Not including graduate courses, how much debt were you in when you finished getting your college degree?
Please include:
[ul]
[li]Year Graduated or Expected[/li][li]Number of years in school[/li][li]Public or Private[/li][li]Degree Earned[/li][li]Any other information you’d like to offer[/li][/ul]
Thanks in advance!
Please check out my other thread in IMHO…
Year graduated: 1984
Number of years in school: 4
Private school.
Degree earned: B.S.
Student debt upon graduation: about $8000
Ed
Year graduated: 1992
Number of years in school: 5 (3 in community college, 2 in university).
Public schools.
Degree earned: B.A.
College-incurred debt: $0.00
I graduated, after 5.5 years of full time attendance, from The University of Texas with a B.A. in 1980 with no debt. I paid as I went and worked full time most of the way.
And lived cheaply.
While I was there, the school published a study that included the fact that students who worked had better GPAs.
Year Graduated or Expected: 1995
Number of years in school: 4
Public or Private: Private
Degree Earned: BA
I had about $15k in student loan debt and $10k in credit card debt. About $6500 of that CC debt primarily came from the purchase of plane tickets home for school vacations and class books. My parents took out PLUS loans, but I don’t know how much.
Year graduated: Me: 1997, Wife: 2001
Number of years in school: Both 4 years
Type of school: Both private (same school)
Degree earned: Both BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts)
Total college-incurred debt: $90,000
I don’t want to talk about it.:mad:
Year Graduated or Expected: 1998
Number of years in school: 4
Public or Private: Public
Degree Earned: BS Eng
College-incurred debt: $17,000.00 (max Direct loans, basically)
Years to pay off: 4
Year Expected to graduate with B.S.: 2004
Number of years in school: 3
Public university
Degree: Animal Sciences, minors in zoology and Portuguese
College-incurred debt: None for me so far, I get scholarship and parental allowance, and I live cheap.
1988
4 years
Private
BS Engineering
Zero debt (full ride ROTC)
KarlGrenze - How were your payments?
Year expected to graduate: 2005
Years in school: 5
Public University
Degree: BS in Aerospace-Maintenance Management
In addition to the degree:
FAA Mechanic, Airframe and Powerplant ratings
Flight Instructor - Airplane
Flight Instructor - Instrument Airplane
Flight Instructor - MultiEngine Airplane
Endorsements:
Tailwheel
High Performance
High Altitude
Complex Aircraft
I pay for the tuition and books myself. I will borrow a total of $30k for the flying, most of which I have done already.
UG:
Year Graduated: 1997
Number of years in school: 5
Public or Private: Public
Degree Earned: BA
Debt: $0
Grad:
Year Graduated: 2002
Number of years in school: 5
Public or Private: Public
Degree Earned: PhD
Debt: $38,000
First, I would like to thank the insane cost of living in the bay area for this debt. And to my supporters at berkeley, thank for the below the poverty line stipend. Oh, and i cant forget to thank the berkeley city council for rescinding rent control. That REALLY helped me, thank you. Should i also thank jezus/god? 
General Questions is for questions with factual answers. IMHO is for polls and such-like. Since this is a poll, I’ll move it to IMHO for you.
Off to IMHO.
DrMatrix - GQ Moderator
UNLV
Year to Graduate: 2004
Number of years in school (at graduation): 4.5
Public or Private: Public
Degree: B.S. in Environmental Geology
Debt: Just hit the $10,000 mark.
My husband works full time, I work parttime, and we only have the two little ones in part time day care.
Payments?
Year graduated 1987
Number of years 5
Public
Degree B.S. in psychology
Debt- None
Expected to graduate 2006
4 years
Private
Juris Doctor… aka imma be a lawyer
Debt- $60,000 already, will be close to $120,000 at the end…
yuck.
Western Michigan University
Expected Grad Date: Dec 2004
Time: 5.5 years (2 at community college, a huge waste of time and money)
State funded
B.A. in Secondary Education (English/Political Science)
Debt: Around $30,000 so far, but I have an expensive apartment and a girlfriend, and a nasty lacrosse habit that’s expensive. I expect to be about $60,000 in debt upon graduation. These figures include my credit cards and computer loan.
Undergrad:
Graduated Spring 1990
Time: 5 years
State School
Degree: BS-History (Developing World), Minor: Mass Comm
Debt at Graduation: $0
I’ve often thought that more people (not necessarily the ones here) should consider college on a cost-benefit basis. Will incurring the debt making long term living easier or harder?
Example: I got accepted to Harvard with a free ride my first year. Sitting pretty, eh?
Except it would cost another $60K or so for the other 3 years and I had no idea what I wanted to study or even if I wanted to go to college. I was a middle class 18 year old…we went to college because that’s what one did?
But I couldn’t justify that expense without having an end game payoff. If I was just going to study liberal arts then being that far in debt wasn’t worth it. If I’d wanted to go into law or medicine or some other high-end high-pay occupation it would be worth it.
So instead I chose the small, cheap state school, got out with no debt, and began making my way in the world.
Year Graduated or Expected:
1999
Number of years in school:
2 and 1/2 after 5 years Jr college
Public or Private:
Public, but out of state.
Degree Earned:
BS in Computer Engineering.
Any other information you’d like to offer:
30 grand in the hole. Stay in state.