Plan for Repayment

Keep In Mind You Must Repay Your Loans !

Students must keep in mind that they are legally responsible for fully repaying all of their loans according to the terms outlines in their Master Promissory Note.

Students should make every reasonable attempt to minimize the amount that they borrow. A good "rule of thumb" is to borrow only what you need AND what you can afford to repay!

The general "rule of thumb" is that your student loan payments should not exceed  8% of your gross earnings. But what does that mean "in plain English"? Mapping Your Future  has developed a Debt/Salary Calculator  to demonstrate what income you would need to pay off your projected debt.

The simplest example will be a student starting graduate school during the 2012-2013 academic year AND who has no undergraduate federal student loan debt. This student will be potentially eligible to borrow a maximum of $20,500 under the Federal Direct Stafford Loan Program. If the program can be completed in three years:

  • Based on student loan debt of $61,500.00 to be repaid over 10 years at 6.8 percent interest,the student's estimated monthly payment is $707.74. To support repayment of the debt,  the student should earn at least:
  • Based on student loan debt of $61,500.00 to be repaid over 25 years at 6.8 percent interest, the student's estimated monthly payment is $426.85. To support repayment of the debt, the student should earn at least:

Student Debt and the Class of 2011

Two-thirds of college seniors graduated with loans in 2011, and they carried an average of $25,250 in debt. They also faced the highest unemployment rate for young college graduates in recent history at 9.1%.The Project on Student Debt  has released a  new report,

Student Debt and the Class of 2011, includes average debt levels for the 50 states and District of Columbia and for more than 1,000 U.S. colleges and universities.

Using the examples in the preceeding section, this is how adding undergraduate debt impacts total repayment. 

  • Based on student loan debt of $82,750.00 to be repaid over 10 years at 6.8 percent interest*,the student's estimated monthly payment is $952.29. To support repayment of the debt,  the student should earn at least:
  • Based on student loan debt of $82,750 to be repaid over 25 years at 6.8 percent interest*, the student's estimated monthly payment is $574.34. To support repayment of the debt, the student should earn at least:

    * Undegraduate students who qualifed for a subsidized Stafford loan had a variable interest rate during the past four years

    Powered by NerdScholar

    Projecting Your Potential Earnings:

    CareerTV.com is a global Internet and social media company specializing in streaming employer branding and career videos across the web. Their audience is students and young professionals from all over the world researching and planning their careers.  

    O*NET OnLine has detailed descriptions of the world of work for use by job seekers, workforce development and HR professionals, students, researchers, and more!

    CareerOneStop is sponsored by the U. S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. The site is set up to help students  explore  career and education options.

    Resources and Reminders

     

 

Updated April 29, 2013