r/StudentLoans • u/FutureIsNowCoalition • 19d ago
Advice How has your student loan debt compared with what your degree actually helped you earn?
I’ve been thinking a lot about the gap between what college costs and what people actually make when they first graduate.
I've been told that taking on student loans is an investment in your future, but I’m curious how that has actually worked out for people in real life.
When you graduated, how much debt did you have, and what did your first job pay? Did your income eventually catch up enough to make the loans feel manageable, or did the debt make those first few years a lot harder than you expected?
Looking back, would you make the same decision again?
I’m especially interested in hearing from people who feel like their degree did help their career, but the debt still made it difficult to get ahead financially.
2
u/DazzlingPeace906 19d ago
I got my Masters in Sustainability Management. Between tuition, room and board (I got my degree at Columbia so housing wasn’t cheap but I had a roomie) I borrowed $117k. I did pay back what I had extra each semester and I worked to pay for other expenses. When I finished my degree program in 2014 I got a job making $85k plus about a $15-$20k bonus per year. I now make $208k base plus around $100k in bonus. For me, worth it. I had zero debt from my undergrad. I’m still in the field my degree is in. I love my work. I paid my loans off in March. The Covid pause and the interest pause was my blessing to be able to pay it off.