<p>In YOUR opinion, what’s a comfortable/reasonable amount of student loan debt to graduate with? Obviously it depends on your intended career field. </p>
<p>For instance for doctors, $100,000+ is a reasonable sum, whereas it’s not as lucrative for a teacher to accrue such debt, since their pay is largely uniform.</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but I think $100,000 in debt is too much for ANYONE, even a doctor.</p>
<p>And it does not depend on your intended career field. It would depend on the salary you get for your job, which is something you cannot predict. In fact, you can’t even predict if you will get a job. </p>
<p>Personally I think the stafford loans are all students should have to repay…about $20,000 total for the four years. Of course, if your family is willing to take on more debt, than that would be “comfortable” for them.</p>
<p>100K is not unreasonable for med school itself (and pretty common there) but totally unreasonable for premed.</p>
<p>Opinions anyone?</p>
<p>I think that becoming comfortable with <em>any</em> level of indebtedness isn’t a good thing. I would urge any student to think really carefully about the choice to take on debt. All of the reasons for choosing debt seem important at the time, but the bottom line is that taking on debt takes away some of your choices. </p>
<p>It’s like this: have you ever had a budget for a meal – say, you have a $10.00 bill in your pocket, or you want to stay under $100 for a date? That money creates a limit on what you choose to buy for that meal. If you have $10 to spend and you go to the sandwich shop on the corner, you can probably have anything on the menu, plus a drink, plus chips. If you have the same money and step into the upscale bistro, there may only be 1-2 things on the menu that you can afford. If it’s a date, well, you’ll be hoping your date doesn’t want to have the filet mignon if you’re at the four star steakhouse, if you know what I mean. If you took her to the little bistro, though, you can probably afford appetizers and dessert!</p>
<p>Taking on debt in college is like that. When it comes time to get a job, you’re going to be looking at that debt and it’s going to be one of the major factors in a lot of your decisions. What happens when you get offered your dream internship that will lead to the best position for you, but it doesn’t have a high enough price tag? When it comes to jobs, lifestyle, travel, do you really want to spend the next 10-20 years urging your date to have the chicken, because you talked yourself into that 80K in student loans? </p>
<p>When you leave college, or go to grad school, or make those choices, you want to feel like the world is open to you – you will feel excited about all the possibilities. But it’s so disappointing when you realize that some possibilities come with a price tag you can’t afford, because you already promised some of your resources away. </p>
<p>Choose not to be comfortable with debt. Try to avoid it, and minimize it when possible. Give your future self the gift of as many choices as possible, as unhampered as possible by the cruel restrictions of money.</p>
<p>I understand your point Trin. However, regardless of which college I attend, I’ll have to take on debt, as I will likely have to borrow to meet my family’s EFC (which is rather high, but doesn’t take into account a unique family financial situation). So for instance, I could pay full tuition at my state university (roughly $17-$18,000 a year with room/board included) and not feel content or perhaps take pay $20-$30,000 a year for a better education and overall a better environment. As of yet, I haven’t decided which course of action I’ll take.</p>
<p>If you are purchasing an appreciating asset, debt can be a good thing. For example, a home is an usually an appreciating asset. In the short term real estate may decrease in value, but in the long run there is almost always appreciation. Borrowing to buy a house is usually a good financial move if you don’t have to stretch too much to make the payments. i.e., if you are comfortable with the payments.</p>
<p>So is a college education an appreciating asset or not? It is supposed to be, but that depends upon the individual. In many cases, if not most cases, the borrower is counting on the value of a college degree to enable him or her to repay the loan. However, failing to obtain a degree diminishes the value of a college education, although Bill Gates might disagree. Taking six years to complete a degree significantly increases the cost of education without increasing the value of the degree.</p>