What is considered a lot of student loan debt? A lot of student loan debt is more than you can afford to repay after graduation. For many, this means having more than $70,000 – $100,000 in total student debt.
Monthly loan payments should be no more than 8-10 percent of expected gross monthly income.
Get on the plan with the lowest minimum payments. Pay the minimum on all loans every month. Direct the additional money to go to the loan with the highest interest rate. If two loans have the same rate, pay the lower balance first. When a loan is paid in full, redirect the extra money to the next highest interest rate.
With $50,000 in student loan debt, your monthly payments could be quite expensive. Depending on how much debt you have and your interest rate, your payments will likely be about $500 per month or more. Your potential savings from refinancing will vary based on your loan terms.
It will take 47 months to pay off $50,000 with payments of $1,500 per month, assuming the average credit card APR of around 18%. The time it takes to repay a balance depends on how often you make payments, how big your payments are and what the interest rate charged by the lender is.
According to a recent Forbes Advisor and Talker Research survey of 2,000 adults, one in three respondents said they regret using student loans to finance their education and would not choose that route again if given the opportunity.
About half of students at four-year public universities finished their bachelor's degree* without any debt and 78 percent graduated with less than $30,000 in debt. Only 4 percent of public university graduates left with more than $60,000.
Overall, only 1% of all U.S. adults owed at least $100,000. Young college graduates with student loans are more likely than those without this kind of debt to say they struggle financially.
You're not alone if you are still paying off your student loans from your college education years ago. In fact, many Americans are paying their student loans well into middle age. A 2019 study from New York Life found that the average age when people finally pay off their student loans for good is 45.
One rule to live by is to try to limit your total amount of student loans to a small percentage of what your expected annual salary may be from the first job you get after college. For example, you could decide that your monthly loan payment should be no more than 10 percent of your gross income.
Right now, the average student loan debt in the U.S. is nearly $40,000 but many students borrow much more. Depending on your field of study and career prospects, borrowing upwards of $100,000 to fund your higher education could either be a smart investment or a big mistake.
The average student loan payment is between $200 and $299, according to the most recent available data from the Federal Reserve.
There's a general rule that you shouldn't borrow more in student loans than you expect to make in your first year out of college. A bachelor's degree recipient's average student loan debt in 2021 was $29,100. In theory, a graduate with a salary above this could handle a 10-year standard repayment plan.
The 10% Rule
Let's say, for example, that your monthly take-home pay is $3,500. Your student loan payment would need to be no higher than $350 to meet this guideline. If you owed $30,000 at a 6% rate, your payments would be $333 on a standard 10-year plan, which would fall within this limit.
Your interest charges will be added to the amount you owe, causing your loan to grow over time. This can occur if you are in a deferment for an unsubsidized loan or if you have an income-based repayment (IBR) plan and your payments are not large enough to cover the monthly accruing interest.
20% of U.S. adults report having paid off student loan debt. The 5-year annual average student loan debt growth rate is 15%. The average student loan debt growth rate outpaces rising tuition costs by 166.9%. In a single year, 31.5% of undergraduate students accepted federal loans.
For example, with credit card interest rates hovering near 23% currently, a $50,000 balance could accumulate about $11,500 in interest charges in just one year if left unchecked. The path to accumulating this level of debt often reflects broader economic challenges rather than simple overspending.