How come the average student loan debt is believed to be about $19,000?

Being in debt is depressing. Recently I discuessed this matter at a forum, and I think it might be useful for my readers, so here is a quick otline of the discussion.

How come the average student loan debt is believed to be about $19,000?
I got to know that the average debt of a college graduate is about $19,000.
How come? _MY_ student loans - and that's from this year alone! - is about $18,000 (yep, eighteen grands), and that's excluding expenses like books and whatever.

Indeed this makes me pretty sad:
- I slaved over about 40 scholarships (ending up with mere $1500 in total in my pocket).
- and I graduated at the TOP (right, top!) of my class
- I worked hard in high school
- I filled out the FAFSA truthfully

How you guys/gals deal with it?

Some comments/advices/thoughts on the subject:

1)

Mine is nearly $50,000! It's not easy. I make monthy payments to the loan company. They work with you on the amount you can afford.

I try not to think about it, because I can't default. And filing bankruptsy doesn't touch it. I just try to carry on knowing that an educated nation is better than an uneducated nation.

My opinion is that college should be free to everyone as long as they keep up their grades and give something back to the nation.

2)

I took out maiximum loans and grants and graduated with $22,000 in debt. But I went to a "cheap" state school.
My brother went to a private school (DePaul) and graduated with $34,000 in debt.
Personally, I think paying a huge amount for a college degree from a school with so-called name recognition is kind of wasting your money.

But on the other hand, you might be able to get a higher paying job out of it so in a sense it all balances off. Hang in there, and just stay away from credit caards!!!

3)

I'm with you on this one. I am in the same boat, with maybe double of that, and I'm not quite done yet. I think it's more just an average, including people who get associates, which is only 2 years of schooling, vs 4 years for a bachelor's. I try not to think about my debt, but it's good to know alot of loans for education have low interest rates, and you have about 10 years or more to pay it off.

4)

the average is low because people save money to go to college and family help is usually a big part of it. It takes money to go to college unless you are super smart and you are willing to go to a school beneath your goal.

5)

I moved back in with my parents after college to pay off my loans :(

Try to find a job that will contribute to your education - mine pays 50% as long as I get a B.

6)

I graduated with a debt of 22,000 and this was for my undergrad AND my graduate degree. It took me about 11 years to pay off.

I worked my rear off, working two jobs and going for YEARS without ever having a day off. From work to school to work to school...

Borrowing via private student loans has become something of a "norm" recently that scares the crap out of me and I think it should be federally regulated. Most kids don't realize what this kind of debt will have on the rest of thier lives and negate the whole reason they went to college in the first place.

With the dropout rate being like it is for undergrads I personally don't think any freshman should be allowed to borrow... but who am i? Federal loans have limits on them for a reason. To protect you!! The sharks of private lenders have no such regulations... they'll loan you 40K a year.. A YEAR!

YOU just need to make sure you can live with your decision to borrow this much. THIS will be your life if you continue down this path.
18K times four years = 76K total equals payments of around 800 dollars a month for the next 10 to 30 years. That is a house payment where I live and borrowing this much is NOT NORMAL!

If you (or your cosigners) are even the TEENY bit squeemish about having this much debt you need to get out of that school now, before you get all the way to your junior or senior year and it's too late to tranfer and the bank says you or your cosigners debt to income ratio is too high and they cut you off!!!! Kinda stinks uh?

Go to a state school, don't do any loans except federal ones and work 30 hours a week.

Origin:Reconsolidation Loans: Facts and Hints