How many degrees do you have and how much student debt are you in?

47 comments

1. I have a bachelor’s and an MBA. No student debt remaining at this point.

2. 2 bachelor’s and an MS. No debt.

   Degrees are still valuable but be judicious in which you pursue.

3. I have a bachelor’s. I’ve never had student debt.

4. 1 bachelor degree, no debt. I’d consider it worth it only because I don’t have any debt. It’s hard to say what my take on it would be if I had taken on debt.

   It is hard to say wether I’d encourage my kids to go or not since I have no idea what the world will look like in 20 years, but even now I think the formula that’s been sold to the younger generation is no longer accurate. I think the smart thing to do is go community college > state school since that saves you more money. While you miss out on the traditional college experience, I don’t think the traditional college experience is worth the amount of debt you have to take on.

5. Two degrees and third in progress though paused for the indefinite future. Zero debt. Yes the education and experience was worth it. More than likely I would also encourage my future children to go to college.

6. BA & MBA both from top tier state schools. No student loans remaining

   Yes it was worth it. No question.

7. 1 Bachelor. No debt.

8. I feel like a was lucky, I worked for Fedex during college and they paid my tuition as long as it was an undergrad that could benefit the company.

9. I have a bachelor’s degree in a biomedical science field and a Ph.D. in a different biomedical science field. I’ve never had student debt. Undergrad tuition was covered largely by scholarships, with parental savings making up the difference. Grad school tuition was covered entirely by scholarships and grants.

   I have absolutely no regrets about either degree. I had a wonderful time in both phases of my education and now have a good job. I cannot say whether I’d feel the same if I were still paying off debt for either or both degrees.

10. I have a bachelors degree and a failed attempt at grad school under my belt, I have zero student debt because I have rich parents.

11. Bachelors in chemical engineering.

    Paid it all off within the first year of working in the oilfields after college.

    STEM is worth it. It would depend on the child. Success happens at the intersection of what is marketable, what you’re good at, and what you’re passionate about. If that lines up with college, a technical degree, or something else then that is where you will find success. I don’t like the one size fits all approach.

12. Didn’t go to college, so 0 and $0.

13. Double bachelor’s and a master’s. $70K debt.

    Working non-profit. Love my work. Actually do make decent pay as well. Will be debt free soon (PSLF).

14. 1 degree, no student debt. My employer paid for everything

15. Political science, an MBA, and I’m studying to go to law school. I have zero debt because I had a partial academic scholarship and my brother and sister got full athletic scholarships. My discount combined with the fact the college fund got split one way and not three really helped.

16. Bachelors and JD, debt paid off in 8 years

17. Bachelor’s in Physics and no student debt. You don’t have to go to Harvard. State schools and community colleges are a thing.

18. 1 bachelor’s, no debt. Absolutely without a doubt worth it. I skipped over 5 years worth of drudgery in my career and got straight to the fun stuff.

19. Masters and zero debt.

20. One bachelors. No debt left. I don’t have kids but I would prefer if my nephew goes to college if possible.

21. 1 degree. And $0 in debt.

22. I had a $7.5k in debt after my BA and MS in Geography from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and the University of Alabama. It took me 11 months to pay off back in 2014.

23. I have a BSin engineering. No debt.

24. I went to a private college for a BA and have no student debt. I would encourage people to go to college, but I don’t know that I would encourage them to go to a private college. I don’t buy that the education at a big name school is substantially different from a good public school, and in state tuition can be really reasonable for public schools.

    Basically everyone I know who paid a lot of money for a flashy named private college over a reasonable public college ended up in a lot of debt and with a job they probably could have gotten if they went to another school. I know someone who transferred from one of those expensive, flashy colleges to a local public college and is now paying something like 15% of the tuition she used to pay and that everyone agrees is giving her a better education.

25. What’s the alternative? You need an education to perform many professional jobs. Not everyone has the aptitude or desire to work in the trades or grind away at some service level job. Despite the cost of attendance, the average financial advantages of going to college are overwhelming.

26. I have two degrees in STEM and am in graduate school for two more. My debts $40,000 but as I’m still in school I dont need to pay but it still piles up that interest. Going back to school was my last resort. I spent 5+ years hunting jobs that paid above minimum wage to no avail because I lacked a degree, plus thanks to some physical disabilities i can’t perform most trades save commercial driving which I refuse to do to stay near my wife. Turns out im good at research and getting my tuition paid for my PhD so here’s hoping it pays off someday…

27. Bachelor’s, Master’s, and MBA. No debt. Never had any student debt.

28. 1 bachelor’s and no debt

29. 1) one 2) none 3) yes and 4) if I had kids and they were interested in the kind of learning college can offer, sure.

30. 3 degrees, no debt.

    I got a full ride for my first degree, but went to debt anyway because I was and stupid. That one took about 4-sh years to pay off.

    Paid for my second entirely out of my pocket.

    Took out a little debt for my 3rd even though I didn’t need to, but it was like “hey, better than a credit card!”. Took me a while to pay that one of, but mostly just the minimum payment way and the interest rate was ridiculously good.

31. 1 bachelors, 1 masters, 20k student debt. I stopped paying it during the pause in the hopes that it would get wiped out, but my masters got me a pretty good job so I could pay it off in a year or two.

    I’d encourage my kids to go to college if they wanted a career that requires it.

32. BS, MS, MD, PhD … no debt

33. 1 BS, 60k in debt from a state school. I don’t regret the education but I don’t really care about the “college experience” and didn’t get super involved with it. I would encourage my kids to do whatever they wanted to do.

34. Thanks to the student loan forgiveness from last month, zero! 😎

    And I’ve got a BA and am halfway through my masters.

35. Bachelor’s, I’m 40 and paid off the debt a decade or so ago.

36. Bachelor’s and no debt. I absolutely would encourage most people to go to college – it’s still the easiest way to be successful. The average college debt in the US is $30k and the average salary for college graduates is $55k. I do plan on paying for my children’s college education if they go in-state. I’m not paying extra without a great reason.

    You can be successful by going to trade school, but it will take a toll on your body and you have to plan to adjust to a more office focused role as you grow older. Unfortunately that’s not available for everyone because the business still needs people going to the site and doing the physical work.

37. I technically have an associates (two years community college) bachelor’s ( traditionally a four year degree, but if you get your aa first it’s an additional two years) and a masters (length varies by program, mine was just one year)

    I never had to take out loans. I had a college fund from my parents, chose some less expensive school, lived at home, and got scholarships.

    If I had needed more than a single year for grad school I would’ve had to take out a loan, but it all worked out.

38. 2 AA, 1 BS, 1 MBA. a little short of my doctorate and doubt i’ll finish it. no student debt.

39. I have a bachelors and masters with about 55K left in debt (most of that is from the masters).

    I would say it’s been 100% worth it without question. I have a good paying job with benefits in a field I’m very interested in, along with plenty of opportunities for advancement. While I could have possibly found such a job if I skipped college, it would have been a lot harder.

    I will encourage my kids to go to college as economically speaking it generally is the best option. College graduates on average still tend to make about 33% more over their lifetime than those with only a high school degree (comes out to about a million dollars in lifetime earnings). Now if it looks like it might not be the best fit for them I wouldn’t push it as hard, but I’d at least push them towards some form of specialized school/training

40. I have a BS and an AA and my remaining 50K in loans was forgiven last year via PSLF because I’ve worked for a non-profit for over a decade.

    I am super pro-education but I don’t know if I want my daughter to go to college.

41. I have a BS and would basically have an AA in an unrelated field if I got around to picking up the last couple of classes. No debt. I’m working on a plan for a Master’s and plan to take on no debt for that.

    Degrees are incredibly useful and there are ways to avoid spending so much on them. Take classes part-time while working, take classes at a community college, find scholarships, etc. It’s not possible for everyone to graduate debt free, but more people than you realize manage it.

42. Two master’s degrees, and about $70k that I may or may not be able to pay off before I die.

    I’m sure there are still cost-effective degree programs out there, but I no longer feel like I know what they are, or how to take advantage of them.

43. A bachelors and a law degree. No debt now! It took me a while.

    I will very likely counsel my kids to get at least a bachelor’s degree.

44. One. Bachelor in English Lit. Zero student debt. I paid them off within 5 years of graduating.

45. The cost really isn’t insane for how much benefit you get from it. If it was then very few people would make the decision to go.

46. Bachelor in biology, then MD. Never had any debt because I funded both with military scholarships.

47. I earned my Bachelor degree at age 22 in Engineering…by age 30 I was bored with Engineering…so I decided to go back to school, but law school this time and earned my Doctrine majoring as a Juris Doctor….that degree took about 4 years, so I was about 35 when I finished…I praticed law for about 8 years until I decided I was burnt out from law and went back to school, this time I was going for a 2nd Bachelor Degree, but this time it was for Fine Art…with an emphasis in Drawing. It was at this time I became a processional animator for Disney, but I had to do a few internships to earn the experience, since my background was Engineering and Law I had to start over in my 50s….I worked for Disney/Pixar about 12 years…until I was age 66, at the time I retired….but after 4 years of retirement I decided to go back to work…I did not enjoy retirement and thought it was boring….so At age 71 I went to Bartending school, and currently work as a bartender at my local bar….so far this has been the best job I have had so far.

    The average person will have about 4-12 jobs in their lifetime.