I figured i'll be in college for at least another 4 years so i was wondering how much loans you guys had to take to pay off your college. i'm guessing i'll be at least $25000 in debt when i come out
If you go to a state college or inexpensive private college, $25K for four years is possible. An Ivy will set you back way more than that after 4 years. This is assuming you are going to use student or bank loans to pay for those four years.
School was relatively cheap for me since it was before things got very expensive. Junior college was free except for books (which at the time were horribly expensive just like these days) but that was the 1970s. When I transferred to state university, I was among one of the first few years to pay "fees" since they didn't use the term "tuition" then. It was only $250 dollars for dorm and food, three times a year in each trimester so about a grand a year with books for a school year. And yes, books were pricey for that time. I got through about 3 years of college then, dropped out, but had no debt.
Many years later I decided to finish the final year of college but by then it was a lot more expensive and it dug some into the savings account. Classes were $600 dollars for 3 unit class, which was a lot compared to what I made in my day job.
Then, stupidly, I went to grad school with classes (with books) costing $1,500 dollars per 3 unit class. I got good grades but then ended up with debt unlike anything I have ever seen. Previously in my life my idea of debt was anything approaching five hundred dollars and that made me lose sleep at night.
But eventually I learned that grad school, and sometimes even a private college 4 year education, can leave a student tens of thousands in debt from student loans, credit card debt, and/or with a depleted savings account. It's the recession so unless you are with a ton of assets, if you are like me and most people who went to college and/or grad school in the last 20 years, there is some debt attached to that which can range from close to $20K up to a couple of hundred thousand if it's Ivy League (or similarly pricey school) and maybe a master's there, too.
As long as you see your education as an investment, and a great learning experience, it's OK to realize that student debts take time to pay off and in the long run, school costs nothing compared to raising a kid, buying a house, or paying for medical care (whether it's premiums and/or medical bills.)
And on the bright side, college is the only asset in the world, each and every class and/or degree completed, that cannot be taken away from you. You can find a hard run of luck and lose a spouse, child, house, your health, your freedom, or anything that is basically temporary, but your education will be something that once you finish a class or certificate or degree, it's in your asset column forever.
