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Is it worth it to take a student loan for an undergraduate degree?
lalithsai
1 replies7 threads New Member
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Replies to: Is it worth it to take a student loan for an undergraduate degree?
What are the alternatives? If you need the degree to get to the next stage of your life, then it is worth it.
Where are you going to get the student loan? Not a lot of options for international students.
Also I will only take that loan if I get into my reach university (NYU and 2 others), I thought of working part-time in my 2nd year might help with the expenses a bit
Is this a good idea? Up to you, but I think this is how students and parents get into a big financial hole.
In my opinion it is probably not worth taking a loan to attend university in the US for undergraduate studies.
I did take out a small loan to get a master's degree in an employable field at a top university in the US. I did think that was worth it. However, a master's takes a lot less time and therefore a lot less money than a bachelor's, and the difference between schools gets larger when you get to graduate school.
How large of a loan do you think you might need?
Do not expect to make enough money working to matter in terms of the total debt needed. Top US schools cost over $70,000 per year. Top US schools are academically very demanding, which implies that you need to spend the vast majority of your time studying and attending class. You will not be able to afford to spend much time working. At minimum wage, working 10 hours per week (which is probably as much as you should work), you are not going to make enough to leave even a noticeable dent in the total cost of attendance.
https://www.villagevoice.com/2011/11/09/nyu-students-debt-and-debtor/
Remember that you will need to pay $65K per year or ,a quarter of a million dollars. That does not include your medical insurance fee requirements, travel and incidentals (toiletries, entertainment, public transit).
Will you gain that kind of salary in your home country? Remember that if you are admitted to a US university, you are expected to return to your home country after you graduate. Immigration is difficult, if not, impossible.
You will need to repay that loan to someone.
https://www.ice.gov/sevis/practical-training