Many people don’t like to take student loans while studying in college because they don’t want to start their lives with debt. However, I took student loans during 3 of my 4 years of college because it made my life a lot easier while studying.
I am still paying off my student loans 5 years after graduation but I don’t mind. Actually, I love my student loans and I never regret my decision to take out student loans.
Why did you take out student loans in college?
I decided to take out student loans in college to ease the financial burden of working full time, living on my own, and studying in college. I did work full time while studying full time in college. Taking student loans helped me not to worry about paying for books and tuition while also paying rent.
As the amount of student loans is determined by my annual income, I didn’t receive a lot of student loan funding. My GPA would have definitely been a lot higher if I hadn’t worked full time while studying in college.
Student Loan Payments Are Affordable
I originally borrowed just over $12,000 while studying in college, from the government, not from a financial institution. I graduated in December 2005, and after my six months of payment free living, I began to repay my student loans in June 2006.
My Student Loan Payments are affordable as I repay $80 on a biweekly basis. I am able to renegotiate the terms of my student loans at any time. I can change the payment frequency, the payment amount, and make any lump sum payments at any time without penalty.
The interest rate on my student loans is also very affordable. The current interest rate on my student loan is prime rate plus 2.5%. The advantage of having a low interest rate is that the majority of our payments are allocated to the principal amount borrowed. Therefore, our student loans will be paid off faster. I currently still owe just over $5000 on my student loans.
I Love My Student Loans
Student Loans are a smart debt to have because they are intended to fund our education, which is always a great asset. Some people say that having a good education is the foundation for a good career. I absolutely do not regret taking student loans while studying in college, because my life was a lot easier with them than it would have been without them.
(Photo By Ian Wilson)
Kristina Tahnyak
Tahnya is a Certified Financial Planner and former Investment Advisor turned marketing and communications professional She holds a degree from Concordia University, is debt free and currently works in the field of digital marketing.
I would never tell someone to avoid going to college just to avoid debt but I would try to at all costs. I know some personal finance people do but it seems wrong to me. However I say be smart about it. You don’t need to go to a 40K+ a year school. If you’re in a field where a decent salary is possible then loans make it at least possible to repay(IT, Accounting, Engineering, Doctor, ect…) but if you’re going to school to be a social worker why not go to a reasonably priced school where you live. Instead of a fancy private institutional. Now I made choice to work in college but also had student loans and maybe my grades suffered some but I don’t know that I would have dedicated more time without work or if I would have just had more free time to spend additional money I didn’t have.
Now I will say that I think the first thing people do out of college is save an emergency fund and repay student loans. Before you upgrade your car, your wardrobe or start taking fancy vacations. I don’t care what the interest rate is, its still money leaving my pocket instead of working for me.
My boyfriend and I have $100K in student loan debt. APIECE (PhD for me, JD for him). It is quite different at those amounts, though I still regard it money well spent.
My wife has approximately $60k remaining in student debt from her schooling to get a PhD. This has forced us to watch our spending closely as the monthly payment is still around $800 per month. A little bit less affordable than the loan for an undergrad degree, but I know that she does not regret getting taking the loan out. I am just finishing up my Master’s degree next month, and luckily I won’t be adding additional debt from my schooling.
I can’t say that I “love her student loans,” but I do like that her career makes her happy.
I agree that our education is one thing that we should never regret spending money on. There are lots of ways that we can spend less on living expenses while we are in school. The major point is that we are getting a great education….regardless of the cost.
Your arguments make sense, but one point I disagree with is the logic that your GPA is that important. I graduated with a 3.3 (I worked 30+ hours a week through college, graduated in 4 years) which is hardly impressive. Its never held me back and I’ve never been asked about it. Employers are more impressed with how I balanced time between work and school.
Your GPA does matter for grad school so if that’s the case the argument makes more sense.
I agree with Nicole on the GPA vs. Balance issue. A few years out of school no one is going to care about you’re GPA. It is much more about what you have done.
I often expect that when someone comes out of school with a 100+K in student loans that they are heading towards a career as a doctor, lawyer or some other high income career. I know this isn’t the case but I hope it is. I couldn’t imagine coming out of school to a huge student load debt, a big payment and a term that is nearly as long as a mortgage especially if you’re heading into a field where the pay is very low at least for the first half of your career.
My wife and I had about 50K student loan debt combined after college all paid off now though. We were lucky she got a lot of scholarships as her school cost nearly 200k when all said and done. Both of us worked (32-40 hours) especially toward the final few years during school and still did well.
I will have over $100K in student loan debt when I finish my MBA. I has an AS degree in electronics, and a BA degree in liberal arts. As of right now, I have not been able to secure a decent job (I make under $30K/year). But I don’t regret my student loans AT ALL. I grew up below the poverty level, in public housing projects. My family could not contribute a cent to my college. I graduated at the top 10% of my class, and got scholarships & grants…but they fell very short of being able to cover all of my college expenses (especially rent). I went in as an engineering major and my AS is in electronics. But I HATED my studies. I enjoyed my liberal arts studies and had a minor in business. I LOVE my MBA classes. But I could have never made it to graduate school without the undergraduate degree (of course). If it takes student loans for you to get a college degree, then that is what you have to do. The college drop-out rate is something to be reckoned with, and the cheapest school is not always the answer (especially if the resources are not there for you to complete your degree).