WHAT ARE PEOPLE PAYING EACH MONTH FOR STUDENT LOANS?

[Tri-Delta4Life]

Zero... between DH & I we have 2 BSs (from a private school), 2 MBAs (from a Big 10 school), and 1 MS-is-progress (from a private school)... never taken out a single loan! Grants and scholarships for undergrad and employer tuition reimbursement for the graduate degrees.

160k x2 for BSs
27k x2 for MBAs
48k for MS
= 422k for FREE!

Kills me when I see people taking out crazy loans that will take people 20+ years to pay off

 

[Pixiedustaway]

With all the recent college threads, I was wondering what the average person winds up paying a month in student loans. This obviously varies by person and family financial circumstances, but just thinking about it and wondering what's an average amount?

There is no average. But I paid mine off last year, paying a graduated plan. Dh has over $75k to pay back. I have no idea what he pays each month. It's going to be paid for at least another 15 years.

 

[skittlesrock]

With all the recent college threads, I was wondering what the average person winds up paying a month in student loans. This obviously varies by person and family financial circumstances, but just thinking about it and wondering what's an average amount?

I owe about 8,000 but have it in income based and pay $0 monthly..

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I started off with 40K in student loans (total of 8 loans) & originally my minimum payments started at $350. I have 2 completely paid off. My minimum payments are now $256. If I pay the minimum payment, 2 more will be paid off within the next year and the rest within 5 years. I hope to have them paid off sooner than that.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

We pay about $500 to $600 dollars a month and that is the income based min payment. We have approx. $75,000 dollars in loans. It is quite sad and a hard lesson learned for how DH and I would do things differently. As far as when they will be paid off when DH and I are dead.

So, we're not the only ones! We're working on paying mine off (Bachelor's) but I graduated 11 years ago now. I went back for a few classes here and there because you need(ed) 150 credits to take the CPA exam, but the extra 30 does not have to be at the graduate level. So, there were a few automatic deferments in there, and I didn't care at the time to make payments anyway. I'm down to a balance of about $15,000 but small manageable payments of $144 per month, with 10 years to go at standard repayment.

DH, on the other hand, has grad school loans that are just awful. We didn't really sit and look at the impact of all this debt when he was taking classes. Although he stopped going to school four years ago, with us paying over $500/month since then, he still owes THOUSANDS more than he borrowed in the first place. Not to mention the interest that accrues DAILY at 6.8%, which is basically all the monthly payment covers. We're finally at an income level where we could pay on these more aggressively, but we are choosing to cash flow DD's college instead, so she doesn't start off her adult life saddled with debt.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

$0 didn't borrow, but also didn't finish (have 90 hours). Combination of scholarships, help from parents, tuition reimbursement from my employer, and some of my own $$.

 

[kamik86]

For me about $250 a month. Could be less on other plans but didn't see a reason to stretch it out anymore. I have 2 years at real low interest (2% - these were variable loans I consolidated when I graduated during the recession) and the rest were after they started being fixed rate loans at 6% to be more "fair"

For DH its $50 a month. He only owes like 4K though. I owe more.

 

[kathy884]

I had 127k in student loans when I finished my MBA in 2010. I paid about 3k per month and got it paid off in about 4 years.

Yes, $127k is a lot. Yes it was well worth it.

 

[kathy884]

My nephew is 30 and just finished a PHD. For much of grad school he had a modest stipend to live on. Altogether though he has around $40,000 in debt and now has a job and is paying this off at the rate of $1000 a month, more than my mortgage.

 

[Crystal824]

Between DH and myself, we pay more than our mortgage payment in student loans. We both have law degrees and neither had a college fund. A huge chunk of our income goes to pay these loans. While I enjoy my work if I could do it again, I would not go to law school. It isn't worth it. I could work less, spend more time with our kids, and still have the same standard of living if I had gone into a different profession (teaching for example). I'm in no way trying to imply teachers have an easy job (they don't). I'm just pointing out the hours are less and so is the amount of education required.

 

[SnowWtch]

I'm still paying mine off. I have about $8900 left and pay $293 a month which is more than the minimum since I'm trying to get them paid off as soon as possible. With only one income coming in it's hard to do but it has to be done.

 

[ChiCat]

DH's loan is around $160 per month. I had no student loan debt but I am back in school for a second degree (career change). We are paying some of the tuition out of pocket but the school is expensive so we are taking out loans too. My loan payment after I graduate will be around $500 per month.

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

Me $0. Academic scholarship covered tuition and books and on campus room and a job paid for food and other essentials. DW $0. Small scholarship and parents help for her.

 

[disney1990]

My daughter has two loan payments, one is about $156 and the other is $135.

 

[kelseyjoxo]

Mine is $150 a month. (My dad actually pays it-he paid the first two years). I think its at about 12k.

 

[RDR_BU]

$135 per month. Borrowed about $20K for a private school. First two years were at a community college.

 

[aprilchem]

Thank goodness neither DH nor I have any student loans. I got a full ride to college + spending money in academic scholarships, which was fortunate because my parents hadn't saved anything. My Ph.D. was free, as it was in a science field and I taught classes and did research in exchange for tuition and a stipend. DH worked to save up the money to go to a state school - his parents apparently had saved some money for his college but his father lost it in the stock market the year before DH started. He completed his MS with an assistantship + extra jobs.

So neither of our parents paid anything for our education, and we got out without any loans.

 

[nancygirl1]

My kids will each have payments around $650 a month.

 

[runwad]

This is off topic but I wanted to share in case others haven't thought of this. My DD is a freshman and got a $2,000 unsubsidized loan and a $3,500 subsidized one. We just got our tax refund and with the $2500 educational credit we paid off the 2,000 subsidized loan. We are putting the other $500 from the credit into an account for DD to use to pay back part of her subsidized loan after graduation. We're hoping she comes out with less than 10k in student loan debt.

 

[pintamino]

Student loans are just entering repayment after my Master's.

Around $212/federal/income based. A little over $100/month private.

I have about $97k in federal and an additional $16k in private.

No rush on the federal loans for me. If payments are made on time on YOUR payment schedule for 20 years, the balance is forgiven. I am hoping to get in to a public service position (government, nonprofit - teachers and law enforcement are included, too) where federal loans are forgiven after 10 years. Once I finish my private debt, I'll double down on the private loan.