I am 30 and a few years ago decided to change careers and go back to school for an associates degree, I already had a bachelors degree. I had to take out a small loan ($5000) to pay for school. I finished this summer, got a better job with my associates degree in September. I just paid off the loan 1 day before my grace period ended, so I didn't pay any interest on it. I'm not going to lie it felt good to stick it to the man just a little bit. I know he will get me back on down the line though.

"The man" won't have anything on you if you stay out of debt and avoid big mistakes like divorce, etc.

Enjoy it, I'll be stuck with them likely for a long long time.

The good Lord blessed me with a full scholarship in undergrad, and a grant in grad school, so I'll graduate next Spring with a master's debt free.

Yep, if it wasn't for full academic scholarship in undergrad, I'd never be able to repay them. I'll probably be around 280K by the end. Should have gone to med school.

From someone who never went to college, holy smokes what are you going to school for??? Are you being funny, or really spending that much for college? What career will you do that will profit on that investment?

I think he's a vet? Yeah, I know couples in the medical field with $500K debt.

I believe he's in vet school? I know a guy that is in dental school and has a wife and child, and will come out owing around $700k

Yep vet school. The schooling is expensive, but the living expenses really hurt. You don't have time to work, except during the summers. So unless you have folks with deep pockets, you basically live off student loans. One of my mentors graduated in 1970 and said vet school was about $400 a quarter then. Now tuition alone is about 16K a semester.

It's a damn shame that colleges charge as much as they do.

Yep, to be honest they've become a lot like the government. A lot of people have high paying jobs that otherwise would be unemployed.

I read a study somewhere about privitizing all colleges, removing all scholarships except merit based, and making students only take those related to their major. It said a college education could be had for like less than $12k total or something.

Damn Got that right! Wonder if college athletes is to blame

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Private high school costs more than that most places...

He may be a dentist, but he doesn't sound like a very smart financial guy. I don't think a single person could incur that much debt if they tried. The max is usually $50K/year or so.

Yea I agree with you odo there are some people that have degrees that should have never got them. I have a friend that just got his masters in education. I'm very proud of him and love the dude to death but I would never want him teaching my kids. It will be hard for him to get a job, he has some emotional, mental health problems. But I will tell you this when I saw him graduate with a masters degree from lsu, I said " that proves to you that if he can do it then anyone can do it and that is not necassarily a good thing."

Well it's all relative. Am I scared to death about having all that debt? Absolutely. But it was the only way to further a career doing what I love and provide for things I love to do. We have a financial consultant we can meet with for free and he tells me horror stories about people. Case in point, a doctor who rolls in around a million a year, and at one point was spending 7K more a month than he made. I don't know how that's possible, but I don't doubt it. It's all about living within your means. I already have a good job lined up, and think I can live extremely below my means for a few years and get it knocked out.

Glad to have graduated debt free. Of course I worked an extra job in the evenings during the summer but it was worth it.

Oh absolutely everyone shouldn't go to college. Hell I've got friends that never went to school who make more money than I will with a doctorate, but they work their ass off. My point was more on line to universities, where they have assistant special assistant to the assistant administrator of campus inclusion. When they run out of money to pay these people, they don't rethink the budget, they go get more money. Unfortunately, people pay it because everyone wants to go to college, and will do whatever it takes to get there.