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Working Moms
mae0111
member
S/O Student Loan Poll - Was It Worth It?
mae0111
member
in Working Moms
So a few of the comments (as well as my own opinion) got me thinking - for those who took loans, was it worth it? Would you do it again?
For me, I came out of undergrad owing about what I made in a year ($20K loans, $23K salary) in subsidized loans, which I felt was reasonable. My parents also took on loans, but I knew I would be able to pay most, if not all, off with a settlement from a terrible car accident. If I'd had to pay my own loans ($20K) plus theirs ($35K), I may have made a different choice. Today, tuition + fees at my alma mater is over $62K per year - more than double what I paid 20 years ago. Starting salaries in my industry/area have not kept up, and are right around $38K. There is absolutely no way I would attend my alma mater today.
For DH, he graduated owing $40K, and got a job making $40K plus a housing subsidy. So his payments were manageable. His alma mater is consistently ranked highly for "best value" when comparing tuition to mid-career salary. It is an engineering-focused university, and though still expensive ($50K for tuition and fees) it would be worth it to attend that school today.
So worth it at the time for both of us, and not worth it today for me/my school.
For me, I came out of undergrad owing about what I made in a year ($20K loans, $23K salary) in subsidized loans, which I felt was reasonable. My parents also took on loans, but I knew I would be able to pay most, if not all, off with a settlement from a terrible car accident. If I'd had to pay my own loans ($20K) plus theirs ($35K), I may have made a different choice. Today, tuition + fees at my alma mater is over $62K per year - more than double what I paid 20 years ago. Starting salaries in my industry/area have not kept up, and are right around $38K. There is absolutely no way I would attend my alma mater today.
For DH, he graduated owing $40K, and got a job making $40K plus a housing subsidy. So his payments were manageable. His alma mater is consistently ranked highly for "best value" when comparing tuition to mid-career salary. It is an engineering-focused university, and though still expensive ($50K for tuition and fees) it would be worth it to attend that school today.
So worth it at the time for both of us, and not worth it today for me/my school.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: S/O Student Loan Poll - Was It Worth It?
MMC 3.30.16
Another law grad here (2006). Like I said in the original post, I don't regret mine at all.
But I do think it was a huge gamble that I happened to win -- I graduated when there were still jobs, I found a firm that likes my work, and my peers decided to leave so the competition dwindled. Taking out a whole bunch of loans to go to the best school possible is not something I would recommend to anyone considering law school now unless they had really carefully considered the risks.
It's hard to differentiate between the loan part and my choice of career part. I mean, financially I'm fine even having taken out the student loans b/c I'm employed in my profession, I made enough to pay it off quickly, and I'm making good money right now. Then again I agree with @privacywanted regarding 2007 (it's when I graduated also) being the last good year for lawyers, though I'll optimistically add "for a while a least". In any event, I am on a good ride right now. What worries me sometimes is if it goes away what exactly I would do as a replacement job. I don't know if I would actually still be in the legal profession or if I'd end up HAVING to do something else with another ancillary skill I have b/c of the job market for lawyers.
ETA clarity.
I think @PrivacyWanted and I have the same life. I didn't need to take out loans for undergrad, but I did for law school. They are very manageable ($40Kish, down to about $20K now). However, DH took out well over six figures in student loans. We will literally be paying them off for the next 15 years (over and above the 6 years we've been paying them already). There is no way his salary justifies the $120K in loans he graduated with. My salary I think justifies my loans, but if I could do it all again I would not be a lawyer. That being said, if I hadn't gone to law school, I wouldn't have met DH, would not have DD and DS, so basically if I could have my exact husband and children but be doing something else, I would in a heartbeat.
We graduated in 2008, which meant that while I was lucky enough to have a job (I got hired late 2007), DH was unemployed for a year. Then when he got a job, it paid shit and certainly wasn't helping with our student loan bills. If I were him I would answer this question (was it worth it), no. For me, I'm a bit more torn because my loans will be paid off in a few years and then I'll just have a decent salary leftover. However, we will be paying DH's student loans until we are about 45 years old (20 years after law school graduation).
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Yep- 100%. DH and I both have a masters, without which we would not have our current jobs. DH actually had no undergrad debt and his masters was paid for by his employer. My loans were $10K from undergrad and $20K for my masters. My monthly payment on my loan is easily manageable and my interest rate is so low (~3.5%) that I won't bother to pay it off early because I prefer to invest elsewhere.
As I progress in my career I think the loans that enabled me to become a lawyer, and the school choices that ultimately led to meeting my husband, will be worth it because I am happy with my life. However, I am pretty happy to hear my stepson (10th grade) talk about living with us while going to college (we have a comm. college and the flagship state university in town) to minimize his student loan burden.
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The reason I had so few in loans was because I commuted to school, and had tons of scholarship, and my parents helped.
My husband is another story. He had 35K for an education degree. He couldn't pass the praxis and works as a teachers assistant. He makes around 20K a year and doesn't use his degree at all.