Student Loans SUCK.
Once upon a time, my husband and I were extraordinarily stupid and went to a school that obliged us to take out massive student loans. We were at least lucky in that our repayment is contingent upon our income, but it still means a chunk of money the size of a house payment gets sucked away every month. And, given my salary, I don't make enough to pay down the interest that accrues, so my loan actually increases every month. It's very funny; the loan balance has now increased to the point that it equals an entire extra year at that thrice-cursed place.
It used to be that the Income Contingent Repayment Plan claimed 15% of one's income. Not bad, when it gets down to it, and definitely preferable to the alternative plans that would have our payments in the thousands per month by now. But now, the percentage has gone up to 20%. And, in their happy little calculation chart, they estimate that the borrower will be seeing a 5% increase in income every year. They don't assume that, thank gawd, else we'd be utterly screwed, but it gave me a brief moment of mirthless amusement at the government's assumptions regarding an individual's income.
So this year, even if our income goes up, the loan payments go up even more.
The moral of the story? Don't take out student loans. Just. Don't.
Or, in our case, don't be stupid enough to go to a school that DOESN'T HAVE A GORRAM SCHOLARSHIP OR ASSISTANTSHIP PROGRAM.
Especially in graduate school, if they are not paying you to be there, IT'S NOT WORTH IT. Seriously. It's not.
It used to be that the Income Contingent Repayment Plan claimed 15% of one's income. Not bad, when it gets down to it, and definitely preferable to the alternative plans that would have our payments in the thousands per month by now. But now, the percentage has gone up to 20%. And, in their happy little calculation chart, they estimate that the borrower will be seeing a 5% increase in income every year. They don't assume that, thank gawd, else we'd be utterly screwed, but it gave me a brief moment of mirthless amusement at the government's assumptions regarding an individual's income.
So this year, even if our income goes up, the loan payments go up even more.
The moral of the story? Don't take out student loans. Just. Don't.
Or, in our case, don't be stupid enough to go to a school that DOESN'T HAVE A GORRAM SCHOLARSHIP OR ASSISTANTSHIP PROGRAM.
Especially in graduate school, if they are not paying you to be there, IT'S NOT WORTH IT. Seriously. It's not.