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A primary care physician will easily make at least $150,000/yr. If you assume $350,000 in student loans, that is no problem to pay off. Live off of a third of your salary and you will have your loans paid off in a few years.
Live off a third of $150K/yr and it might take 9 years, because about a third of salary will go to taxes and interest will accrue on the loan. It's doable in a major metropolitan area if one is very frugal and lives in a small apartment or shares housing.
1--There is no way of knowing how much you will borrow over the four years.
2--How would you feel if your college told you, "Hey, I know that you have your heart set on this major, but by the way, your gonna make sh*t for money with it!" You would have thought them to be rude, out of place, and offensive. Right? In your 18 year old mind you would have vowed to prove them wrong. Besides, this is America, someone would sue the school if they were this honest.
I disagree. If you know where you want to go to school, or at least have a general idea, you can estimate how much you will have to borrow for 4 years of school. And hopefully a financial aid counselor would be able to phrase the realities of the loan better than in your example. After all, when you get a mortgage, you get a very clear idea of how much you will be paying every month, and for how long. A financial aid counselor should be able to give a similar estimate, and also show how much the average person graduating in your field earns.
I disagree. If you know where you want to go to school, or at least have a general idea, you can estimate how much you will have to borrow for 4 years of school. And hopefully a financial aid counselor would be able to phrase the realities of the loan better than in your example. After all, when you get a mortgage, you get a very clear idea of how much you will be paying every month, and for how long. A financial aid counselor should be able to give a similar estimate, and also show how much the average person graduating in your field earns.
Well, I disagree, too ! Everyone's college situation is different. Yes, you can estimate what you will need for loans for the entire four years, but sh*t happens, people's situations change, and so forth. Up until recently, I was able to get by with taking out a minute loan amount. Last semester I realized that was just not practical anymore and I, extremely reluctantly, decided to take out the maximum amount of loans. A year ago I couldn't foresee this. My situation changed, not to mention that the interest rate on my loan magically went up by 3%.
You can estimate your financial need all that you want, but like I stated, situations change and there is no way of knowing exactly what you will need to borrow later on down the road while you are only a freshman.
My student loan provider gives me information on what my estimated monthly payments will be over the life of my loan. That is something that is similar to what one would receive with a mortgage.
And, I disagree, it is not the financial aid officers job to inform you of what the earning potential for someone pursuing your degree has. That is what your advisor and campus career centers are there for. Besides, the responsibility of the earning potential of a certain degree or career lays with the student, not the school, and anyone pursuing degree X without researching the future career paths that are applicable with a such a degree and the potential earnings that go along with it only have themselves to blame.
Well, I disagree, too ! Everyone's college situation is different. Yes, you can estimate what you will need for loans for the entire four years, but sh*t happens, people's situations change, and so forth. Up until recently, I was able to get by with taking out a minute loan amount. Last semester I realized that was just not practical anymore and I, extremely reluctantly, decided to take out the maximum amount of loans. A year ago I couldn't foresee this. My situation changed, not to mention that the interest rate on my loan magically went up by 3%.
You can estimate your financial need all that you want, but like I stated, situations change and there is no way of knowing exactly what you will need to borrow later on down the road while you are only a freshman.
My student loan provider gives me information on what my estimated monthly payments will be over the life of my loan. That is something that is similar to what one would receive with a mortgage.
And, I disagree, it is not the financial aid officers job to inform you of what the earning potential for someone pursuing your degree has. That is what your advisor and campus career centers are there for. Besides, the responsibility of the earning potential of a certain degree or career lays with the student, not the school, and anyone pursuing degree X without researching the future career paths that are applicable with a such a degree and the potential earnings that go along with it only have themselves to blame.
Of course situations can change, and of course it is the student's responsibility to find out as much as possible. But that doesn't mean it is worthless to estimate one's situation, and I think the loan issuers and financial advisors have a responsibility to work with the students (and their own coworkers, such as a career advisor) to arm students with as much information as possible. Why can't the two departments work together? I truly believe that most 18 year olds are not fully capable of comprehending the long term consequences of borrowing tens of thousands of dollars, without significant guidance. Financial advisors at universities are paid and on staff to do exactly that.
I went to two different schools and none of the advisors did very much for me, other than give me loan papers to sign, and then make me watch a video about the consequences of defaulting when I graduated.
I sympathize with your change in situation. When I transferred to a 4-year university, it turned out the financial advisor there was wrong about a certain state program she thought I qualified for, and I had to borrow an extra $10k that year. It sucked. I am still working on paying off my B.A. I'm planning on going back to school for my master's this fall, and the plan is to not take out any loans at all, but as you said, s*** happens, and I know there is a chance I may have to borrow to finish if things don't work out as planned. You know the old saying, the best laid plans....
Live off a third of $150K/yr and it might take 9 years, because about a third of salary will go to taxes and interest will accrue on the loan. It's doable in a major metropolitan area if one is very frugal and lives in a small apartment or shares housing.
You are right, but you would not live any worse than you did as a student or even a resident. If you keep the same lifestyle as you had in your residency, you can easily put a big chunk of your salary towards loans.
You are right, but you would not live any worse than you did as a student or even a resident. If you keep the same lifestyle as you had in your residency, you can easily put a big chunk of your salary towards loans.
Loans or not, that is the secret to living the good life. People get raises and then raise their spending to match. Not raising spending to match is the key to success.
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! Everyone's college situation is different. Yes, you can estimate what you will need for loans for the entire four years, but sh*t happens, people's situations change, and so forth. Up until recently, I was able to get by with taking out a minute loan amount. Last semester I realized that was just not practical anymore and I, extremely reluctantly, decided to take out the maximum amount of loans. A year ago I couldn't foresee this. My situation changed, not to mention that the interest rate on my loan magically went up by 3%.
