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Topic: Paying Back J-School Loans
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| HisGirlFriday | Posted – 4/28/2008 2:09:26 PM | show profile To answer your question about how people WITH the j-school debt cope: Yes, it does suck. My husband has the MA (and the debt) and we've been paying it for more than 10 years. I think we have at least 5 more to go. It does effect our daily budgeting lives and sometimes it feels like an albatross. I've contemplated cashing out my 401k just to kill the frickin' thing, but know that's a dumb idea. Once, when things were flush (a long time ago), we made double payments for 12 months. Other times, we had to put regular expenses on credit for a month or so to float in order to make the loan. Still, it was the best way for my older, career-switching hubby to get into the biz in a way that made sense. We have been able to get married, have a kid, buy a house, save for retirement, but we are VERY frugal. You can make it work, but like other posters suggest, the big degree is not for everyone and it's not always a golden ticket, especially in this market. Also, it helped that I have no debt. With two of us in the hock, it would be much harder. I second the nomination for CUNY's grad school - I don't know anyone there now but it looks awesome from what I have seen. Good luck!! Oh - and promise me if you DO go to Columbia you won't become one of those twits who assume the Times or Vanity Fair will be banging down their door. You know, the ones who say, "What? I have to cover a night city council meeting at the Podunk Gazette? But I went to Columbia." OY. |
| joyeuxnoelle | Posted – 4/28/2008 8:47:52 PM | show profile | email poster Thanks HGF. No, if I choose Columbia I won't think it's a one way ticket to the top. Did your husband borrow the whole amount? It sounds like you're paying it back pretty quickly. Some grads report that it takes 20-30 years to pay it all back. |
| amptgrl | Posted – 5/16/2008 12:09:00 AM | show profile | email poster My Loans exprience Hey, I really can't give you any advice on attending J-school or not, but I can tell you about loans. I always knew growing up if I wanted to attend college I had to do it on my own with the help of loans. Sure, I could have worked 40 hours a week but then I would have missed out on experiences and internships. I also worked and took out a significant amount of loans. I know a lot of people also did but what i didn't realize was that there are actually kids who don't have to take out one loan. It really shocked me that some people go to college for free (and you should hug your mother, father, or grandparents for this everyday). Anyway, because I always knew I would be taking out loans for school, I expected the debt and planned for it. Another thing I realized is a lot of those kids who didn't have college loans went and bought some expensive, ridiculous car and then had car payments. I think we all have some sort of debt no matter how much we plan. Mine are stretched over 10 years. I had the 6 months deferal period and actually could defer them longer because my income is so low if I wanted to, but I am choosing to just pay them. I just know my budget every month. I opened another account where I put money and the loan payments come from there. I would only do Government loans because the private ones really hike up your interest. Anyway, it is your choice and the idea of loan debt is depressing and can be a bit of a shock if you never thought you would be in that position, but your education is priceless. I would have gladly spent 10,000 more on mine. Those were the best 4 years of my life. But, I have no idea if J-school is right for you or not, as I have never attended it . I do think loans are doable if you are not stupid with your money. Another option, so many schools have assistantships. I would definitely check with the department. I am sure it is much harder to get them at the schools you mentioned. Good luck! |
| amptgrl | Posted – 5/16/2008 12:13:15 AM | show profile Oh yeah! Oh yeah, I have also heard Teach America will pay back some of your loans (and pay you a salary) if you give them a year of teaching. I am sure that is not what you want to do but just an idea |
| HisGirlFriday | Posted – 5/16/2008 9:42:56 AM | show profile joyeuxnoelle: He borrowed the whole amount for tuition but worked to pay for books, etc. He did the two-year program b/c he also had to work to pay rent, food, whatnot. I think it really helped that year we made double payments to chip away at it .... Oh, and I remember we also paid a lump sum of about $5k for some such part of it ... Good luck! I do think it can really work in some situations - and some of the best advantages you'll get is in your connections. That has paid off for him constantly. |
| SavvyCityGirl | Posted – 5/26/2008 7:34:29 PM | show profile Forget what they say...Loans are a part of Life! I graduated from Medill a year ago, and I have about $100K in loan debt. Yes, it is likely that I will spend the rest of my life and a large chunk of my paycheck paying these loans back. But you know what? My J-School degree got me a job three months before I graduated...unheard of. The fact of the matter is loans are a part of life. No, you don't need a J-School degree to make it, but it could always help. And, if you are one of those lucky ducks who ends up at the top of a masthead somewhere down the line or writing a column for the NYT, you'll be making more money than you know what to do with, and loan repayment won't seem so bad. So, if you want the degree, get it. Yes, loans suck, but the degree will never hurt. |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 5/26/2008 10:21:43 PM | show profile *giggle* "And, if you are one of those lucky ducks who ends up at the top of a masthead somewhere down the line or writing a column for the NYT, you'll be making more money than you know what to do with, and loan repayment won't seem so bad." You're joking, right? "More money than you know what to do with"?? |
| jseconds77 | Posted – 6/6/2008 10:56:48 PM | show profile this is an easy one! ok....paying off j-school loans is a cinch because finding a media job that pays properly is no big deal. help this helped! |
| Astera | Posted – 6/7/2008 12:35:06 AM | show profile I went to Medill, and in order to do so, I took out more than $40,000 in loans. HOWEVER--and this is a big however--my parents agreed to help me pay most of them back. My dad is an immigrant who strongly believes in education as a life-changing tool, and he has done everything possible to help his three children get their degrees without being weighed down by school debt. His degrees (obtained through academic scholarships) helped put him in the financial position to assist his children with their educational costs. So, I am very, very lucky. That said, if I had to pay for Medill out of my own pocket, it would have given me serious pause. When I found out how much I'd have to borrow, I was really upset. It seemed like an insurmountable amount to pay back, until my parents told me that they would help. I knew that my first year's salary would be quite a bit less than the amount I had borrowed. Medill definitely helped me get my first job, and having that name on my resume does tend to impress potential employers. However, my journalism career has been sporadic at best--mostly through my own choice--so Medill definitely wasn't my get-to-the-top-free card. I started out at a trade magazine where I made $37,000 a year. Now, 10 years later, if I wanted to find a full-time journalism job again, I could probably expect to make $45,000. (I live in SoCal, not NYC.) Salaries are pretty stagnant in this industry. Don't get me wrong. I loved my time at Medill and I thought it was a fabulous learning experience. But if I had that much debt hanging over my head, it would have tarnished the experience somewhat. The standard for repaying loans is 10 years, but that means you might be paying up to $500 a month. That would make it tough to save for retirement or for a house, especially in more expensive parts of the country. Good luck in making your decision. It's a tough one. ------ www.adventuresofastera.blogspot.com |
| joyeuxnoelle | Posted – 6/7/2008 1:50:50 AM | show profile 10 years? With the interest I hear its more like 30. |
| Marie | Posted – 6/7/2008 2:07:47 AM | show profile If it's any consolation, when you die, the loans die with you. No next of kin will get stuck with your unpaid J-School loans. J-School is a tough, tough decision. And the degree is unnecessary. But given that training is practically nonexistent now, you can learn valuable things in J-School and improve your writing and reporting. It can be a time to take risks. You can't be fired from J-School, unless you plagiarize. J-School might be the only training or decent editing youi'll ever get in the early stages of your career. I had J-School profs who gave up to two pages of comments. I don't think a day goes by that I don't draw on something I learned at Columbia. And I still have a loan to repay, but as I said before, I consolidated at a great time (my interest rate is less than 4%), and the monthly payments have not been a big deal. If you hit a snag (lose a job, for example), you can renegotiate the payment terms of your loan. You can even defer payment if necessary. I wouldn't let the loan keep you from going to school, if that's what you want. I went part-time, which I highly recommend, so I only had to borrow the tuition, not living expenses, which I could pay for out of the money I was earning. Your tuition is often tax deductible (I covered a few semesters on tax deductions). Again, to J-School or not to J-School is an extremely personal decision. If you believe it can help you, I would do it. You'll work out the finances. I strongly recommend part-time programs, which will lower the amount you'll need to borrow. And if you're in NYC, please look into the new program at CUNY before it becomes impossible to get into. Good luck to all. |
