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I think the statistics sound nice and I think that earning a degree for much less than 150k is great! I'm just trying to figure out how much I'd have to be earn

I think the statistics sound nice and I think that earning a degree for much less than 150k is great! I'm just trying to figure out how much I'd have to be earning monthly for me to be okay spending 1k/mo paying something back for a dozen years. I think that I'd have to be earning 6k and live in a place where rent is super cheap. In those 12.5 years, I'd much rather be saving as much as I could, investing in property, stocks, business, anything...but that 1k a month is a lot and a degree doesn't guarentee that I'm going to be able to find a job that makes it comfortable for me to pay that sort of debt off.

dahart 7y ago
I’d recommend forgetting your ballpark estimates, they’re pretty far away from what’s possible, they’re much closer to worst case than best. It’s probably not going to take 12 years. I’d also recommend going to college only if you want to, not purely for money, because it’ll help you get into work you aspire toward, or because you’re curious and love to learn. Talk to the school you’re interested in; if your income is low they offer all kinds of assistance, not just loans. FWIW, I took student loans to pay my 4 year degree. I too thought it was going to take forever to pay off. Turns out it didn’t, I had them paid off in less than 4 years, after deferring them for a couple of years to do a masters. I do have a wish list for our country to make education better and more accessible and less scary to people like you who want to go but worry about the finances. In the mean time, I hope you find a way.
- jessehorne 7y ago
  I might just do that and see what they have to offer. I am curious and I love to learn. I have a strong desire to pursue higher education. I just end up doing that in my spare time, these days. Which is great! But I don't get the degree from it.
Gunax 7y ago
At some point, it seems the cost of a degree pales to any loss in income--unless you plan to work fulltime while attending school. When I was 19, quitting my pizza delivery job to attend school may have made financial sense. But who would leave at 24, or 29 to do the same?

dahart 7y ago

I’d recommend forgetting your ballpark estimates, they’re pretty far away from what’s possible, they’re much closer to worst case than best. It’s probably not going to take 12 years. I’d also recommend going to college only if you want to, not purely for money, because it’ll help you get into work you aspire toward, or because you’re curious and love to learn. Talk to the school you’re interested in; if your income is low they offer all kinds of assistance, not just loans. FWIW, I took student loans to pay my 4 year degree. I too thought it was going to take forever to pay off. Turns out it didn’t, I had them paid off in less than 4 years, after deferring them for a couple of years to do a masters. I do have a wish list for our country to make education better and more accessible and less scary to people like you who want to go but worry about the finances. In the mean time, I hope you find a way.

jessehorne 7y ago
I might just do that and see what they have to offer. I am curious and I love to learn. I have a strong desire to pursue higher education. I just end up doing that in my spare time, these days. Which is great! But I don't get the degree from it.

Gunax 7y ago

At some point, it seems the cost of a degree pales to any loss in income--unless you plan to work fulltime while attending school. When I was 19, quitting my pizza delivery job to attend school may have made financial sense. But who would leave at 24, or 29 to do the same?