How much loans did you graduate with and how long did it take you to pay it off?

[tmac12]

Were you guys living like a student afterwards or living fairly comfortably straight out of school?

[bananapeppers]

Graduated July 2013 - $140,000 ($100k from PA  school, $26k from college + interest) 

April 15th - $30k left. 

[NYCPAC]

$240k in loans (raised by a single mom and had to pay for undergrad and grad alone). Went to a 3yr pa program and private undergrad (with small scholarship). Had about $150k in grad school and the rest undergrad. I ended up living home for two years after pa school to save money and paid off about $45k in two years. Feels like it'll never go away :/

 

I'm also not eligible for public service forgiveness for federal loans because I "earn too much" and my loans will essentially be paid off in the 10yr period

 

 

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[GreyhoundGirl]

$240k in loans (raised by a single mom and had to pay for undergrad and grad alone). Went to a 3yr pa program and private undergrad (with small scholarship). Had about $150k in grad school and the rest undergrad. I ended up living home for two years after pa school to save money and paid off about $45k in two years. Feels like it'll never go away :/

 

I'm also not eligible for public service forgiveness for federal loans because I "earn too much" and my loans will essentially be paid off in the 10yr period

 

 

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Are a lot of these loans private? Because a good rule of thumb is that you would qualify for PSLF if your yearly salary is less than your overall loan debt. 

[TPA16]

Will graduate with 26k from undergrad + 120k from pa school + interest

140-150k all together

[sas5814]

Were you guys living like a student afterwards or living fairly comfortably straight out of school?

No loans. I went to the Army program. Just sold my soul for 6 years as payback. No a bad deal really since I had a salary, lodging, health care etc.

[Maverick87]

No loans. I went to the Army program. Just sold my soul for 6 years as payback. No a bad deal really since I had a salary, lodging, health care etc.

 

Same.

 

Air Force HPSP. I had no financial debt, but had 3 years of time debt. So, technically, it took me 3 years to fully pay off PA school.

[NYCPAC]

Are a lot of these loans private? Because a good rule of thumb is that you would qualify for PSLF if your yearly salary is less than your overall loan debt. 

I have about $90k in federal and the rest are private. When i used the calculator on the PSLF site it says by 10yrs they will be paid in full (based on using IBR repayment). Paying about $1080/mo in federal loans alone with a 6.7% interest rate. I am tempted to consolidate /refinance these for a lower interest rate but have concerns that if any program is ever to go in place for forgiveness I wouldn't be eligible because of my consolidation/refinance :\

[cinntsp]

I have about $90k in federal and the rest are private. When i used the calculator on the PSLF site it says by 10yrs they will be paid in full (based on using IBR repayment). Paying about $1080/mo in federal loans alone with a 6.7% interest rate. I am tempted to consolidate /refinance these for a lower interest rate but have concerns that if any program is ever to go in place for forgiveness I wouldn't be eligible because of my consolidation/refinance :\

 

You need to decide what path you want to take and save yourself a ton of money in the long run.  Just waiting around hoping to one day qualify for something will cost you thousands.  I refinanced all of my federal loans but I'm not worried about losing the benefits because finding work as a PA is easy(if I ever lost my job) and I plan to pay it off ASAP.  I wouldn't recommend refinancing if the plan is to pay the minimum amount until the end of time.

[Evolute]

I have about $90k in federal and the rest are private. When i used the calculator on the PSLF site it says by 10yrs they will be paid in full (based on using IBR repayment). Paying about $1080/mo in federal loans alone with a 6.7% interest rate. I am tempted to consolidate /refinance these for a lower interest rate but have concerns that if any program is ever to go in place for forgiveness I wouldn't be eligible because of my consolidation/refinance :\

First of all, there are programs in place, NHSC and the military come to mind, beyond that waiting for new programs is wishful thinking.

 

Second, Make a decision and move on. "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice". Led Zeppelin.

Better to be proactive then reactive.

[dmdpac]

 

 

Second, Make a decision and move on. "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice". Led Zeppelin.

Better to be proactive then reactive.

 

Actually, I think this is Rush.  The sentiment, however, remains the same.

[GreyhoundGirl]

I have about $90k in federal and the rest are private. When i used the calculator on the PSLF site it says by 10yrs they will be paid in full (based on using IBR repayment). Paying about $1080/mo in federal loans alone with a 6.7% interest rate. I am tempted to consolidate /refinance these for a lower interest rate but have concerns that if any program is ever to go in place for forgiveness I wouldn't be eligible because of my consolidation/refinance :\

So from what I understand, the calculator uses an arbitrary 5% yearly salary increase when doing calculations. You may or may not see that depending if you top out. Also, depending on your marriage situation, you may qualify for the new REPAYE program where you only pay 10% of your income and that qualifies for PSLF (but you HAVE to use your spouse's income as well). If you already work for a non-profit, I would get on some kind of IBR.

[cc56]

I left with 14K in debt.  I wanted to live a better life, I had the money saved and did not need it.  I have not paid it off yet and I am almost 4 years out of school.  I am paid up until 2020 though, but still make a small payment each month.    I had GI bill/post 9-11, and a National Guard scholarship.  Friends were like 120K in debt when they left.   Life is easier when you are single, those with a family had the hardest time debt wise.    

[mmiller3]

Thanks to the Navy and Illinois having a state college PA program, no loans. The downside is the program was a BS when I went.

[Natalie2018]

Same.

 

Air Force HPSP. I had no financial debt, but had 3 years of time debt. So, technically, it took me 3 years to fully pay off PA school.

When did you go through the Air Force's. program?

[Lauren R]

I graduated with around $130K in loans.  I have not yet paid these off, but I signed up for a 10 year repayment plan.  I would say I live pretty comfortably despite a large portion of my paycheck going towards the loans.

[Febrifuge]

This thread is making me feel better, for once. Cool!

 

I had a poor family/ no real support in undergrad, plus changed majors and schools a little bit, so thoseloans hung around forever. Went into deferment when I was really earning nothing, so my unsubsidized loans actually increased with the unpaid interest. I had a series of dumb $30k/ year jobs that didn't allow for making significant headway, so when I went back I went all-in. By the time PA school was done, I owed around $160k if you add up the undergrad, grad, and private grad loans.

 

Today, the feds have been about halfway paid off, and the private loan is down from $40k to $16k. This is over the past 7 years. I shell out around $1600 a month, but the point is, I can.

[mackjacks]

I graduated with 185K in debt and am on track to have it paid off in under 5 years from graduation. I pay around 3,500 per month towards loans and still maintain a nice lifestyle. Won't have much saved for retirement, but when the loans are paid off I'll easily be able to max out retirement contributions. In 3 or so years, I may chose to make smaller loan payments and contribute more to retirement accounts, but right now I am focusing on getting the principal as low as possible as fast as possible. 

[Febrifuge]

You should probably sit down with a financial advisor who can show you the pros and cons of making some retirement contributions now, versus using that money for aggressive loan repayment. Compound interest is your friend, when it comes to savings. $500/ month now can be as useful as $1000/ month a few years down the road.

[cinntsp]

You should probably sit down with a financial advisor who can show you the pros and cons of making some retirement contributions now, versus using that money for aggressive loan repayment. Compound interest is your friend, when it comes to savings. $500/ month now can be as useful as $1000/ month a few years down the road.

 

It's hard to beat the guaranteed return of 7%+ from paying back those grad plus loans.  I would say IF one chooses to do both, it should only be to get the maximum employer 401k matching or to max one's Roth IRA(or backdoor Roth) since it's a use it or lose it scenario.  The exception to this would be if someone has low loan interest rates that the market would likely outperform, but even in that situation one has to look at the psychological benefits of not having soul-crushing amounts of debt looming over you.

[AbeTheBabe]

$0. I lived with my parents and worked full time for 3 years after college (paid by my parents). My now wife did the same. We got married a couple of months before PA school, moved to a different state, and had enough saved up to pay the $80k for school and she worked full time which covered our expenses during my school.

[anewconvert]

It's hard to beat the guaranteed return of 7%+ from paying back those grad plus loans.  I would say IF one chooses to do both, it should only be to max one's Roth IRA(or backdoor Roth) since it's a use it or lose it scenario.  The exception to this would be if someone has low loan interest rates that the market would likely outperform, but even in that situation one has to look at the psychological benefits of not having soul-crushing amounts of debt looming over you.

Your age is going to play in significantly on this as well.  The further you are from retirement the more impact those early payments to your fund have.  Even at 7%, you are probably paying that on a 10 year schedule.  The interest is only going to apply for so long.  40 years of compounded interest on that extra $500 a month you throw at your retirement is going to mean a whole lot more than the lost money from not paying your loan down as fast.

 

Long way of saying don't neglect your retirement for your loans.

[tmac12]

So what is the ball park of your starting salary and how much do you put into loans? One of the benefits of doing PA is because it is a smart choice financially, but some of the loans I am seeing you guys have is quite a lot. If someone were to pay it off aggressively while living at home with parents how fast can that be paid off? Ballpark with average starting salary numbers.

[DogLovingPA]

30% of my take home/net pay goes towards my student loan payment (oh and I work two jobs).  That's on the 10 year repayment plan with ~130K in loans (all from PA school). 

[mackjacks]

 even in that situation one has to look at the psychological benefits of not having soul-crushing amounts of debt looming over you.

 

That. And the flexibility of being loan-free. We may be moving to India for a few years for SO's job, so I want the loans gone. Additionally, when you are paying almost $1000 of your monthly payment towards interest it makes more sense to aggressively tackle the debt. Once the principle is significantly less in 2-3 years I'll reassess.