How much debt is worth it?

BrownAlumParent
Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:13:00 +0000

I think this is actually reasonable if this is the loan that you will be assuming, and are:

1. not expecting to get out and live high on the hog. If you are prudent, loan payments should be manageable.

2. qualify for a relatively low interest loan.

3. Work hard. I know that sounds obvious, but too many students think they are going to end up in some fab job, and then don’t apply themselves etc. and downslide into less productive futures. (not to disparage wonderful careers such as teaching etc, but teaching middle school PE somewhere is not going to make those loans reasonable. Unless you structure your goals to qualify for a loan forgiveness program, which even if planning to go into IB is not necessarily a bad option)

4. Work hard also in terms of finding jobs in summer, and reasonable hours of ones during the school year, hopefully at good pay rates. The more you can earn now, the less loan money you will need. Back long ago, I was fortunate to be an “ahead of the curve computer nerd” and leveraged that into summer jobs that paid 5-10x per hour what my friends made. I would trade payment of plane tickets home for holidays for babysitting for rich families for their vacations. And I actually liked my easy Brown jobs. My total personal college debt was about that amount (not adjusted for inflation but in real 1980’s $ ) (including grad school) and it was very manageable. By living frugally (no credit card debt, cheap very old cars etc.) I actually paid it off early.
But, it all comes down to what is important to you, and this is just my opinion. If you are still very conflicted, maybe you and your parents could figure out if you have a close family friend, relative who is financially savvy who you can get some words of personal wisdom from, with knowing the family and personal situation better.
One other thought: each year is just that. If this feels like the wrong decision after a year, etc, I would imagine it would be easier to transfer back to state school, or take a year off to work etc. from Brown, than have regrets the other direction.