Were the student loans and college worth it? (debt, college degree, job)
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Curious to hear from those who bit the bullet, took out student loans, and now have been working in the "real world" for some time... Was it worth it to take out those loans? How are you making a dent in them? Did the resulting degree really make a big difference?
I'm with you... I know it is different for everyone. I was excessive and stupid while taking out loans, but given the choice to have my ridiculous loans vs not attending school at all, I would take the loans all over again.
I am in a technical field where I suppose a minimum of a bachelor's degree is not *required*, it certainly helped me to get my first position out of school 4.5 years ago. Actually, I'm positive that I would not have been hired without it. In turn, that job put the experience on my resume, paid for my grad school and certifications, and I have since doubled my starting salary.
That being said... I still have a boatload of loans. However, I feel that I am now getting to a stable point where I can hammer down the loans within several years, be done with them, and still have my education and experience to propel me forward. Considering this, I really think that life this far would have been much more of a struggle without the degree.
When I first graduated I didn't think they were. Took me almost two years to get into my actual field of study. Now I'm happy. I probably would have gone to a different school though if I could do it again.
If I could relive my early 20s; yes, I would still have gone to college. I may have made some decisions different within that context as far as what loans I took out and why, but the end objective of a degree would not change.
Ofcourse. Its a good investment & I got an edge in the real world because I had a college degree. Its worth it & I would highly recommend it. Took me like 5yrs to become completely debt free so it was a struggle at first but now I am good.
Six years ago, I'd probably have a different answer for you. But today I'm making more than double what I earned immediately out of college. My student loans will likely be paid off in the next couple of years. So, bottom line: No, no regrets. Although if I knew as a student what I know now, I'd probably have been pretty conservative with my money then. We were all young and naive at one point.
I saved up for awhile and went later on. No loans were needed here. But because it was my own funds it created incentives for me to budget more to make it last.
I think you will have a hard time trying to find someone with a good degree who says college wasn't worth the effort or cost. It certainly paid off big for me and my friends. On the other hand I know a lot of people who went to college and never finished. For them it must be a huge regret since its a double whammy. No degree for future revenue growth AND student debt, yikes.
My cousin went to a VERY expensive ($35k/year) private catholic college. She got some sort of degree for teaching religion only to find out that there was zero job opportunities. So she had piling student loan debt and now grows marijuana for medical use. That would be the select type of folks who probably regret college.
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