Is a college loan worth the expense of student loans?

@wsue1023 (1395)
United States
March 19, 2007 1:27pm CST
I knew a woman a few years back struggling to complete law school, nowhere near the top of her class, who had already accumulated $90,000 in student loans! I have friends with college degrees who owe thousands, I still owe $4,000 and graduated in 1997... is it worth it? Suppose it has more to do with how successful you are after you graduate, but a lot of professionals suffer for years trying to pay down credit cards and student loan debt. What's your opinion on this?
2 responses
@amarie (170)
• United States
19 Mar 07
I owe 30,000. I'm currently in graduate school. For me it's totally worth it. I'm the first in my family to graduate with a degree. I look at the money as an investment. I'm investing in my family's future. So even if I'm not able to pay it back, I've set a stepping stone for my family. So, yes it's worth it. Just try not to reach 90,000.
@wsue1023 (1395)
• United States
19 Mar 07
Congrats on being the first in you family to get a degree! That's something to be proud of for sure! Good for you! ;) Hope you do well with your career!
@wsue1023 (1395)
• United States
19 Mar 07
Community college first is an excellent recommendation. I wish I'd done that. I wanted to get as far from home as possible without leaving the state, but that was silly! It ended up taking me longer than it should have to graduate because I transfered from one university to another and lost some of my credits. I did graduate and have my loans paid down $10,000 to $4,000 so that's not too bad.
@amarie (170)
• United States
19 Mar 07
Thanks!!! I'm a full time employee for the school. Actually, I recruit other students to go there. I go to grad school for free. My university pays for two classes a semester. It has taken me a while to get my masters but I'm only 15 hours aways. There are ways you can go to school. If I had it to do over again, I would probably go to community college first. That way I wouldn't have incurred so much cost. Most of my student loan money wasn't from the need to pay tuition. It was from the need to help pay the bills in my family.
@fallie (74)
• United States
19 Mar 07
I am an attorney and I have almost 100k in student loans. Right now, I'm not too stressed because I have gotten to study and learn so much these past few years. I know I will be paying them off forever, but for me my education was totally worth it. I am getting my master's degree now and it is mostly paid for with my assistantship. I do dread paying off the loans, but it was worth it to have these few years of exploration and learning.
@wsue1023 (1395)
• United States
19 Mar 07
I meant to say, college education, not college loan! Sorry for my mistake. Sorry you owe so much. I appreciate your comments. Hope you make enough to live comfortably even while paying that debt down! I wish you well.