So, I just started looking at my student loans that I will have once I am out of school. I will have close to $120,000 in debt. Calculated at paying $500 a month, I could have that paid off in approximately 20 years (aside from interest to be accrued). I plan on applying for scholarships, internships, etc. throughout the next 3 years. Unfortunately, there aren't many scholarships available for first year students in my field. Anyways, mostly just venting/freaking out about this amount of debt. But also looking for any bits of advice on handling student loan debt from others who may be paying student loans and such right now. Any advice would be welcomed.
Professional school, public university ---------- Post added 18th Sep 2016 at 06:04 PM ---------- Although, a portion of that amount was from my undergraduate and graduate degrees as well.
The most obvious piece of advice is not to take out other loans in order to pay off that debt. The other is that because you do have an obligation to pay interest, you should prioritise paying off those debts as soon as feasible and reducing or even eliminating discretionary expenses, if the debt is not to become unmanageable in the long-term thanks to interest. If at the end of a fortnight (or however you budget) you have any extra money you're not putting into savings or a 401k to put into repaying those debts, do it. Also if your student union or university organisation offers free or subsidised legal advice, it might be a good idea to make use of that and have a very clear awareness of your obligations, any leeway you're entitled to and the structure of your debt. I've also heard this group is a good point of referral for US student debtors. Hopefully the link I chose is helpful. The Top 10 Student Loan Tips for Recent Graduates | The Institute For College Access and Success
Well professional school loans aren't that bad because your income would help cover it, unless it's law school, then there are lots of caveats, especially as you go down the tiers. As for scholarships and other grants and financial aid, I urge you to apply to as many as you're qualified for. Let's say that you spend 90 hours doing 30 applications for financial aid and end up getting $2500. It's the equivalent of having earned over $27 an hour tax-free (if used for tuition and fees)!
I feel the same I'm applying to professional school... Tuition alone for 4 years will be 200,000. If I can get into the insanely competitive public schools in-state it's still 128,000.... Tempted to just start working with my BS...
Woo-hoo! I'm Scottish and in Scotland I(like everyone)don't have to pay! I'm studying to be a classical scholar and the whole thing gets paid for. Its not a loan,its the law,the government pays. Its completely free. And I get get about £500 each year for books etc as well! We need intelligent, cool people here in Scotland. Our population is low,so just move here!
Does your home address have to be Scottish to get free tuition or do you have to legitimately be born in Scotland? I'm UK too but I'd have to pay tuition if I studied in Scotland. In Northern Ireland our fees are still on £3000 or so per year. Our universities are really shit and underfunded though. I'd have paid the £9000 p.a to have studied in England if I had to do it again.
You have had to live in Scotland for five years before applying. Also, some universities might be charging up to £15,000 now in England. The thing they don't realise is that they're probably going to end up losing money as people won't be able to pay it back.
As the person above says you need to be here five years. HOWEVER, it seems this can be avoided. A lot of folk get it paid even though they haven't been in Scotland for five years. As is right,education should be free to everyone.
