In the End: Do you feel like student loans were worth it?

[Kamakazi]

Hey guys,
I am officially in my final semester of college (after 5 years thank God), and recently finished all of my "Exit Counseling" for my student loans. Due to my major, I did end up attending one of the most expensive universities in my state. I payed for it mostly on my own (with loans) with a little help from my parents in the last few years. Long story short, I owe a grand total of about $52,000 with varying interest rates (they jumped around a lot in the past 5 years).

The past few days, I have found myself wondering if it was really worth all that money. I am currently working in my career already (have been for about a year while I finish my last few credits). I really do like my job and the company I work for, but I also do not feel as though I'm good at it - but I do realize that a lot of adjusting and learning as you go is a big part of starting your career.

So my question to my fellow graduates (or anyone with an opinion on the matter really), do you feel like the debt was worth it for your education?

[BellaJane]

Nope. But I finished my undergrad several years ago, just when the student loan crisis was really coming to a head and tuition was skyrocketing. We were told that if we didn't go to college then we would never be able to do anything. Nobody thought twice about signing up for all of these loans because we were promised that our interest rates would be "next to nothing" and that paying it back would be easy. University counselors made a lot of promises that they ended up not being able to keep. ((Hopefully they're not permitted to spread that kind of misinformation any longer.)) My tuition more than doubled by my third year. My school decided midway through my fourth year that my transfer credits couldn't count towards my major, so l had to go an extra year. I was never eligible for financial aid. The 3.5% interest rate that I was promised ballooned to 8.9% by the time I graduated.

I'm not one of those people who don't want to pay back the money I borrowed...but the way things are going, I am going to end up paying almost double my principal balance in interest alone.

So...I don't think it was worth it at all. I have friends who thought they were being rebellious by not going to college and now they're making the same amount of money that I'm making, they can afford to have children, they can afford to buy homes. I got a "good education" that was supposed to take me far in life...and I can't even afford to live.

Hindsight is 20/20.

[Guest]

I'd rather be educated and broke than not educated.

[Layla0606]

Thank baby jesus I am from an eastern european country and I didnt have to take up any loans whatsoever so I can't relate. But then again even without a debt I often wonder is it even worth it to get a degree in a world where good relationships, looks, reputation etc are more important when getting hired than what you actually know/worth.

[Rissa9416]

Yes. I do not regret the school I went to or what I studied. College is overly expensive or the US just needs to do a better job with funding so that we all have opportunity to go to school. I got good grades in high school and college, so each year was half grants/scholarships and the other half loans. I am a teacher in the US, I still have to pay back my loans but I don’t have to make a monthly payment this year because my loan company sees that I don’t make enough. It’s ridiculous that teachers in some states aren’t compensated well enough to pay off their loans. There is loan forgiveness available up to certain amount of you meet some criteria for years taught at a Title 1 School.