<p>I am going to reword my post as the fixation on the recommended salary (which i did not pull out of the air but which were based finaid.org - a source I trust) seems to detract from the point of my message which is that students need to receive better counselling so that they do not somehow end up with $160k+ in debt and think that their payments will only be $600 a month.</p>
<p>There is an article on cnn.com about students that flee the country permanently because of their student debts. The main student in the story had a masters in Music and a student loan of $160,000 when he graduated. he thought he would be able manage the payments because he figured they would be $600 a month. $600 a month for a $160K loan!!! Perhaps the very last class of HS or the very first of college needs to be a mandatory one on understanding basic finances. and no student should be allowed to take out any student loan without thorough counseling - not the online thing that they do where they say they understand they have to repay it but one where someone spells out loudly and clearly</p>
<p>THE REPAYMENTS ON AN 8% $160,000 LOAN WILL BE AT LEAST $2,000 A MONTH EVERY MONTH FOR 10 YEARS. THIS WILL BE AN ENORMOUS WEIGHT AROUND YOUR NECK UNTIL YOU ARE IN YOUR 30s AND POSSIBLY LONGER. THESE REPAYMENTS WILL BE DUE AT THIS LEVEL ALMOST AS SOON AS YOU GRADUATE COLLEGE SO UNLESS YOU START YOUR WORKING LIFE WITH A VERY HIGH SALARY YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO AFFORD TO BUY OR RENT A DECENT HOME, BUY A CAR, GET MARRIED, HAVE A FAMILY, GO ON VACATION, OR POSSIBLY EAT. OVER 10 YEARS YOU WILL PAY NEARLY $73,OOO IN INTEREST ON THIS LOAN MAKING YOUR TOTAL REPAYMENTS @ $233,000.</p>
<p>According to the loan calculator at finaid.com the recommended annual income to comfortably make these loan repayments is around $233,000. This is based on an assumption
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