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INgolfer

INgolfer

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So I'm just finishing my associates degree...gonna take the summer off and begin my bachelors in the fall. I'm majoring in business management because I think there is just a wide range of career choices to choose from in that field. Anyway, I've worked full time since I was 20 so I don't qualify for any scholarships or grants. I'm in the process of getting pre-approved for a house and the guy needs to know how much my loan payments are gonna be once I finish school in 2 years...so I look and so far my payments are already about $250. I'm close to 30k in school debt for 18 months at the university of phoenix, but I am looking for somewhere cheaper to finish my degree online. I'm already freaking out because with the way the economy is I'm scared I won't be able to find a better job to help pay for school when I get out! I know its pretty early to freak out about it, but i'm married and there is no way I can afford $400 in school payments on top of my bills now if I stay at the same job I'm at in 2 years. Argh! I just needed to vent a little. Anyone else here in college worried about what's gonna happen to us when we graduate?
 
I feel your pain...kinda. I'm not married/don't have too many bills other than an almost paid off car and a phone bill since i'm staying at home until i'm booted out (because there's no way I can afford a place without taking more loans out). I was lucky enough to have no debt after 4 years of undergraduate but I am in my first year of medical school and already have nearly 50k of debt. Every time I think about it I start wondering if i'll be living with my mom forever until I can pay it off especially with the direction obama wants to take healthcare. So, I feel your pain. Hope everything works out for you. Best of luck.
 
I just finished first year but I'm only 19. Half of my university is being paid for from savings so I'm not too worried about debt. I'm just worried about getting through all 4-5 years never mind finding a job after.
 
I went to a liberal arts school for 6 years. My loan payments are well into 4 figures a month. I 1000% feel your pain... I have a mortgage but somehow misplaced the house.
 
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I'm hoping when I get done I can find a job that has tuition reimbursement in their benefits package. That would make life so much easier. I know they usually only cover a portion of it but that's better than nothing!
 
Wow rxgus 5 figures a month!? I had a friend who was already pretty financially struggling when he finished school and ended up filing bankruptcy less than a year later. Bankruptcy wont clear any of his school loans. Not that that was my plan I just thought it was interesting. Im glad to hear I'm not the only one in this boat though. Thanks for the encouragement guys!
 
Well- as I said, I have a mortgage payment without having a house. Loan totals are north of 200k.
I do well financially and am not in any danger of bankruptcy. Life is stable and good, just expensive!

My education was worth every penny and I love my job... alls well that ends well, right?
 
The economy is cyclical, it will come back, make your plans and stick to them but be flexible enough to take advantage of a good opportunity. I graduated with a degree in fine art but ended up working as a regional manager for a retail chain because I couldn't stand the starving artist routine any more. Then I changed everything at age 40 and started selling printing. You never know what you are going to have to deal with so be happy, don't worry, be nice to your friends, be smart, don't be a sucker for anyone or anything and try not to control things you can't control it will just stress you out and won't change anything. Things you worry about today will evaporate with time, that much I know for sure.
 
INgolfer said:
Wow rxgus 5 figures a month!? I had a friend who was already pretty financially struggling when he finished school and ended up filing bankruptcy less than a year later. Bankruptcy wont clear any of his school loans. Not that that was my plan I just thought it was interesting. Im glad to hear I'm not the only one in this boat though. Thanks for the encouragement guys!
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Ignore me. I apparently can't count to 4.

::gets another beer::
 
pjcedog said:
The economy is cyclical, it will come back, make your plans and stick to them but be flexible enough to take advantage of a good opportunity. I graduated with a degree in fine art but ended up working as a regional manager for a retail chain because I couldn't stand the starving artist routine any more. Then I changed everything at age 40 and started selling printing. You never know what you are going to have to deal with so be happy, don't worry, be nice to your friends, be smart, don't be a sucker for anyone or anything and try not to control things you can't control it will just stress you out and won't change anything. Things you worry about today will evaporate with time, that much I know for sure.
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Wise words, my man. Actually some very good points in there. Thanks for the advice.
 
College loans are nothing compared to the costs of having a child with medical problems. Ours spent his first couple of weeks in the NICU and it would blow your mind to know how much that costs. Then throw on top of that the bimonthly MRI's he had to have with the pediatric urologist in Charlotte, then throw on top of that the antibiotics he was on for his first 18 months, then find out he has to have tubes put in his ears, and that after that procedure, he got pneumonia and held fluid in his lungs so he had to have breathing treatments every 3 hours for 6 months.

Yeah, life is stressful, but the important thing is that we are all healthy, able bodied and live in a place where we can actually go out and earn money.
 
TC said:
College loans are nothing compared to the costs of having a child with medical problems. Ours spent his first couple of weeks in the NICU and it would blow your mind to know how much that costs. Then throw on top of that the bimonthly MRI's he had to have with the pediatric urologist in Charlotte, then throw on top of that the antibiotics he was on for his first 18 months, then find out he has to have tubes put in his ears, and that after that procedure, he got pneumonia and held fluid in his lungs so he had to have breathing treatments every 3 hours for 6 months.

Yeah, life is stressful, but the important thing is that we are all healthy, able bodied and live in a place where we can actually go out and earn money.
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WOW, TC, I didn't know any of that, I'm so glad everyone is happy and healthy . That story really makes me happy I live in Canada!
 
coolbreeze said:
WOW, TC, I didn't know any of that, I'm so glad everyone is happy and healthy . That story really makes me happy I live in Canada!
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Dude, I don't even want to get started on the U.S. health care system.

Yeah, we were put behind the 8 ball right out of the gates dude. You'd die if you knew what I paid a month for a 2 1/2 year old's health care. It's a joke.
 
TC said:
College loans are nothing compared to the costs of having a child with medical problems. Ours spent his first couple of weeks in the NICU and it would blow your mind to know how much that costs. Then throw on top of that the bimonthly MRI's he had to have with the pediatric urologist in Charlotte, then throw on top of that the antibiotics he was on for his first 18 months, then find out he has to have tubes put in his ears, and that after that procedure, he got pneumonia and held fluid in his lungs so he had to have breathing treatments every 3 hours for 6 months.

Yeah, life is stressful, but the important thing is that we are all healthy, able bodied and live in a place where we can actually go out and earn money.
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Wow that is crazy TC! I didn't know you went through all that with Foster. I am so glad everything is good now.
 
Luckily the military paid for a good portion of my student loans and will for a portion of my future student loans. My work also pays some for college classes and continuing education.
 
TC said:
College loans are nothing compared to the costs of having a child with medical problems. Ours spent his first couple of weeks in the NICU and it would blow your mind to know how much that costs. Then throw on top of that the bimonthly MRI's he had to have with the pediatric urologist in Charlotte, then throw on top of that the antibiotics he was on for his first 18 months, then find out he has to have tubes put in his ears, and that after that procedure, he got pneumonia and held fluid in his lungs so he had to have breathing treatments every 3 hours for 6 months.

Yeah, life is stressful, but the important thing is that we are all healthy, able bodied and live in a place where we can actually go out and earn money.
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When you put it that way college loans seem miniscule. My prayers go out to you TC.

Nevertheless, I would look @ working on finding a local college that will offer online and in class classes. It may be a bit tougher to work with your schedule but local school especially "state schools" will be a bit cheaper than schools like "University of Phoenix and Devry." These "private" online schools are "for profit" universities and charge through the nose.
 
TC said:
Dude, I don't even want to get started on the U.S. health care system.

Yeah, we were put behind the 8 ball right out of the gates dude. You'd die if you knew what I paid a month for a 2 1/2 year old's health care. It's a joke.
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I'm sure I would, but I would sell everything I own, and go into MASSIVE DEBT if I had to, to make sure my child was healthy as you have obviously done. On this topic, when I was done my degree I was left with about $40,000 in debt which is now down to about $15,000.
 
Just wait for grad classes. I just got a bill in for over a $1000 for 2 summer school classes that are online. NICE!
 
dmb012 said:
Just wait for grad classes. I just got a bill in for over a $1000 for 2 summer school classes that are online. NICE!
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No grad school for me, they go enough of my money.
 
I went to college on the GI bill, which covered most of it. After a few years working I eventually landed a job with a company that had tuition reimbursement, which helped with grad school.
 
Wow, what a difference a generation or so makes. I went to college from August of 1980 to July of 1982.

When I got done with school (went two years and got an associates degree), my student loans were $3,000. I had a grant for $500 a year and with working part time during my second year, with some mercy checks from home once a month, I got off pretty easy. I think my total schooling cost about $5,000. So I came up with about half of the other grand and my folks paid the other half a grand. (In addition to a 20 spot here and there whenever they were feeling extra generous plus my part time work)

Of course, I didn't go to a Division I school. I went to an NAIA D2 school. A few years after I was done, they moved up to NCAA D2, so I assume the tuition costs and all things associated also went up.
 
As some one who has more school debt than you could possibly fathom, I would say be smart but do not change your dreams because of education costs. Just make it happen. If you are interested, there are repayment programs that can benefit people who struggle to make their monthly student loan payments. Specifically I would check out the Income Based Repayment program (IBR). It is not for everyone, but there are a lot of people that it works for.
 
Definitely go the state school route if you can. It might take you more than two years to finish but night classes aren't so bad. Also look for scholarships everywhere because there is tons of money available it's just a matter of finding it.
 
dmb012 said:
Just wait for grad classes. I just got a bill in for over a $1000 for 2 summer school classes that are online. NICE!
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My classes are in 9 week blocks, two classes at a time, and I pay $1000 per class, so pretty much $2000 per 9 weeks. That's just for associates classes. Tuition almost doubles for bachelors classes at U of Phoenix online
 
INgolfer said:
My classes are in 9 week blocks, two classes at a time, and I pay $1000 per class, so pretty much $2000 per 9 weeks. That's just for associates classes. Tuition almost doubles for bachelors classes at U of Phoenix online
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Ouch! I am doing my masters through a state school. Appalachian State University. I think it will cost about $5000 in total. Not to bad, but I will be able to pay it off in two years with the raise we get from a having a masters. My school system also reimburses a $1000 a year. That is not to bad either. I didn't realize U of Phoenix was that expensive.
 
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