0.
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Me: 2009 Undergrad ~20k 2010 Grad was another 40k for a total around 60k
Wife: 2010 $160k OMGWTF?!?! for 4 years of undergrad?!?! *now-mustachian wife reaches back in time and face punches her earlier self*
Fortunately we just got down under 100k of student loan debt between the 2 of us last month and broke $0 of net worth this month. We both have realized that the reason for those decisions when we were in school was due to lack of financial education and plan to teach our kids very differently than our parents taught us!
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Fortunately we just got down under 100k of student loan debt between the 2 of us last month and broke $0 of net worth this month. We both have realized that the reason for those decisions when we were in school was due to lack of financial education and plan to teach our kids very differently than our parents taught us!
Great job! I too will be stopping the cycle of debt and I'm starting with my little sister who will be heading to college in a few years. I don't care what I have to do, she won't be taking out any student loans.
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2004:
- self - 5k for a BA in Political Science (mostly fees - tuition was covered in scholarship)
- spouse 15k for BA in Communications and a BA in Public Relations
- Loans were consolidated at 2.75% interest for 20 years. Payment of approx $110/mo
2007
- self - 5k for Masters in Public Policy (Again for fees, had tuition and married student housing covered by fellowship)
- paid off by 2010 (at 7% it was worth paying ahead)
Masters was worth it- went from $8.50/hr before to $17/hr after
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Apparently I got dumber the older I got...
2000: BA in reading books/er...literature - $0 (scholarships, grants, the government)
2007: JD - $170K. I have no excuses. Current balance is $148K. Paying around $1100/month now, but that is a recent development (thanks MMM!) Previously used up three years of deferment on the federal loans (90K) so those basically haven't moved at all. On IBR now, paying interest only.
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1999 If I recall... then again that was just HS :) so $0 debt
Then right to the workforce!
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2010: ~$25k to parents, now at ~$20k. Full tuition scholarship all 4 years at a small private tech school. I worked from fall sophomore year onwards (earliest I could); paid $15k worth in room&board myself, in addition to earning groceries/laundry/misc spending money. Living on-campus was worth it; couldn't have held down those jobs without it. :)
Still working on the PhD, but getting paid for it. So far.
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B.S. 2007 - $0 (Thanks to my parents and a couple small scholarships)
M.S. 2008 - $0 (Thanks to my parents or an inheritance from my grandmother)
My parents paid my tuition and gave me $500/mo. for expenses during the school year. I had paid internships every summer and graduated with several thousand dollars in a savings account. My husband had a similar set-up. He was better at spending, but he still didn't have any debt.
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1999 BS $0 - scholarship early on, then worked full time and they paid 100%.
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2006: $0 debt (actually +$20k in savings :) )
My tuition fees and a couple of years of living expenses were paid for by scholarships. I was truly blessed to be eligible for a disability-related weekly benefit of about $250 a week that covered living expenses with some left over, and my amazing parents (who had money saved to pay for my tuition, but then I covered it all with my scholarships) generously gave me $100 a week, which I saved.
I live in NZ, so benefits and tuition fees are different from the US. The interest on our student loans is also written off by the Govt.
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Undergrad 2007: Zero debt
Grad school 2009: Zero debt
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2001- 16K undergrad Forestry
2006- +6 masters - geography
22k all up
All gone as of 2012
it was worth it- wouldn't be in my current position without the masters, I could have worked more and spent less though.
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Undergrad 2010: ~$28,000, plus ~$3,000 owed to parents for apartment deposits that I would have otherwise had to take as a loan
I had a decent scholarship to a private engineering school that was very strong at computer science & engineering. My parents agreed to pay about as much as state school would cost. Fortunately, I graduated into a booming market for computer engineers, and thus I was able to pay off the loans in a year and a half, slightly beyond my goal of one year due to a cross-country bike tour and a second cross-country move.
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Undergrad 2006, no debt (thanks, mom and dad!)
Grad school 2008, no debt (thanks, federal government scholarship!)
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BA - 2005 - $0 debt. (Parental help + working + some car insurance accident money). Canadian, so my yearly tuition and books averaged to about $4000.
MSc. - 2008 -$20,000 debt. (Parental help + scholarship money + me going into debt). Done at an Ivy in the U.S. Accelerated masters for one year. The total bill, including living costs, was 4x more than this. I was on the hook for 25%.
I've paid off the above debt. Now debt-free. Until I get a mortgage.
A lot to be grateful for. I didn't get the free ride/silver spoon like some people, but I wasn't 100% on my own either.
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2011: 0$/€ - Mechanical Engineering something between undergrad and grad (It's a german Dipl.-Ing(FH))
Education is quite cheap in Germany - We pay for it with our high(er) taxes, I assume.
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2009 BS University of Illinois (in-state), ~35k
2010 MS Florida State University (out-of-state), ~50k
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2103 - $0, thanks to scholarships, jobs, and generous parents the first couple years
Guys! I found a time traveler! We're on to you, Russ.
I didn't graduate, so I don't have anything else to really contribute. :) 0 college debt though!
I wonder how he got the bicycle up to 88 Miles and Hour?
2013 - $5000 here thanks to generosity, scholarships, working all four years, etc.
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BSc - 2006 - $0 - Parents payed half. I covered my half by a merit scholarship covering "need" (Thanks, Michael Bloomberg!), graduating a year early, and summer internships.
MSc - 2008 - $0 - Thanks, government of Denmark (though I paid you back and more in crazy tax rates after graduating)
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2008- zero
One time I added up everything my parents paid for between high school and college graduation and it was about $25k, at a cost to them of about $15k after tax breaks. Since I graduated with $11k in savings and would have done things a little differently if I was entirely on my own, I think I would have had a net worth very close to zero at college graduation without my parents.
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Okay, I'm going to swing the pendulum WAY in the other direction:
Me
1994 - BS, BA - Paid for by mom and dad
1997 - J.D. - $90k Student Loans - worked throughout law school to offset living expenses, etc.
1999 - LL.M. - $30k Student Loans - worked throughout to offset living expenses
(What is frightening is that I qualified for about $150k in loans. My classmates were maxing out their loans and living it up.)
Total Loans: $110k
Balance Today: $22k
Husband
1995 - BBA - Paid for by his parents
2008 - MSA - $55k Student Loans
Total Loans: $55k
Balance Today: $45k
Total Family Student Loans Taken Out: $165k
Total Balance Today: $67k
We are definitely of the slow changing variety of Mustachian convert vs. the Immediate 180. We have a pretty good net worth (hope to hit $500k by the end of the year), but it's all tied up in 401ks, IRAs and home equity. We plan on downsizing our house, paying off the SLs with the proceeds and reducing our monthly expenses while increasing our savings rate and building our taxable stash.
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1990: Bachelors $10,000; private college, paid off debt in 3 years
1995: Masters $0 paid cash and worked full time
2005: PhD $0 paid cash and worked full time
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BS, 2007: $0. I attended a state school that offered me a generous merit scholarship, supplemented by summer income from software development internships. I even maxed out my Roth IRA senior year (and every year since).
MS, 2009: $0. I had a teaching assistantship that covered tuition and paid a monthly stipend to cover living expenses. After I discovered that teaching assistants were eligible for the university's 403(b) plan, I diverted about 90% of my stipend into that and mostly lived off of my savings from summer internships.
All told, I graduated with no student debt and about $40k in savings. It could have been a lot worse. For both degrees I was accepted into other schools with good reputations in my field, but they would have made me pay full sticker price (or close to it). I took the cheaper option in both cases, lived a frugal lifestyle throughout, and have no regrets about it.
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B.A. 1994 - $0 (generous parents, cheap but good state school, always worked around 20 hours a week)
M.A. 2000 - $0 in loans (had a fellowship) but $2500 or so in cc debt, paid off in a few months after finding gainful employment
M.A. 2004 - $14k in loans, just finished paying those off this summer.
The loans for the second M.A. weren't strictly necessary - I had been paying cash, but I decided I wanted to graduate much faster than my cash flow would allow. At that time the job market in my field was quite favorable, and I was looking at making $25k without the degree vs. about $45k with, so taking on the debt seemed worth it. I don't regret it.
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Its not uncommon to come out with $50,000 plus student loans in NZ as I did but professional courses can be over $100,000.
(A bit of a humble brag but) student loans in NZ are provided by the government and are interest free while you live in NZ. You automatically pay 12% gross off each pay check.
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1981, $0
combination of parents + summer internships (in engineering)
Ditto.
I lived at my parent's and paid as I went for an engineering degree at a state school with money earned during summer internships and Christmas holiday side jobs.
I think I had about $10K when I graduated and was able to buy a car and some furniture when I got my first job out of school.
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1981, $0
combination of parents + summer internships (in engineering)
Ditto.
I lived at my parent's and paid as I went for an engineering degree at a state school with money earned during summer internships and Christmas holiday side jobs.
I think I had about $10K when I graduated and was able to buy a car and some furniture when I got my first job out of school.
Oh and the date was 1986 for the BSCE and the $10K was net worth, not debt.
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Three degrees in music (BM, 1981; MM, 1983; DMA, 1994), $0 debt. All state schools, full scholarship for the doctorate, frugal living throughout. Parents paid tuition when necessary, but it was very cheap back then. The biggest single expense was my instrument, which my parents bought for me with a home equity loan (very nice of them to do it). But I think I made up for it by not costing them very much otherwise, in general, plus the instrument appreciated in value (unlike, say, a car, which a lot of parents buy for their kids). TBH, I don't remember a lot of financial details of the earlier years because I was oblivious, but going to college then was a lot simpler and less expensive than it is now.
Then there's the (un)marketability of my degrees, but that's another story ...
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High school in 2005- Free..........N/W 110k i got lucky
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Me: 2005 - 18k student loans (merit/need based scholarships were the only assistance I got and I worked for those too, no parental assistance and lived half a state away from home)
DH: 2005 - 0 (parents had invested in a program that paid full tuition instate while that program was reasonably priced)
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Graduated in 2004 with about $12k in debt. Would have been more but somewhere in my first year of (expensive and only partially scholarshipped) year of university I started crunching some numbers and decided a hasty transfer back to the cheap and excellent state school was in order. Thanks to low tuition, parental help, full-time summer work, and some odd jobs during the school year, I managed to keep it under control overall. Paid the last of it off in 2008 (while in grad school and earning <$30k/yr).
No debt from my graduate degrees, phew!
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long time lurker but i feel called upon to make everyone feel better.
BA: 2000 - $13k (paid off last year)
Med school 2007 - $210k - includes CC used to pay for the last year and living expenses.
By end of residency 2010 - $240k (variable rate had gone up to 8.5%!!!)
Now: 85 k (rate down to 3%)
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2103 - $0, thanks to scholarships, jobs, and generous parents the first couple years
Guys! I found a time traveler! We're on to you, Russ.
I didn't graduate, so I don't have anything else to really contribute. :) 0 college debt though!
I wonder how he got the bicycle up to 88 Miles and Hour?
ha, 4 years of engineering school and I still can't numbers!
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2008 and roughly $25K, but just wrote a check for the balance!
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2103 - $0, thanks to scholarships, jobs, and generous parents the first couple years
Guys! I found a time traveler! We're on to you, Russ.
I didn't graduate, so I don't have anything else to really contribute. :) 0 college debt though!
I wonder how he got the bicycle up to 88 Miles and Hour?
ha, 4 years of engineering school and I still can't numbers!
What engineer works with numbers? Numbers are for accountants. (I jest. But it is significantly about formulas. Which use letters.)
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I'm an autodidact. I've purchased my share of books over the years, but I've never had to take out any loans for them.
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2006 JD: 180,000
Down to 48,000
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Total Cost: $94,000
Remaining Obligation: $5,405
Breakdown
- First Year of School (left here): $15,000
- Second Stop (received AS): ~$4,000
- Final Choice (unfinished BS): ~$75,000
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2010. $22k course fees, $3k credit card... Currently $0.
I earned enough money I could have paid my course fees instead of taking the government sponsored (low interest) loan. Instead I did semester abroad and traveled internationally each summer holiday. It might not have been the smartest thing to do, but I don't really regret it. If I had the chance for a do-over I would have still done the travel but done it slightly cheaper, and worked more. (I didn't work very much in the last two years of University and while I had fun hanging out with friends, I could have worked an extra 10 hours per week, 9 months of year and pulled in >$10k by doing so which I should have paid towards the course. I still would have had time for friends). The life experiences were worth graduating with debt, but I wish I'd graduated with say $10k of debt not $25K by working a little harder and spending a little less.
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2014 - $68,000
BS - Information Systems
Includes a semester abroad that was ~$6,000 more than a semester at home.
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1982. $0 debt. University was nearly free back in those days (compulsory fees <$500/year). So there was only costs like textbooks and equipment, and living expenses. Paid for by part-time work and living at home with parents who generously helped out. A student's life could be much simpler back then: no mobile phone, internet, laptop, iPad etc. Essentials were enough coffee and beer money. Even coffee was simpler and cheaper: it was either black or white, and in some places could be had for free.
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BA '91 -- $0 Thanks to wonderful parents who kept paying tuition/ books/ fees even after I foolishly got married in sophomore year.
MA '98 -- $0. Fellowship
JD '11 -- $156,000 at either 6.8 or 7.6%.
Looks like I win the prize (sarcasm). Sigh. At least I have a good job with growth potential.
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2010 - 0$
My grandparents were very wealthy and mustachian and were able to give each grandchild (7 of us) 40,000 (10k a year for 4 years) for school of some sort. With that and some summer jobs I was able to cover school. My grandparents contribution was able to cover all of my tuition and most of my living expenses. Summer jobs went to savings and a few beers.
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2001 (college): Approximately $50K
2007 (JD & M.Bioethics): Approximately $180K after adding on interest while in school
DH:
1997: Approximately $15K? I think
2005: Nothing, he was paid for his Ph.D, however paltry a sum
I don't regret any of it. Wouldn't have met my husband if I hadn't gone to college (we met on a young alum sports team post-college, actually post-grad school). My college has a strong alum network, which is helpful for job, life, friends, etc. Others in the industry tell me it's the strongest they know. You get more than a piece of paper for your ~$250K. That said, I do wish I had cut out one quarter and worked instead my junior spring, when I had housing the college couldn't take away.
Also wouldn't have gotten the $170K salary & bonus post-law school which let me break even on educational debts after a little more than two years, if I hadn't gone to my law school or a similar one. And actually, a similar caliber school would have meant no second degree and thus wouldn't have gotten my second job post grad school, so I pretty much needed my exact school. :)
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BA 2005: $0
JD 2009: $100K <-- Paid off in March of 2013
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BA 1999, JD 2002, $0 (parents paid)
Relative who graduated with JD in 2009 - $200K. They are hoping to rely on the public service loan repayment program - only 9 more years (didn't find a job until 2012).
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2004 - €25k in debt after obtaining my MSc in Computer Science.
Even though university tuition is pretty low in The Netherlands, I had to pay for housing, food, clothes and (a lot of) beer. No regrets about any of these investments. Its rewards are a pretty decent career so far and lots of great memories.
At the moment there's less than €4k left, looking at paying it off somewhere next year. Interest is pretty low (2,39%) so I'm not really in a hurry, although I would like to see it gone altogether and be able to do something more useful with the €150 I now spend in monthly repayments.
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I graduated in 2011 with no student debt. I received grants/scholarships and worked full time to pay the difference. I attended community college the first 2 years and then transferred to a local state college. The tuition there was only $10 more per credit hour!
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Should graduate this year so 2013. 10k in debt.
I've been in college for 8 years now though and working my way through slowly. I would have higher debt but I've been paying it off for two years now and haven't added any new.
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2000 BA, $0 in debt.
My parents covered the first year. I worked part time (and full time during summer) the last two years.
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1976. 0 debt (not hard when "tuition" was about $150. a semester for in-state students)
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I graduated from a certificate program in 2012 with 4500$ in loans (1500$ to my mom) Right now I have 1200$ left to pay off. Almost there
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2005 - $65k for Masters degree and some undergrad. I was very stupid and didn't start getting serious about paying them off until last year. In less than a year and a half, I now have just over $30k left! Hopefully I will be done with them by the end of next year.
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(Self) 2011 - $5000 - paid off in 1 year after repayment started
BS- Accounting
(Wife) 2013 - $21000*
BS - Printing Management
*She had an unsubsidized loan at a balance on $4500, which is why I forgone to repay my loan in full at graduation and paid that higher interest loan off in full first. Also I know her parents took out a plus loan her first year at the university, but I am not sure in the amount that they financed.
I feel that we are both fortunate to have had full time jobs since graduation, but that doesn't seem to be the norm for same year graduates.
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I graduated with my BS in 2012 with $0 in debt.
And am working on my MBA now with $0 in debt.
I paid out of pocket for my BS and have tuition reimbursement from my company for my MBA.
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Me: 2001, BA - English, $10,000 in debt.
Wife: 2000, BA - Art
2001, New York teaching cert
2003 (or '04?), MA - Interdisciplinary studies (Translation: We don't have a post-grad Art program, but pay us and we'll give you a piece of paper so you can keep teaching in NY.)
$20,000-ish in debt. Went private to get the teaching cert as was only program in the area... contributed significantly to the debt total, that.
We had an "accidentally mustachian moment" about a year into my repayment. I wrote a check for $160.37 instead of $160.73 and the lender invoked their right to raise my rate as a delinquent payer on the $0.36. We gathered our pennies and paid the bastards off. Sometimes life makes good decisions for you, lol.
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I wrote a check for $160.37 instead of $160.73 and the lender invoked their right to raise my rate as a delinquent payer on the $0.36. We gathered our pennies and paid the bastards off. Sometimes life makes good decisions for you, lol.
Scum.. I hope they didn't get to fleece you. God knows they tried. If you still had that debt, i'd start a collection on this blog and contribute $50 to it to help you pay those b*****s off.
"better the world with a song, better the world with a blow in the teeth of the wrong"
We had a lot of poetry in school. Hated it then... miss it now. A few lines did stick in my head.
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2012 - $27,000
Electrical Engineering
Paid off as of July 2013! :)
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2007 - $25,000 student loans, $18,000 credit card debt in college
I shuffled the CCs around 0% offers for the last 5 years. I only just had my hair-on-fire epiphany last month when I found MMM!
I will pay off CCs in 12 months. Student loans in the 2 years after that.
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Graduated law school in 1994, with about $80K in student loan debt (had no undergrad debt thanks to an academic scholarship and part-time work). Still have about $26K, which I'm on schedule to pay off in the next 5 years, and hoping to be FI about 3 years after that.
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2008 - around $8000.
My parents wanted me to have a little skin in the game, so they insisted that I take out a small loan each year to cover some. I could have knocked them out ages ago, but in my world pre-MMM making more than minimum payments just wasn't a thing I did. I'm taking a divide an conquer approach and paying down the debt while also starting to invest, but my loans and my husbands should be gone soon.
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2007 Undergraduate: $40,000 total
2009 Masters: $60,000 total
I was a crazy over-spender. I would max out credit cards, then take out student loans to pay them off, then do that again. One year after graduating undergrad, I changed my ways, and paid off all of my other debt. Now I am working on the student loan debt.
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B.A. May 2012 - $65,000
I wish I would have known the things I know now before I went to college and not gotten myself into this hole. On the bright side though, I'm down to $54,000 in debt and have gone from < $100 in cash and investments to about $15,000.
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I graduated college in 2003 with $18k in student loans and $12k in credit card debt. I made a conscious decision to switch schools after my freshman year to save a lot of money, and that combined with some help from dad kept my loans to a little more than half of the cost of my education.
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Finished my BA in 2006, my first master's in 2008 and my second master's in 2011.
No debt, education in Holland is cheap compared to the US: 2000-2500 per year (2 semesters). We don't pay per course or per credit. We just pay a fixed tuition fee and we can take as many courses as we like.
My degrees line up in years almost exactly with yours. However, since I live in the USA my education cost me a lot. Undergrad = $20,000, first grad degree = free, second grad degree= $30,000.
Starting with a total around $50,000 I am now down to $4,500 thanks to finding resources like MMM!
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BS 2008 - $0
DVM 2012 - $28,173
I was fortunate that my parents had saved enough to pay for an in-state degree, but I had a full scholarship for undergrad. I also graduated a year early and the university applied my last year of undergrad scholarship money towards the first year of vet school. The money my parents had saved went a long way towards covering tuition and living expenses in vet school, and I was able to take only subsidized federal loans for the remainder. It was still a lot of money to pay back, but much, much better than the ~$140,000 average student loan debt for my profession
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For me+Mrs. RootofGood:
Undergrad: $25k ish
Juris Doctor: another $110kish
Part of a Masters - 9k?? no clue really
Right now we owe a combined ~$103,000 or so.
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1997 - BA - $0 I paid for my undergrad through scholarships and working. My parents helped by paying for plane tickets twice a year (WA to OH) and for odd phone bills. Though they earned little and I never expected them to pay, I did receive half tuition three years and full tuition paid my senior year due to a sister school agreement, so yeah, they really did help.
2003 - MLIS - $4-6K, borrowed from my sister and parents to finish my master's and paid them back the next year
My husband graduated in 2000 with a BA and had about $15K in debt when we married in 2004. We paid it off a little over a year later. He just started a master's program, and it should be paid for with his GI benefits, if the government decides to start functioning again.
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2010: $0.00 - My parents and I worked our asses off over the 48 months of my 4-year college payment plan.
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I graduated in 2009, with a total debt of ~$210,000 (including a car loan).
I have a BS, MA, and JD, but the MA was almost free. I worked part-time all through school, went to a great public school for undergrad, had some assistance from my parents in undergrad, and had merit scholarships throughout undergrad and graduate school, but the JD really added to the balance. The tuition increase while I was in law school was absurd.
I still consider it worth it, because the law school you went to can really affect your career. It certainly has affected mine.
I'm down to ~$40k in debt, which is being paid back on a 25-year term because it is all sub 2.3%. I just celebrated my net worth exceeding $100,000 this past Friday, and am saving ~75% of my takehome pay. I'm pretty happy with how things are going, and am pleased with the value of my degrees, even if they seem super expensive at first glance.
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2012 - $55k
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ChemE undergrad 2010 - $0 (scholarship that covered tuition, books, housing, and some food, the rest my parents paid for)
Environmental Eng master's 2012 - $0 (I'm a RA)
Currently doing my PhD and that will be $0 (I'm still a RA)
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Me: 40k for an undergraduate degree and a full scholarship to my master's degree.
Husband: Parents paid his way.
In three years, I've paid off half my debt and hoping to accelerate it.
I have an RESP for my daughter and plan on making sure she doesn't go into debt for school.
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2010 with no debt. I had enough left over money (mostly grants from my last year) for my girlfriend and I to go backpacking in Costa Rica and Nicaragua for a month after I graduated! Frugality kicks ass!
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Finished my BA in 2006, my first master's in 2008 and my second master's in 2011.
No debt, education in Holland is cheap compared to the US: 2000-2500 per year (2 semesters). We don't pay per course or per credit. We just pay a fixed tuition fee and we can take as many courses as we like.
My degrees line up in years almost exactly with yours. However, since I live in the USA my education cost me a lot. Undergrad = $20,000, first grad degree = free, second grad degree= $30,000.
Starting with a total around $50,000 I am now down to $4,500 thanks to finding resources like MMM!
Good for you! It's a shame education is so expensive. I don't think it needs to be...
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Maths honours + education degree = $23,000 (Australian).
Graduate from teaching on about a week :-P
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Me: 2001 $30k B.arch & M.arch
Hubs: 1996 $0 (gi bill)
& 2005 $120k JD
Total: $150k
Now: $88k