<p>I really want to be an expert in a science related field and spend my life doing research and helping the world (aka fascinating myself and becoming famous :b jk). Assume that I pay for most of my education in loans, how much debt would I end up with, typically?</p>
<p>You don’t have to end up with any debt. Not everyone who goes to school ends up with school loans. It is possible to work your way through school. Or take lots of AP and CLEP/DANTES exams and then transfer those credits to a four year college so that you can finish your undergraduate degree in much less time. Look for scholarships. </p>
<p>The range of cost for a four year degree is enormous. How can anyone know how much debt is usual. I don’t think there is a ‘usual’ amount.</p>
<p>If you want to help the world and do not become famous, you can’t afford to have any debt for education. If you are a top student you could get a full merit scholarship at lower tier schools, and probably have your graduate school paid for also. Do some research on how much money you could possibly make in doing research (50, 75, 100?), then assume you may be taking home 65%-60% pay, deduct housing cost, utilities, car payment, car/house/health insurances, food, clothing, entertainment. What you have left over, you could afford to pay your student loan.</p>
<p>Many science PhD programs have enough funding that you need not take on any debt in grad school (depending on your field and where you choose to go).
If you can get through undergrad on merit scholarships/what your parents can help with/ what you can pay for with work - it’s possible to get through it with not much debt.</p>
<p>No more than is absolutely essential, have to remember that much of the student debt in this country is placed under terms incredibly disadvantageous to student and family borrowers. </p>
<p>And your intention to help the world via research is admirable. But might talk to some profs and see if they will let the barriers down. If they do many will tell you that student debts (especially for terminal degrees) were one of the factors which led many of them away from idealistic career paths. The frightening numbers and idealism could not be reconciled. For example, many of the researchers in academe are very closely tied to research which is directed to either the military or corporate ends. That’s where the money derives. Others remain as teaching faculty because it is a relatively steady income (except for those lost souls adjuncting) and they dare not move out of because of the pressure of student debts. </p>
<p>Try to keep that idealism, but temper it with some pragmatic knowledge of how academe and academic funding actually works. And as such take the pitch from either academic recruiters or the less than truthful profs as entertainment and not writ. </p>
<p>So be very careful in acquiring any student debt…</p>
<p>In the scientific fields, if you aren’t a good enough candidate to receive full funding for your graduate studies, you probably aren’t a good enough candidate to get a job in academia afterwards. In other words, if you don’t get full support (usually in a combination of tuition and fee waivers, and teaching and/or research assistantships) when you apply to grad schools, don’t go. It truly is as simple as that. Other than the case of a joint M.D. Ph.D. program (where the debt would be for the M.D. part of it) there is no reason whatsoever for a Ph.D. in the sciences to graduate with one cent of grad school debt.</p>
<p>There are some scholarships designed for science, math kids. Try [SMART</a> - About SMART](<a href=“Page not found”>Page not found)</p>
<p>In addition to normal grants/loans.</p>