I know my student loan debt is worth it in terms of the education I received, but overall I think my school tuition was so expensive to provide funding to our football team, which undoubtedly is the money maker for the institution. When choosing a college, not a single one of my priorities for making the decision had to do with money. I wanted to go to a school with a good football team, that had sororities, that had all the things that put stars in the eyes of incoming freshmen... Now that I have graduated, I am faced with an uphill battle against my student loans. But I see it as a compromise...I am okay with being in debt from school because I had such an amazing college experience and education.

The caveat to this is, I wish there had been something that would have gotten my attention as to how student loan debt would affect my future finances, mainly post-graduation. Financial aid at universities are so quick to let 18 and 19 year-olds sign loan documents without any explanation. After I graduated, I was shocked when I calculated my total loan obligations to be at $50,000. When did I sign these papers?? At least I have my wonderful education and memories to remind me where all that money went....

My parents were not able to help much with college expenses, but I knew that because I was so shy I would really fare better in a small, private college. Thus, I graduated with 60K of student loan debt, and a lot more confidence than I went in with. I honestly think I may not have grown as much as I did if I stuck to community colleges or a huge public school. I even studied in London for a semester!

HOWEVER, It was really frustrating at first, realizing that I would never be able to be a starving artist or a full-time writer (I majored in English and Theater). I would instead have to LIVE like a starving artist, but work in a more professional (i.e. boring and stressful) field to be able to make my payments. Luckily, I got a big-kid job right out of college, and found roommates to live with for the next 5 years.

I wouldn't trade my college experience for anything, but I do wish that I would have tried for more scholarships, or taken more classes at community colleges in the summers. Anything to cut costs and make that awesome experience more reasonably-priced!

i went through law school with 'only' 36K of debt b/c i decided to study abroad (WONDERFUL experience and law school is so much more cheap abroad!). I plan to pay the debt off by next year b/c i recall so many lawyers at my law firm tell me (while i was a paralegal) to not get used to the salary you make. i think most people learn to live within their means and begin to believe they can't live without what they're used to. when i eventually got a job (that took awhile) or promotion, i've been budgeting so not to get used to the salary i actually make. i pay off a significantly larger amount than my minimum student loan payment each month and the amount/goal i want to spend for that month's student loan repayment FIRST determines my spending budget for the rest of the month. it's true that i kinda live as i did when i first started my career - i'm married with no kiddos yet...and perhaps we look like we live in a clean frat house, BUT, once the debt is gone, i would have saved much more in interest that i never had to pay! ...and i don't feel tied to my job. it's so liberating.

In response to Margaret St John's post, I completely agree about the need for financial education before the end of college. I was recently asked to fill out a survey from my university, a private school that left me in quite a bit of debt. College was invaluable to me in a many ways, not only for my career but also for the majority of the wonderful friends still in my life. Unfortunately, the debt is having a significant effect on my goals as an artist. The final question on the survey was "If you could do it all over again, would you choose this school?" And sadly I answered, "yes for the experience, but not for the money." I went on to talk about how helpful a freshman seminar on loans would be. Ironically, the school has become so expensive because of their low endowment rate. Most students go on to life in the arts and social services, so often do not have a good amount of money to donate back.
But at 18 when applying to college, I would have loved someone to sit me down and explain the ins and outs of loans and if my school's tuition was practical for my career path. 50k of debt is very impracticable to tackle as a NYC actress. I have been focusing on almost anything but acting since I graduated, which unfortunately is my most realistic choice, especially in this economy. But I'm hoping that will change soon, and that my school takes the suggestion to heart. Perhaps then more students in my position will have a game plan before graduation.

Hey - I totally understand what you're going through. Trust me, living in a city makes my decent salary hardly enough to pay for rent and bills. Just remember that student loan debt isn't considered bad debt so it won't make your credit score go down when you do save enough for a condo. Personally, I'd rather pay the measly interest on my student loan debt while still saving for a condo because once you save and buy the condo, your not paying someone else for rent that is going down the drain. I'd suggest save enough to have an emergency nest (they say 7 months but I really don't know if that's possible in real life) so at LEAST a few months and then focus on the student loan. Every year put a chunk of your taxes or bonus money on it. Don't get overwhelmed by it, chip away at it and it will get more and more manageable. You can do it!

Wow, Reading these comments makes me feel even worse. My husband graduated from pharmacy school almost 2 years ago......Our student loans are so high. I have been trying really hard to pay extra, we also put our whole tax return on our loans. After all of this we just got it under $100,000.....We are at about $98,000. Talk about it is going to take forever to pay this back. So so frustrating. I really wish that there were scholarships you could apply for, after graduating from school, that you could apply to student loans!!!!

@arking@liberty.edu: I don't think you are crazy for buying a house while still having student loan debt. I did that and so have many others!

However, without knowing more information, it's hard to say whether you are doing the best thing by paying extra on your mortgage and not your student loans. (I am assuming that is what you mean, that you are making extra payments to your mortgage but not your loans.) It would depend on many factors: the interest rates on both loans, the amount of debt on your home, and just your general financial situation.

For me, my loans are at a higher interest rate and total a smaller amount of debt than my mortgage. It makes the most sense for me to focus on paying down my student loans, because of the higher rate and because they'll be paid off sooner (since I owe less), which will free up additional cash flow faster.

I'm still in school and I have already racked up $23,000 dollars in student loan debt, but listening to everyone's stories has been so informative. The advice everyone has offered is truly invaluable and I will definitely immediately start taking a deeper look into my financial situation and how to bring my debt down now and in the future.

We have a situation much like TiffanyAmy above. My husband went to law school, and that combined with undergrad resulted in about $120k in student debt. While that MIGHT fly with a booming civilian attorney, my husband opted to join the Marine Corps, and makes a salary of about half that of his civilian counterparts. We move often, so even though I have my nursing degree, more often than not, I cannot find work because we are not in one city long enough, or we've recently had a baby, or he's deploying and I can't find it in me to work and be away from home and children while he's deployed too. I've been searching for anything that I can do from home, be it nursing related or otherwise, and have not found anyone that is hiring for telework. The federal student loan forgiveness program available to service jobs MAY be a possibility for him, however, the application process is so incredibly involved, and he doesn't have the time to even sit down and do it. I will be beginning that process shortly with my power of attorney. Hopefully that will prove fruitful.
The end result is that we are laden with outrageous payments each month, we move ever few years, we spend more to buy and sell homes or rent and move and set up home again, and have not been able to add to retirement in about 4 years. It's a suffocating, helpless feeling. Not looking forward to the process of the student loan forgiveness application, but interested to see if he is eligible.

Thank you to everyone who has over $100,000 in student loan debt for sharing! It's encouraging to read these articles, but it's also discouraging because if I had $20,000 in student loan debt, I could do this too!

It's such a struggle for me to make ends meet every month, and I make a decent salary. I had three jobs at one point and that made things manageable, but my full-time job was suffering because I couldn't give it the time it needed. Now that I've spent some time investing in my career, it's a struggle to find a part-time job that's flexible enough to allow me to pay off my debt.

There just doesn't seem to be a way out. It's a vicious cycle because you need to have a degree to get a decent job, but you almost can't get an education without going into debt because it's so unbelievably expensive.

While I am happy to see I am not the only one who has racked over 100K in student loan debt because it makes me feel less alone to read these accounts, I am saddened that we are all in this place. There are days where I feel completely overwhelmed and see no way out of my financial situation. I was also laid off last October and have used most of my savings to help out during this time. While I did take time off (no one is really hiring for the holidays anyway except temporary retail work) I started seriously looking once again in January. Silly me, I thought I would find something right away. Well, it is now April and I have officially been unemployed for six months. I am still paying Sallie Mae $310 every month because I have run out of deferments. I have spoken with numerous people there in an effort to have them understand my situation.
While I blame no one but myself for the financial mess I have created, I feel it is ridiculous that I have absolutely no options but to give Sallie Mae a quarter of my unemployment each month while I am just trying to survive in the interim of no work.
I love this site, I feel like it gives great advice, but I am also feeling like I don't belong on it. I am currently struggling so much I can't even put money into savings.
My previous position was a Sales position for a start up. I have no desire to get back into that game. I worked up to 70 hours a week every week and never had any weekends off. I have been looking for positions in other fields and I am either over or under qualified. Also, if I get a job that is less than what my unemployment pays it isn't worth it because I get the money from that paycheck plus the difference from unemployment.
All in all, I feel that I should have gone to school part time and worked my way through it no matter how long it took. I feel like I was duped by my financial "advisers" because I was told I needed that money to finish school and the best way was through loans. I know I should have asked more questions and not trusted them as much. But they were my advisers, what 18 year old wouldn't? I do not feel that my education was worth the financial misery I am in now.

I have over 40k in student loan debt and no degree to show for it. Because of life I had to make a lot of detours on my quest for higher education. I was on my way to a bachelors degree but when I asked for a small time off from the online school I was attending they withdrew me instead. This left me with a 2400.00 debt that I cannot pay off so now the 64 credits I have there are being held ransom till I pay it back and I just found out that the pell grants I was going to use at my local school so that I would cut out adding more SL debt to my life is also no longer available due to the changes in the grants passed late last year.

Also, @Heatheromaine, and everyone else: Sallie Mae (and I think other servicers of federal loans? Are there other servicers?) has what's called an IBR, or Income-Based Repayment plan. It's exactly what it sounds like. If you have zero income, you owe $0 per month. It's not a deferment, either. It just restructures your loan based on the idea that you will make more a year from now... so they do a year of $0, and then the next year you jump up to higher payments. But you can re-apply every year, and they'll just adjust based on your income. I worked 2 years at Jack in the Box and that whole time I was on an IBR with a $0 a month payment. It doesn't stop interest from accruing, but it does free up some money when you're desperate! I've never been able to find it on their website, but if you call, they will send you an application.

I do have student loan debt. At this point, I feel it is worth it so far as I am still climbing up in my career. I would be cautious to take on more than the ~$20,000 I currently have.

I am graduating next year and I wish that I had understood loans and their repayment method earlier in life. For the price of my loans, I could have purchased a car or started saving for a house :( At least I know now for graduate school next year.

I wonder if all this student loan debt will prevent the economy from rebounding. It seems there is a big movement towards frugality as a result of these enormous loan payments. I wonder about the impact it will have in this decade. As the millennials age and perhaps continue their "cheap" ways, will the economy ever recover?

I'm about 27,000 deep. I think if the interest rates were about 3-4% instead of 6.8% I would have a much easier time at it. As is I'm paying about 1,500 a year in interest! And I've already accrued 3,500 in interest while I was in school.

I graduated from undergrad with no loans, but law school gave me almost $100k worth. Before I graduated from law school I had this grandiose plan to pay off all of my law school loans in 4 years. 4 years later, I still owe a little over $80k.

My credit is good (over 700) I own a condo and a car so I guess I'm not pressed about paying off my student loans. Yes - I will pay more in the long run by using the 15 years Sallie Mae has given me to pay them, but I want to enjoy life while I'm still old enough to enjoy it. So - my plan is to pay my monthly payments and then pay an extra $100-200 per month on the loan with the highest interest rate. I figure that I'll save a few dollars in interest but not stress myself out by being broke from pouring all my money into student loans.

i hope this might encourage those of us in this boat to get out of it together. This topic has been on my mind for too long and after weeks of reading hundreds of blogs I think it's a good time to get this out of my chest. this is the beginning of my journey to control my debt.

I am a pharmacist who graduated a year ago with $250,000 (210k from grad, 40 undergrad) and for about a month I was getting panic attacks so often and severe I was on the verge of insanity and self destruction. I went to see a psychiatrist one morning because I just didn't didn't see a way out and knew I needed some immediate help to regain normalcy so that I could balance my thoughts and start to accept reality and move on with realistic plans. I had become so hopeless and desperate I thought about going door to door asking neighbors to help me get my loans under control, taking on odd jobs at night after work and working 7 days a week until i realized how hard it actually is to carry that through with physical and mental limitations on how much work can actually be accomplished and whether finding such work is even a possibility.

stress: Having had good control and stress management abilities for most of my life, this situation had made me feel completely out of control. I realize that regrets won't help with solving the problem and that I need to accept the fact that I've repressed the loan situation too deep, too long. I also need to accept the fact that the only way to dig out of this is through time and persistence; also, that no one will feel sorry for me nor will do anything about and that I must gain confidence in the face of this massive debt to be able to live life to the fullest now, and even better in the future as this loan gets chipped away slowly.

Fear: it all started one afternoon when I wanted to internalize thoughts and simply couldn't process having to pay these loans and be able to maintain even a lifestyle at near poverty levels. my thoughts became irrational, fearing every opportunity and fearing that exaggerating every illness with a terminal cause due to the stress that I've felt. I started to make excuses to become fearful and my rationality has completely disappeared as a result. Watching the interest grow and getting or anticipating repayment letters triggers mini panic attacks every time. It is not until recently have I started to gain track, not without its difficulties, to a future that is sustainable and with hope.

numbers: so it's always useful to crunch some numbers and lets face it when we're 18 we wanted to become what we wanted to and didn't care a thing in regards to interest rates, taxes, repayment terms. I currently make around 90,000K a year, which is decent for a new grad in my field and I take home approx 4800 a month after taxes. I am in forbearance on my loans. I owe 220000 on federal loans most at 6.8% and 30000 in private loans at about 5%. Under the 25 year plan I would pay approx 1700 a month; Under the income based repayment plan I would be paying about 1300 a month. after taking out loan payments at IBR rate, modest living ($650 rent, 100 utilities, $450 on food, 250 car payment 150 gas and 200 for misc) i'm left with approx $1100. That really isn't too bad, but considering I need to keep this up for 25 years, with steady job security, that's when everything becomes hard to accept. Now every time I panic I wanted to find a solution that will help me find hope; this includes options such as the forgiveness after 25 years (or 20 years under the pay as you earn), military, discharge due to disability and death since we all know that bankruptcy will not do a thing to your student loans. The reality is, no matter what plan you do, you will still be stuck with about the same amount as you would owe if you paid it over 25 years. Lets say I pay the IBR over 25 years which would really only cover interest, the forgiven amount would be taxed by the IRS as income and with approx 250000 I would pay the IRS close to 90000 in addition to all the payments I've made over the last 25 years. One can argue that inflation would offset the costs and there are many ways to re-calculate what paths can be taken to repay loans but in the end, you will pay what you owe with much more in interest. Needless to say, the more you owe in the beginning the more you will pay in interest.

plan: after ruling out the more outlier options, such as working 24 hrs a day 7 days a week and God forbid ending things more permanently, I sat down and re-evaluated how I can reach a balance at a reasonable time with do-able solutions. I decided on re-location to job options that would yield the highest income with the lowest cost of living. I took a job that will yield approx $135,000 working 6 days a week. The numbers would allow me to pay off about 65K a year in debt. My plan is to reduce, not eliminate my debt, to a level that I consider sustainable which I've set a goal to about 120K, which is still much, much more than what most of you owe at this point. What's hard about this 'plan' is again to internalize the fact that I will be slaving away for a corporation 6 days a week for 2.5-3 years, and I'm again, being irrationally fearful, that I might not be able to hack through it and somehow get sick and lose my job and so on and so on. It is not easy work, although I do enjoy it, and again it's a difficult task to achieve between being as satisfied as possible from your workplace to simply being burned out. I can read as much as I want about people who survives these 6 hour work weeks, or even 7, to find inspiration but in the end, nothing matters as much as if you can get yourself to mentally and physically prepared for it. I think setting a goal to reach in a reasonable amount of time and reasonable and do-able efforts would make things more possible. For awhile I've lost interest in all things that used to make me happy, such as food, movies, outdoors. I hope to steadily regain full happiness when doing the things that I enjoy and hopefully as the loans start to be chipped away that I can actually fully soak in the wonders this world has to offer rather than dwelling constantly in student loan problems.

3 years. it's as long or as short as one wants to make of it. i hope we all find hope and happiness while working hard to achieve our goals : )

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