Wow $300,000 for College !

[Fishindude77]

Overheard an acquaintance saying his son who is nearing the end of veterinary school education has racked up almost $300,000 in student loans. He's been in school nine years and some of the education was at remote locations.

Just read that the average pay for this profession is just shy of $100K annually.

• He's going to miserable for at least 10 years paying this back.
• I can't believe they will actually loan a kid with no job $300K.
• What were the parents thinking, letting him dig such a deep hole?

[amarowsky]

Yea that is a really sad outcome, to have to pay soooo much money just to get a chance to work in a field.

Although, judging by this person's expenses and time frame there are some assumptions... It is likely he was living out of state, and paying for Food + living out of that. In a lot of cases those can be offset by going to a local school for the first few years (if applicable) and staying @ home.

I graduated last year w/ a bachelors in business, and I think the total cost for my 4 year degree + books was roughly $40k. (at a public university too, Eastern Michigan University).

I think a lot of these cases with extravagant costs that we hear about, are due to poor / careless planning for university situations. Generally people that go to super high end schools for a significant premium that is generally not the best ROI for the cost per credit hour and also live on student loans w/ little to no work to subsidize the cost.

I think they still put out a list for highest ROI per credit hour online somewhere.

[rennigade]

Thats around $33k/year...which isnt that extravagant. If someone chooses to go that long the bill is going to rack up. Its their choice though.

They were loaned that money because they will have to pay it back. Not going to wipe that type of debt if they file bankruptcy.

People take 20+ years to pay their schooling off...they dont have to do it tomorrow.

[disneysteve]

Overheard an acquaintance saying his son who is nearing the end of veterinary school education has racked up almost $300,000 in student loans. He's been in school nine years and some of the education was at remote locations.

Just read that the average pay for this profession is just shy of $100K annually.

• He's going to miserable for at least 10 years paying this back.
• I can't believe they will actually loan a kid with no job $300K.
• What were the parents thinking, letting him dig such a deep hole?

This is not at all unusual for professionals. I'm sure plenty of doctors graduate med school owing something in that neighborhood. I graduated owing just over 100K and that was 27 years ago. Inflation-adjusted, that's nearly 200K in today's dollars. And education inflation has outpaced the overall inflation rate for years so 300K is probably right on target.

My goal was to repay it in 10 years and I would have done so except I changed jobs about 7 years into the process and that threw me off track. I ended up finishing repayment in 12 years which was still way ahead of most of my peers. Keep in mind that those are 25-year loans. We were definitely frugal but we were absolutely not miserable by any measure.

[Nutria]

Thats around $33k/year...which isnt that extravagant.

Seems so to me. After the "get decent grades in HS and go to a state school" discount, an undergraduate degree at our flagship state school is only $14K/year, and that includes room+board.

[disneysteve]

Seems so to me. After the "get decent grades in HS and go to a state school" discount, an undergraduate degree at our flagship state school is only $14K/year, and that includes room+board.

You have to add in the cost of vet school.

I finished undergrad owing 14K.
I finished med school owing 102K.

[disneysteve]

From the Veterinary Information Network

For those entering veterinary school in the Fall of 2016, the estimated total cost of attendance (tuition + fees + average living expenses, assuming a 4% increase each year) for four years ranges from $147,000 to $250,000 for in-state resident tuition at a public institution. Non-resident tuition at public institutions ranges from $191,000 to $338,000. At private institutions the total estimated cost ranges from $264,000 to $393,000.

[disneysteve]

I think a lot of these cases with extravagant costs that we hear about, are due to poor / careless planning for university situations.

Again, you need to look at the cost of professional school, not undergrad. I'm willing to bet the vast majority of that debt is for vet school, not undergrad.

Professional schools are expensive, even at public universities as I posted above.

I don't think the average person has any clue what their doctor or vet went through to get into their career.

[Fishindude77]

Seems pretty insane for a $100K job.
A construction superintendent with HS education or a good car salesmen with HS education can make that kind of money

[Nutria]

Seems pretty insane for a $100K job.
A construction superintendent with HS education or a good car salesmen with HS education can make that kind of money

But think of the chihuahuas!!

[disneysteve]

Seems pretty insane for a $100K job.
A construction superintendent with HS education or a good car salesmen with HS education can make that kind of money

Remember that the next time you go to the doctor or take your pup to the vet.

[rennigade]

Seems pretty insane for a $100K job.
A construction superintendent with HS education or a good car salesmen with HS education can make that kind of money

Most people dont go to be a vet or a doctor because of the pay...its usually a passion thing. They want to help people/animals.

You're right...it would be easier to be a wall street banker...or a medical sales rep...I guess they can make a lot of money too. Plenty of jobs than can easily fetch $100k+++ with minimal education. But if you hate the job is it worth it?

I know 1 doctor, 2 surgeons and a 2 vets...the 2 vets are obsessed with the well being of animals. The one doctor is a pediatrician. Shes comes from a big family...keeps having kids herself and loves to interact/help kids. And the 2 surgeons...you guessed it...are obsessed with repairing people. They're both annoyingly cheap...spend next to no money. Why would they pick an occupation that pays them each around 175k (just finished residency) when they could live off a $30k/year job? In a couple years they'll both make a combined $500k or more. They do it because they love it.

[Fishindude77]

Remember that the next time you go to the doctor or take your pup to the vet.

Amen!
I wouldn't go through all of that schooling, miss all those years of earning, and do those jobs for $100K.

[disneysteve]

Amen!
I wouldn't go through all of that schooling, miss all those years of earning, and do those jobs for $100K.

And have to pay substantial malpractice insurance, be on call 24/7, deal with crushing government regulations and insurance company policies, etc.

[~bs]

it's actually kinda normal for medicine. But the expected salary is much higher than for 4 year degree programs that it should offset. One of my old optometrists chatted with me about this a while back, he basically said I should be glad I chose something else instead of medicine (from a financial perspective). They basically go school into their 30s, then spend their 30s paying off debt. Afterwards, are you able to start building a positive net worth, buying a house etc.

One of my friends is a dentist, who has a pretty close network of friends (all doctors, dentists, etc), and they're all kinda in that same boat. Working their assess off now to try to build a practice, or work their hours,etc etc. to pay off debt so it'll hopefully pay off later. And they hopefully make a much greater income than 100k later. Yeah, not a good idea if you're doing it just for the money.