The Debt That Dare Not Speak Its Name
Thursday, May 28, 2009 at 1:32PM My brother recently posted a link on his Facebook page to the FinAid - The SmartStudent Guide to Financial Aid - calculator, which allows students to calculate what their student loan monthly payments will be and what sort of salary they should have so that their student loan debt isn't a burden. Oh, goody! I was just dying to know what I should be earning so that these student loan payments aren't a burden. They have been feeling a bit heavy lately, you know? This way I can find out what sort of raise I should ask for at my next annual review.
"It is estimated that you will need an annual salary of at least $128,320.80 to be able to afford to repay this loan."
Oh good - it's a totally reasonable amount. Phew. I was worried I'd have to ask for something obscene. /sarcasm *headdesk* My monthly loan payment is less than a hundred dollars short of my monthly rent. Basically, we could be saving up for a house if I didn't have these loans. We could be doing a zillion things if I didn't have these loans.
In order to battle the heart-stopping depression that my loan figures induce, I try to think about all the good things my university degrees have and can provide, like... um... oh, jobs! Yes, I have two jobs thanks to my degrees! Well, except that it's the amount of student loans I have that make it an utter necessity for me to maintain two jobs so that I can make my monthly loan payments. I will say, though, that I feel lucky to enjoy a lot of what my jobs entail, especially the teaching and tutoring aspects. It would be a whole lot worse if I had these degrees and then had to work in a field or department I couldn't feel good about. So at least there's that.
But this debt is a crushing burden and an issue far more complicated than "it's all my fault" or "it's the fault of the current US education system/government policies." There's a lot that goes into amassing debt like this. The only problem is now I'm stuck having to figure out how to maintain these payments while still doing all the things in life I wish to do, like have a baby and buy a home. The easiest route would be to just earn more money. Hopefully my boss will approve my request for a 300% raise.
education, grad school, money, things that make me worry, work in education, work 
Reader Comments (1)
It's nice to hear that I'm not the only one is this situation. Not many of my friends pay more in student loans than they do in rent. Hopefully it will all be worth it in the end :)