I had to complete a project for my math class tonight. The objective was to take my student loan and, using the current interest rate, calculate how much my loan payments would be during the given repayment period.
My Stafford loan requires repayment over a ten-year period, and the current interest rate is 3.42% with a cap of 8.25%. Not bad.
He pointed us to a handy payment calculator on a student loan website, so I put all of the information in and hit "Calculate".
Shortly after that, I stared at the amount on the screen. It was sort of what I expected, but seeing it in raw figures made my heart stop.
The other handy aspect of the calculator is that it will tell you, "You need to make X amount per year to afford these payments, assuming the payments are 10% of your income. Assuming 15%, you could make X amount per year, but you might experience financial difficulties."
No shit.
So anyway, I explored the base salary for my chosen career options on the Department of Labor's website. I became a bit more optimistic, but finding a job in my field (English) isn't quite as easy as say, nursing, and doesn't pay as much.
It's not hopeless, though. If I make a bit more than I am as a non-degree editor, which I can even as a substitute teacher, I can afford my loan payments on top of rent, the car, food, and such, but my budget is going to be about what it is now.
Fucked.
So, I'm doing some more research into which would be more beneficial - going onto grad school to get a masters and Ph.D. so I can get a job teaching at a college or university, completing a teacher certification program (about a year-ish) so I can get a job in a public school (not preferred, but easier to find jobs), or completing a masters in library science/information systems so I can get a job at a county, school, or university library.
All three pay about the same, except for a tenured professor position, but then we have to figure in the extra money paid in for graduate school loans.
The fourth option is to just scrap it, do a second bachelors in my minor (Psychology), finish a doctorate program in that, and make twice as much as a teacher or librarian.
Heh...
My Stafford loan requires repayment over a ten-year period, and the current interest rate is 3.42% with a cap of 8.25%. Not bad.
He pointed us to a handy payment calculator on a student loan website, so I put all of the information in and hit "Calculate".
Shortly after that, I stared at the amount on the screen. It was sort of what I expected, but seeing it in raw figures made my heart stop.
The other handy aspect of the calculator is that it will tell you, "You need to make X amount per year to afford these payments, assuming the payments are 10% of your income. Assuming 15%, you could make X amount per year, but you might experience financial difficulties."
No shit.
So anyway, I explored the base salary for my chosen career options on the Department of Labor's website. I became a bit more optimistic, but finding a job in my field (English) isn't quite as easy as say, nursing, and doesn't pay as much.
It's not hopeless, though. If I make a bit more than I am as a non-degree editor, which I can even as a substitute teacher, I can afford my loan payments on top of rent, the car, food, and such, but my budget is going to be about what it is now.
Fucked.
So, I'm doing some more research into which would be more beneficial - going onto grad school to get a masters and Ph.D. so I can get a job teaching at a college or university, completing a teacher certification program (about a year-ish) so I can get a job in a public school (not preferred, but easier to find jobs), or completing a masters in library science/information systems so I can get a job at a county, school, or university library.
All three pay about the same, except for a tenured professor position, but then we have to figure in the extra money paid in for graduate school loans.
The fourth option is to just scrap it, do a second bachelors in my minor (Psychology), finish a doctorate program in that, and make twice as much as a teacher or librarian.
Heh...VIEW 9 of 9 COMMENTS
ps - A library/info program shouldn't be that hard or time-consuming to get through.
[Edited on Oct 04, 2003]