It does really depend on what field someone is going into. For example, it used to make at least some sense for people to take out loans to go to the highest ranked law school they could get into. Now, it is questionable as to whether someone in law school should take out a lot of debt since the job market is flooded with lawyers.

Personally, I would try to avoid having to tap into private student loans. At least with federal loans, there are very established policies for when loan payments and/or interest can be deferred, often times there is a six month grace period, and you are eligible for programs like income based loan repayment.

Anonymous wrote:NPR had a segment about this today. It's a growing problem for more and more graduates.

I can't understand the woman that took out over $100k to major in something like animation / film. I graduated with $20k in loans and a $52k engineering salary in a low cost of living area. I paid it off in 8 years, but my rent was 1/3 or 1/2 what kids pay in DC even wirh roommates. I can't imagine graduating with $50k and living in a high COL area, even with a "good" job.

No undergrad degree is worth more than 50k IMHO. This includes Harvard etc.

It really depends on whether you're talking about grad school or undergrad. Typically, I think you should try to have zero debt in Undergrad at all, especially if you're going to be going into a field where you need grad school. Or if you want to be a fifth grade teacher or something where it just doesn't make sense to go into to debt.

For grad school, I too, have gone by the idea that as long as it's less than what you can expect to make your first year, it should be OK. For example, my husband had $100k of medical school debt, but he was making $300k at his first job. So not a huge deal.

Now on NPR...

Anonymous wrote:When is college tuition debt just not worth it? What will your kid be forced to sacrafice for years down the road? Family? Home purchase?

One dollar is too much for undergrad alone.