Not many things in life are free. If you borrow money, you need to repay it with interest. The longer it takes to repay a loan, the more it costs.
You start paying for student loans six months after you graduate or leave college. Make sure the career you choose offers a salary large enough to repay your loans. As a guide, your payments should not exceed 10% of your net income when you graduate college. For example, if your net income is $30,000 per year, your payments should be less than $3,000 per year or $250 per month. Calculate your expected salary and how much you will need to repay.
Sometimes the higher paying jobs require more years in school which means you may have to borrow more. Consider if it is best to work for a period to repay a portion of the student loans you have before furthering your education.
Some employers have tuition reimbursement programs that help you pay for college. You could end up having less total debt if that is your situation.
Salary-to-debt calculator tells you how much student loan debt you can afford based on a certain salary.
Debt-to-salary calculator tells you how much salary you will need to support your student loan debt.
