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How long did your student debt take to pay off?
I know it depends on what you did but I want to get a reference of how long it'll take!
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Karin’s Answer
Hi Alexis,
It depends.......how much debt are we talking about, $20000 or $200000? Where is the loan from? What is the interest rate? How is the interest applied? Is it a fixed rate or a flexible raye? How much can you pay back every month?
Preferably you would not take out any loans, or as little as possible. Talk to the financial office, apply to FAFSA. Apply to every scholarship you can think of, and there are many, check your city, your state, professional societies, large companies that would employ people like you (i.e. tech companies if you are in tech, chemical, biotech or medical companies if you are in chemistry, biology, medicine, etc), a parent's or guardian's employer. There are scholarships for certain demographic groups, e.g. women, minorities, first generation etc. Check out ScholarMatch. They are active in the bay area. Apply for work-study on campus. Think about a part-time job when you study and summer jobs. If you develop any skills that you can freelance (e.g. website building), do that.
If you have to take on loans, make sure you compare the conditions carefully (federal, state, banks). Once you have a job, pay as much as you can, i.e. reduce the principal, don't just pay the minimum because that mostly goes to interest and your principal is largely unaffected. Seek financial advice from someone who knows this stuff.
I hope this helps! Good luck!
KP
It depends.......how much debt are we talking about, $20000 or $200000? Where is the loan from? What is the interest rate? How is the interest applied? Is it a fixed rate or a flexible raye? How much can you pay back every month?
Preferably you would not take out any loans, or as little as possible. Talk to the financial office, apply to FAFSA. Apply to every scholarship you can think of, and there are many, check your city, your state, professional societies, large companies that would employ people like you (i.e. tech companies if you are in tech, chemical, biotech or medical companies if you are in chemistry, biology, medicine, etc), a parent's or guardian's employer. There are scholarships for certain demographic groups, e.g. women, minorities, first generation etc. Check out ScholarMatch. They are active in the bay area. Apply for work-study on campus. Think about a part-time job when you study and summer jobs. If you develop any skills that you can freelance (e.g. website building), do that.
If you have to take on loans, make sure you compare the conditions carefully (federal, state, banks). Once you have a job, pay as much as you can, i.e. reduce the principal, don't just pay the minimum because that mostly goes to interest and your principal is largely unaffected. Seek financial advice from someone who knows this stuff.
I hope this helps! Good luck!
KP
Updated
Jerome’s Answer
I was able to pay mine off in about 5 years. I took out loans to get my Bachelors Degree and then deferred them to get an MBA. I landed a job making decent bonuses and just dumped money into the loans every time I got a bonus. Thankfully I was able to get them taken care of much sooner that the anticipated payment dates.