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About $6,000. I had scholarships out the wazoo thankfully.

74 k

15K in 1997 then another 15K in 2000 for my Masters. I paid them off in full just before I turned thirty. Deeply in debt is a crappy way to spend your twenties.
I got step kids in college now and neither of them had to take out loans during their freshman year. On is on scholarship and the other...not quite scholarship material. I paid room, board, etc for them but I doubt we'll be able to keep that up with no loans while I am in law school.

fewds320 wrote:Penn State blows. I've got $100k in undergraduate debt, and that's the cheapest University in the state of Pennsylvania, and is state-funded. $13-$14k per year for in-state residents is absurd compared to, all 49 other states.

So, 12-14k a year in loans, with another $10k in living expenses each year.. and that was the cheapest option available to me because I had the misfortune of being born in Pennsylvania.

I go to MSU which is around 15k a year for in state undergrads freshman-sophomore 16k for junior-senior level. UofM is way worse which is about 17k for freshman-sophomore 19k for junior seniors. Doesn't include room and board.

I'll graduate with 8k in debt because of my time studying at university of london. Don't regret the debt though, since I'll graduate law school with only 45k in debt.

violinst wrote:

HazelEyes wrote:I knew my parents couldn't afford to pay one dime towards my tuition. I also knew that they never filed their taxes on time and would often withhold financial info for FAFSA on purpose.

Went to a cheap, good, public, city college. Worked full time throughout college, and graduated with less than 4,000 in loans.

Can't imagine why anyone would take out loans over 20,000 for undergrad. It's UNDERGRAD.

I'm also glad I didn't let anyone talk me into taking out crazy loans, like the financial aid office. I worked really hard for 4 years, but now I don't have a shadow hanging over my head.

Why not a subsidized loan? It's interest free as long as you are a student. It's a good investment strategy, and there is no incentive for me to pay off the loan (I could, if I want to right now) until I get out of school completely (being a part-time student also qualifies me for deferments in my case).

As soon as you graduate, you begin paying back. Any idea on the amount you need to repay 20,000+, it's not a pretty sight. Secondly, most people need a co-signer, which I didn't have.

HazelEyes wrote:

violinst wrote:

HazelEyes wrote:I knew my parents couldn't afford to pay one dime towards my tuition. I also knew that they never filed their taxes on time and would often withhold financial info for FAFSA on purpose.

Went to a cheap, good, public, city college. Worked full time throughout college, and graduated with less than 4,000 in loans.

Can't imagine why anyone would take out loans over 20,000 for undergrad. It's UNDERGRAD.

I'm also glad I didn't let anyone talk me into taking out crazy loans, like the financial aid office. I worked really hard for 4 years, but now I don't have a shadow hanging over my head.

Why not a subsidized loan? It's interest free as long as you are a student. It's a good investment strategy, and there is no incentive for me to pay off the loan (I could, if I want to right now) until I get out of school completely (being a part-time student also qualifies me for deferments in my case).

As soon as you graduate, you begin paying back. Any idea on the amount you need to repay 20,000+, it's not a pretty sight. Secondly, most people need a co-signer, which I didn't have.

Which is better than paying while you still are in school. With subsidized loans (no interest while you are at least a part-time student), you can keep your money in a savings/money-market account and earn interest until you can't get more deferments. I have been getting deferments for 5 years and have earned quite some interest. Just as I said, it's a good investment strategy.

Am I the only one who's dumbfounded by the amount of people who are gtting through without any debt whatsoever? I mean, worked through college and everything, but I'm still going to have at least ten thousand in debt at the end of this. Public universities aren't cheap either. College is expensive no matter what you do...thank goodness for that year at community college.

gatorlion wrote:ZERO. I actually made money in college after merit scholarships.

Thanks, Florida Bright Futures!

ditto.

I ended up attending strong, allbeit not a public ivory, state school for undergrad. Although I often regret not going to a much better school, I am very pleased to have graduated undergrad debt free without the assistance of my parents.

15k... pretty good from an undergrad that was 29k per year

How did so many people graduate with no debt?!

OmbreGracieuse wrote:How did so many people graduate with no debt?!

See karmakmsa's post. Thank you, Floridians who play the lottery! I heard that there was an equivalent in Georgia (HOPE scholarship?), but I can't be sure.

Or, TLS could be full of trust-fund babies. Your pick.

karmakmsa wrote:

gatorlion wrote:ZERO. I actually made money in college after merit scholarships.

Thanks, Florida Bright Futures!

ditto.

I'd like to be the 6th person on this thread to affirm the awesomeness of Florida higher education. I graduated high school with a 2.56 unweighted, this qualified me for a scholarship totaling 3/4 of my tuition, that final quarter came out to be around 650$ a semester bill, but pell grants took plenty good care of that and then some. Thanks to AP's and CLEP's I've only had to take 9-12 credit hours per semester for the last three years to graduate, leaving plenty of time for a workstudy job with the track team making 8.50 an hour, 15 hours a week, to surf espn. My life up to this point has been . . . easy