I’ve written before about how I was about $28,000 in debt when I graduated college, who motivated me to pay it all off, how you can get more college scholarships, and how student loan interest works, but I want to hear from you in the comments about how much debt you graduated (or expect to graduate) with.
In the same vein, below is an infographic from Mint.com I recently came across that shows:
- What percent of students graduate with debt from school.
- How much average debt students from each state are burdened with.
- How student debt has now eclipsed credit cards in the U.S. as the biggest category of debt.
The craziest stat for me on the infographic is that the average amount of debt that students graduate with grew over $4,000 from 2004 to 2008.
So now, I want to hear from you.
How much debt did you graduate college with?
(I’m not bringing this topic up to start a political discussion, but for the first step down THAT rabbit hole, check out this Student Loan Scheme post infographic over at Man Vs. Debt from CollegeScholarships.org and the discussion in the comments there.)
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I graduated with $19,000 in debt and no job. I’m slowly trying to pay off the loans, but it’s difficult when you can only make minimum payments.
After the wedding, we’ll start paying down your loan faster and it will feel great.
I had $11,000 in debt and paid it off in less than six months. It was true discipline, but well worth it now!
Dang! That is fast. Way to go Tyler.
I had 17,500 in Federal Stafford loans, $5000 in a Private loan and $3000 in a Perkins loan when I graduated - which I think is pretty good for coming through a pricey 4 year Private school. I paid of the Private loan right after graduating (those will get you!), then the Perkins, and consolidated my Staffords at 2.5%. 6 years later those aren’t paid off yet, but at that rate, it is about the best debt you can have!
I agree, there are so many scholarship options and choices of education, high debt is not a necessity! While it isn’t easy to be a student these days with tightening Federal and State legislation on Financial Aid, there are still options. I work as a Financial Aid Officer now - I know!
Looks like you have a great mission Caleb, keep it up!
That’s quite a bit in loans, but you were diligent in paying them off. Way to Go! Thanks for commenting Daniel!
Great infographic. Interesting, seems like the eastern half of the country is deeper in debt than the west.
I fortunately graduated with $0 in student loans, but around $6000 in credit card + other debt. People usually underestimate the crippling by the latter since student loans end up being such a high % of young peoples’ debts!
Credit Card debt is more dangerous because of the higher interest rates, but student loans tend to be held onto for way longer than other debts. It just doesn’t make sense unless the interest rate is super low.
I actually graduated with no debt, due to going to a state school, having a full-tuition scholarship, and having the incredible support of my grandparents who started a small college fund for me at my birth.
My debt started when I got out of school. I ran my car into the ground and was basically forced to buy another car without having planned for it! That on top of an unpaid internship really hurt me financially.
I’m in a much better spot now that I’m employed and all
That sounds like the roller coaster of life.
This is definitely a huge problem as shown on the infographic and other parts of your blog. I had close to $24k after 5 years of school in California and am still paying it off on a graduated plan. Luckily when my repayment plan started I was able to lock in the rate at 2.6%. I can’t imagine the insane rates current students must have!
Some of my loans were at 6.8% so I was in a big hurry to pay them off before the interest started.
I was lucky and finished my undergraduate degree with zero debt. I did this with a combination of attending a state school, getting scholarships, and getting help from my family. I then completed my master’s degree and did that with only $8,500 in debt. I think a lot of my success in avoiding debt can be attributed to finding other options and avoiding the most expensive path. There are lots of ways to pay less for college, you just have to be open ideas and put in some work.
That’s great Jeffrey! I think that a lot of people just take the mentality that I did in college. “I’ll work to pay off my loans after I graduate…”