I was lucky when I did my first degree. Back then, I was in the economic bracket that received a Full Grant - so I had my tuition completely paid for. So, mostly, I just needed living expenses and was, mostly, OK money-wise as long as I kept my spending reasonably under control. After 3 years I was in debt to the bank for a little under £1K which I managed to pay off as soon as I got my first job. I'm not sure if I'd have been able to go to University these days. Of course, when I did my post-graduate degrees I was in full-time employment so could afford them comparatively easily.
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One of my best friends recently finished her PhD, but after she'd paid off a third her loans were forgiven because she works for the state. I'm back in grad school but taking things very slow -- one class at a time and paying in cash.
BTW, Happy Battle of Britain day!
I still chuckle about paying for my first Masters. It was back when you had to physically show up and pay, rather than (later) doing everything online. I got to the person taking details and she asked me who my sponsor was, so I said Me. How are you paying, she asked... So I handed over my Gold Visa Card.... [rotflmao]
I had loans for both my Bachelor's and Master's. I started paying on them when the time came, but once I was pregnant with Eleanor, I had to put them on hold to take care of medical bills. Then when she was six weeks we discovered her kidney issues and after a week stay in the hospital at 6 weeks old, her first surgery at 3 months, and her second at three years, hospital bills were through the roof. I didn't start paying on them again until a couple years before Covid, and luckily we got the credit for paying, even if we stopped payments due to Covid. Keep in mind, loans combined were about $140K. In May I received a letter saying all my loans had been forgiven and I ugly cried for hours. I still can't believe it. Such a blessing.
My Masters degrees were both pretty cheap. I did them both part-time (over 2 years each) and they cost around £1500 per year, which isn't that bad in the scheme of things. A £1500 scratch-card win during my first MA really helped but I wasn't feeling much financial strain during the second one after a few pay raises between them.
But $140K...... JEEEEEEEEZE!!! Just that number alone floors me!!! No wonder you 'ugly' cried. I'm thinking about doing that right now on your behalf!!
Hold onto your britches, my debt was $180k. The BS was fully funded, the debt was for an MA in history, a masters in environmental law, and a law degree. I worked as a lawyer for a number of years when I discovered I could either pour all my earnings into these high interest loans for 30 years or work for the state and have all but the private loans forgiven in 10 years. I ended up waiting 12 years to apply for forgiveness because nothing was being forgiven while Trump was in office. I had the federal loans forgiven and am within 2 years or so of paying off the private loans.
Incredible. How do people become educated in your country?
Therein lies our problem, because most people can’t afford higher education, we end up with an an uneducated populace with no critical thinking skills who are easily manipulated.
What an unfortunately coincidence....!
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