Student loan payments: get advice and actual numbers here Forum

[Void]

I thought it might be helpful to 0Ls and law students if graduates disclosed their actual monthly payments, their total debt, income level (if willing to disclose) and (if applicable) what kind of payment plan they're on.

Here's my info:

Debt: about $90,000 (despite paying in-state tuition at a low-cost state school and getting a full scholarship for 1L. Dat COA is no joke)
Payments: about $190/month
Income: Less than $60k
Plan: Pay as you earn
Important info: my wife also has a low income and similar amount of federal student loans, which affects the PAYE calculation.
Bonus points: working at a PSLF-elligible job (so best-case scenario I will only have to pay off about 30% of my debt before it is forgiven in 2023)

Mod comments: This thread is intended as a place to compile data about actual debt loads and payments from law school graduates. 0Ls, we hope you find this thread helpful, but remember that this is the Legal Employment forum where 0Ls are not supposed to post. If you have specific questions about anything posted here, this thread would be a better place to ask: http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 8#p7251652

[beach_terror]

Debt: 175k
Payments: 1k minimum (lowest available), additional 3-3.5k/mo for now to the highest interest loan, pay it off, rinse and repeat
Income: over $100k
Plan: 25 year fixed (hope to be done in 4-5 years)
Note: living at home to knock off as much principal as possible until after New Years

[gatorchomps]

As a 0L, this is going to be incredibly helpful; thank you!

[Void]

As a 0L, this is going to be incredibly helpful; thank you!

No prob- I would have loved to see this info when I was a 0L. I just hope more grads chime in.

[mehiguess]

This thread is invaluable. **subscribed**

[philosoraptor]

Debt: A little under $150K, plus $12K bar loan
Payments: A little over $1,700, trying to get it closer to $1,200 for now so I can prioritize dat credit card debt
Income: $160K me, ~$45K wife
Plan: Split between graduated 10-year and graduated 25-year; hoping to be done much faster; no prepayment penalty
Important info: Wife has over $100K LS debt as well but is planning on getting a Ph.D. and paying only interest during that time
Note: Currently living in an unnecessarily expensive area; planning on moving soon. Also somehow need to get a new car within a year.

0Ls: I got extremely lucky to land biglaw, and I can only hope I like it enough to stay long-term. This is a ton of debt for someone who's been about as fortunate as you can be, and many of you will wind up with almost double this if you pay sticker. It's going to take a long time to pay off, during which time our credit is not going to be good enough to get ideal mortgage rates and car loan rates. I know this doesn't mean much to you now, but when you actually have to think about it, it's stressful. My family will be counting on me to make enough (sustainably) to get us out of this massive debt. Every five-figure bonus I get in the next seven years will have to go straight to my creditors; enjoying it would be irresponsible. Please, please consider whether you want to put yourself in this position for a risky law degree.

Props to Void for trying to make this issue more real for 0Ls.

[ReelectClayDavis]

Debt: $100,000
Job: PSLF-eligible
Income: $47K taxable between me and my spouse
Plan: Pay as you earn
Payments: TBD (see below)

Warning for those going on PAY-E: your lender may have no idea how to answer even the most basic questions about enrolling in the program, what documentation you need to provide, whether as a future joint tax filer you must provide spousal income in advance, etc. I am having a bear of a time getting them to finally process my application.

[gk101]

Debt: 156k when I graduated in 2012 plus about 9k in interest
Income: 160k
Payments: 800/month on IBR (based on stub year calculation) I did this so I could throw as much money as possible at high interest loans first. This number will jump significantly up next year so I will probably change it to 10 yr standard repayment plan.

Under a 10 yr plan I would be paying about 2000 per month.

After I built an emergency fund, I started throwing all my extra money at the loans. In the last 11 months I have paid about $30k in student loans and my principle is still 145k+. The tyranny of 7.9%

Edited for accuracy

[thewaves]

checking in, thanks guys

[cannibal ox]

This is great information to have. Thanks to all the contributors for their honesty and willingness to help future students make informed decisions.

[mehiguess]

This is great information to have. Thanks to all the contributors for their honesty and willingness to help future students make informed decisions.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Mod note: I have moved this topic to the Legal Employment Forum because I think it might get more responses if people can post their numbers anonymously. 0Ls, generally you are not allowed to post in the Legal Employment forum, but you are more than welcome to read here, and "thanks" comments and the like are not a problem.

[Anonymous User]

Debt: 60k (includes interest)
Payments: Minimum around 700 (I think), but I'll be putting 1.5k/mo toward the loans
Income: 175k (combined w/ wife's salary)
Plan: 10 year, but hope to pay it off in 5 years
Note: I could put more per month towards loans but we are saving for a down payment, putting a small amount away per month for an emergency fund, and contributing 5% to my firm's 401k

[Anonymous User]

Law School Debt: 0 - scholarship and went at night

Mortgage = $2100 a month, but working to pay it off in less than 30 year

Salary = $120k

[Anonymous User]

Debt: around 66K with scholarships
Income : 160K

Paid off within 10 months of biglaw. Paid about 20K after 2L SA employment, knocking total down to $46K, did TA/RA while 2L/3L which knocked off another $10K. Paid around $36K within 10 months of biglaw by being incredibly stingy. Wife works and helped with bills which helped, but I paid for rent.

Currently have $30K in the bank and another $20K in 401K. Live in NYC.

[Anonymous User]

Debt: ~140k plus bar loan
Payments: 400/month on IBR
Income: 85k

My job is PSLF eligible so I don't pay a penny more than IBR requires, and a portion of my payment is covered by a LRAP program. I probably pay around $90 a month or so.

[Anonymous User]

Debt: ~$90k
Payments: a little under $600/mo
Income: ~$80k (PSLF eligible fed job)
Plan: IBR

[Anonymous User]

Debt: ~$200k (T14 on full loans is rather expensive)
Income: ~$66k (fed clerk) + spouse ~$100k (my spouse has non-IBR eligible student loans)
Payments: ~$1200/month (IBR) (~ 1/3 of my take home)

Clerking is a pretty expensive endeavor, and law schools don't really help you. If I had any other government job, my school would cover much of my payment by a LRAP program.

The experiences I'm getting through my two clerkships are great, and probably worthwhile, but I'll be quite far behind the ball when I'm actually able to start making a real dent in my loans. My post-clerkship goal is to pay ~$40-50k / year on my loans until I pay them off.

[Void]

Debt: ~$200k (T14 on full loans is rather expensive)
Income: ~$66k (fed clerk) + spouse ~$100k (my spouse has non-IBR eligible student loans)
Payments: ~$1200/month (IBR) (~ 1/3 of my take home)

Clerking is a pretty expensive endeavor, and law schools don't really help you. If I had any other government job, my school would cover much of my payment by a LRAP program.

The experiences I'm getting through my two clerkships are great, and probably worthwhile, but I'll be quite far behind the ball when I'm actually able to start making a real dent in my loans. My post-clerkship goal is to pay ~$40-50k / year on my loans until I pay them off.

Or you could try for a PSLF-elligible job and just do 8 more years at the minimum payment and be done! (Assuming you have 2 years of clerking already)

[ManoftheHour]

This is awesome. Checking in.

[Anonymous User]

Debt: ~$110k
Payments: $381.67/month
Income: ~$66k (PSLF eligible fed job)
Plan: IBR

[Anonymous User]

Debt: ~148k (DNCG with 42k scholarship) including capitalized interest
Split: $82k in 2 GradPlus loans at 7.9%, $66k in 2 Stafford loans at 6.55%
Plan: 10 year repayment
Minimum Payment: $1,758/month
Payment that I actually make: $2,500/month (extra goes to the Grad Plus)
Salary: $160k

Principal at end of year 1: $130,835.18

[POTUS2044]

Current 1L tagging, looking at ~100k

[nomdeplumeify]

Can the mods sticky this thread?

[kay2016]

Current 1L tagging, looking at ~100k

Great idea Void