For those who have taken out student loans

Well i estimate by the time I get out of grad school, I will be about 40-50 thousand dollars in debt with loans.

Im really worried. Is it going to be hard to pay them off and bad on my credit? Is it just going tobe another bill? I dont know..i'm pretty worried .Any advice?

i had student loans (totalling less than $30k) & took the full 10 years to pay them back. my thoughts :

- only take loans for the amount you absolutely need. they may offer you more, but don't accept any more than you have to. it'll make your life easier later. take on a part time job to subsidize any shortfall rather than taking on excessive debt.

- they will defer payments after you graduate until you have a job (up to a limited amount of time), so the pressure isn't on right away to start repayment.

- the interest rates are typically good, so as debt goes, it's cheap debt compared to other things. and the payback term is typically long (10 years on mine).

- paying them off is do-able if you are fairly diligent with money; even paying them off early is do-able if you choose to do so once you stabilize in your career. make sure the terms don't penalize you for early repayment.

- know the terms, like whether you have deferment, how long it is before you have to start paying, is the rate fixed or of very limited adjustability, what will your monthly repayment amount be, can you pay it off early without being penalized (you should be able to), etc.

- consider how lucrative your career potential is and don't take on more debt than you reasonably feel your career will support repayment on.

Hi SE,

From your profile it says you are 18.  That means you are planning ahead.  Which is good.  I don't know what you are planning to do for a degree or grad school and that can make a big difference.  Being $50k in debt if you are going to be a doctor at the end of it and pretty much guaranteed to be making over $100k per year right from the start is no big deal.  Being $50k in debt if you are going to do a degree in English or something is more worrisome.  (It's not that I have anything against Arts degrees - I have one myself - it's just that you don't tend to have a huge salary when you graduate).

So, my advice is that you do everything you can to avoid taking on that much debt.  Suggestions:  Live as cheaply as possible - at home, or in a shared house, rather than in your own apartment.  Try not to own a car.  Cook at home, rather than eating out a lot.  Drink water, not things that cost money.  Likely you won't get to do a lot of fancy trips either.

Also, if you can get a part-time job on campus (maybe in the library?) they tend to pay ok and you don't have to go anywhere else to work.  Also, campus jobs tend to be a bit more sensitive to the needs of students. 

When you finish your bachelor's degree, what about taking a year or so off to work and save money - then you have something behind you when you go back.

Finally, do some work on getting someone else to finance your school.  Talk to the financial aid office about scholarships - there are TONS out there that you have to apply for, but if you could get a few thousand in scholarships, that could make a huge difference over time.  Lots of the ones that you have to apply for aren't very competitive, because no one bothers to apply.  If you think about it, a few hours spent on applications could pay off hugely.

Good luck in school!

When you finally graduate and get have a career, have a plan as well.  Sit down and write out a budget and stick to it.  The draw to buy things when you finally are making the big bucks will be strong.  Live frugally for the first few years.  Pay off your debts before you buy your brand new house and brand new car, the big screen TV and all the other toys.  You will be surprised at how easy it will be to pay off your loans.  Stay away from the credit cards.  The credit card company are going to tell you that you need to use them to build up your credit.  They need you to make them money.  You can live off of cash. 
carrihound is right, do not take any more money then you absolutely need.

Being $50k in debt if you are going to be a doctor at the end of it and pretty much guaranteed to be making over $100k per year right from the start is no big deal.  Being $50k in debt if you are going to do a degree in English or something is more worrisome. -- runnerinvic

Phew! No doubt! That's a real problem that I don't believe many people think about. Somebody really ought to be looking out for students when it comes to this, but they don't. I'm sure the schools and banks don't care -- they're getting their money and that's all that matters to them. Having to shell out all that money for loans is like having to pay child support or something. You have to make THAT MUCH MORE money just to survive. Even if you're making a semi-decent wage, say $40K, it's not enough when you have $30, $40, $50+ in loans. I'm glad it's not me. My brother is in that predicament, however. Ugh! It's taken the people I know a good 15 years to pay off their loans.

Well I plan on being an optometrist..somewhere around the 60-1000 thousand dollar range.

I have most of my school paid for by scholarship except like 2000, which will equal about 8 thousand by the time i graduate..then the loans for Optometry school.

Thanks for all the advice. It kind of takes the boulder off my shoulder knowing its not giong to make me poor, lol. I've always worried about money since i started getting an allowance..i guess that is a downfall and a good thing.

It works a little different over here me thinks...

But by the time i graduate I will be in around £14K (US$28K) and you know what? I couldn't care less. Almost everyone i know will be in the same boat. Plus it's fairer here as to how you pay it back! You pay nothing till you earn £15K a year, and even then it's about £30 a month (pretty much nothing in the big picture) and it gets written off after 25years anyway. I'm looking at a starting pay for £25K rising to a max of £72K unless i study some more. (This for 25hrs a week). So the debt's not much really.

Just think of the big picture.

Carrihound and the others have excellent advice.  I have two degrees.  When I was in school someone gave me good advice saying that student loan money is generally the cheapest money you'll ever borrow so take you time paying it off and pay off any other higher interest debt first.  I took the full 10 years to pay off in excess of $20K.  The payment was just another bill as my career grew and I earned more income.

Good luck.

Does repaying student loans count toward your credit rating?

yes... they are listed in the credit report and paying on time helps you out.

they are not dischargable by bankruptcy.  but they disappear on death so arent passed down to your heirs.

50K isnt so bad... I have friends that are well over 100K.  Mine are about... 70K and thats about $600/mth in payments... yuck.  Some people I know tho, its over 1K per month to pay them off...

You should try paying as much of the interest as possible while you are still in school.  See if you can set it up to auto pay 50/month--- its not much usually doable if you try and it will really help to reduce the capitalization of the interest.

(and they are right about it being cheap money-- anything that is high interest pay that off first)

When My husband is done with school we will be in it about 30k and we plan on paying it off as soon as possible! he is going into Civil Engineering so he will support the family on his wages and I will continue to work. We will put all my wages towards the loans so they will be paid off in about 1 1/2 yrs. I dont want to spend the next 10 years paying them off!

I did not start getting serious about college until my mid 30's.  I guess I didn't think much about the student loans at first, but after a while they do start to add up.  My opinion is, you get to a certain point in your education where you just have to keep going to school until you can afford to pay your student loans...LOL.  I have no clue where I'll be by the time I get through law school, but honestly, it doesn't matter.  I will make enough to cover it and both of us will be working anyway, so the cost if worth it to better myself and do what I want to do with my life.

Make sure it's something you really want to do.. Don't just go to school and pick a career/degree because you're 18 and feel like you have to.  I'm well into college debt, and I definitely regret jumping into the whole thing because I felt I had to.  If I knew then what I know now, I would have done the whole thing in a completely different way.

I just finished paying one loan and now I'm paying on another . I have to keep going to school to up date.  My son and his wife have about 80t housand in loans. They hope to have paid off in 10yrs. They also have to keep going back off and on to up date their education. It does show up on credit reports. There are deferments.  If your are in the education field and work in certain areas or certain schools they will pay your loans off for you after 3yrs of employment. Some towns will do this for doctors also. Check on line for thing like this. I found alot of info about title one schools and paying loans. Good luck on your future employment.

for us it is just another bill -- we have almost 60k in student loans right now -- my husband and i went to a private school and i got my masters afterwards. We both had scholarships and i even graduated early and I guess it could be worse since the school we went to tuition is 24k a year, So three degrees later -- it is a large bill but we have it set to 15 yrs paid off -- so that we will pay it off before we have kids that are ready for colloege. Our parents worked their way through school and came away without bills but i don't even think that is possible in today economy.

it is not a negative factor in your credit score as long as you pay it on time

I think it's totally worth it for the degree you plan on obtaining.  For unsubsidized loans, it's a good idea to start paying them off while you are still in school, if possible.  You are racking up interest on those loans while you are in school.

yum student loans *cowers in fear*

I'll be at about 60k (Can) in debt when I'm all done in 2011. And I'm just becoming a teacher!

I'm living a pretty humble life, so as to make my debts as small as possible, and working my arse off every summer, TAing in the winter.
Then, when I graduate I'll continue living humbly til I get them all paid off. no need to live in a condo or house when a small apartment will do.

Basically don't worry about it. As long as you make your payments, your credit should be fine. If you are in grad school, then you'll likely be getting a decent paying job and can pay off your loans quickly enough.

i'm in grad school, too.  this was my thesis advisor's suggestion.

"You get your PhD.  Then you declare bankruptcy."

new bankruptcy laws don't allow you to get out of federal student loan -- so sorry :)

plus you absolutely ruin your credit history that way

the best advice i received was to opt for the lowest required payment, but pay off as much as you can afford.  this ensures that you can make your payments on time, but if you pay off more ahead of time, allows you to save on interest.

making on time student loan payments and paying ahead did wonders for my credit, and last year I was able to take out a rather large mortgage (compared to my meager non-profit salary) to buy a condo.

aasil, you didn't get one of those looooong term mortgages, did you?  there are some stories of really bad lending practices in the states right now (we hear them because our housing market is through the roof, too, and there's a lot of interest in those mortgages).