Faster degree with debt or slower degree with no debt?
Basically do some math on the 2 schools. Let's say you know it will take 4 years if you go the cheaper route, at $8k/yr, plus the $300/month, total cost: $46,400. If you (for these purposes) do not have to pay back new loans until school is completed, (and depending on the rate of those loans), you would need approx $6k/yr in loans, plus the same costs ($300/month + $8k/yr to cover the other part of tuition). Let's say the expensive school takes 3 years to complete, which means you're out of pocket $34,800 and in debt an additional $18,000, totaling $52,800. This means that to make the 2nd school worth it (assuming your rates don't kill you, etc) you should have an increased earning potential of at least $6,400/yr after you get your degree. If you can finish in 2 years, your costs are: $23,200 + $12k, and you don't even have to change your earning potential to come out ahead. Other factors to consider are: If you aren't following any of the math, or want to post more information, just comment back to me, and I'll try to explain further. Best of luck!
Yes, but only because the US had a huge crash. Other economies have, in the absence of any credible *real* growth strategy, continued pumping housing.  I still think student debt will erode incomes further as it's simply pulling forward demand that will drag on incomes later. When nearly everyone has a degree then nearly everyone doesn't get paid much more for having one.  By the same principle of supply and demand all the boomer downsizing vs impoverished 30-something lack of upsizing will mean prices will fall. Strictly from an ROI perspective, this is likely very dependent on your field.  Some masters degrees (quant finance, business, engineering) will be well worth the debt, since a degree from the right university will yield a respectable ROI, whereas other degrees/fields (philosophy, fine arts, etc) will be basically a waste of money. Regardless of the field you can input your information into an ROI calculator and see what you get.  I typically err on the side of using the lowest average reported salary for the degree programs you're considering (self reported salary data is notoriously inflated). My son is in a similar situation where he is 21 and in college. My wife and I claimed him as a dependant on our taxes last year. He had still been able to get some student loans as a dependant as well as scholarships. I have told him that we will not cosign on a loan for him. It isn't because we don't like our son, it is simply because too many unexpected things can happen.  He has been working multiple jobs which is one thing I would suggest as well as donating plasma for extra money to have a social life. As an electrical engineering major he doesn't have much time to be social. He cuts rent by having roommates and does most of his own cooking to help with food costs.  The main thing he does to keep his costs under control is attends a school that isn't outrageously expensive.  An expensive school does not offer as much benefit for an undergrad degree as it might for a graduate degree.  Another option is to look for a job that had some sort of tuition assistance.  Another option along that same line is look into military service either active duty or reserves as there is tuition help to be found there. There are options that don't involve debt. As a side note my son used a student loan last year however, this coming year he has his budget figured out and he will not be needing one at all. "A junk bond is, broadly, a bond with a non-negligible risk of default.  (""Bond"" ought to be defined elsewhere, but broadly it's a financial instrument you buy from a company or government, where they promise to pay you back the principal and some interest over time, on a particular schedule.) The name ""junk"" is a bit exaggerated: many of them are issued by respectable and reasonably stable businesses. junk bonds were required to do large leveraged buyouts.  This means: the company issued fairly risky, fairly high-yield debt, to buy out equity holders.  They have to pay a high rate on the debt because the company's now fairly highly geared (ie has a lot of debt relative to its value) and it may have to pay out a large fraction of its earnings as interest. What is a junk bond and how does it differ from a regular bond?  It's only a matter of degree and nomenclature.  A bond that has a credit rating below a particular level (eg S&P BBB-) is called junk, or more politely ""non-investment grade"" or ""speculative"".  It's possible for an existing bond to be reclassified from one side to another, or for a single issuer to have different series some of which are more risky than others.  The higher the perceived risk, the more interest the bond must pay offer in order to attract lenders. Why is there higher risk/chance of default? Well, why would a company be considered at higher risk of failing to repay its debt?  Basically it comes down to doubt about the company's future earnings being sufficient to repay its debt, which could be for example:" "The article said $65,000 (rounds numbers imply an estimate) was the original amount she borrowed. However she isn't on the hook for only $65,000. Her loans have interest and ***one*** of the loans had an 8% interest rate.   Let's ASSUME (for the purposes of this exercise to illustrate what compound interest can do to ""good debt"") that all of her loans are at 8% interest over a 30 year repayment period. Her total payments over the course of the 30 years will amount to $172,000. Yes that's a big number. $107,000 going to INTEREST and $65,000 going towards the original loan balance.   More realistically her loans are probably in the 6-8% interest range (since interest rates were higher 20 years ago) so the amount is a little smaller, but the bulk of her payments will be for paying interest not paying down her loan balance. She really couldn't afford to borrow for a master's degree to make so little in a high cost of living area." "First, are you sure that no interest accrues on the student loans until six months after you finish your studies? My understanding is that you have to start paying back the student loans six months after leaving the university, but that doesn't mean no interest accrues in the meantime. My concern about student loans is that life happens and when it happens in an unexpected way, the powers of the student loan companies exceed pretty much everybody else's with the possible exception of the IRS. If you are in a position to be able to pay cash for the tuition then I would cut back the ""lifestyle"", scrimp as much as I can and pay cash. You'll be in a much better position afterwards - for starters, you won't have a student loan payment which means you're in a much better position financially than most of your peers and have a lot more options open. Plus, you're not carrying around a mortgage before you even bought a house." I agree that college doesn't or shouldn't have to be all about job prep.   However, the caveat I will add is that if you go into DEBT for your education, you should certainly be thinking about the economic value your education can provide you.   The last point about subsidized college being cheaper than the current system.. I don't know.. I'd have to see these reports you speak of, and who made them, and for what incentive.  At the end of the day though, these findings are all moot unless we can have a conversation about the hyperinflation in college costs directly related to 'free' aka subsidized education. It appears that co-signing does impact your debt-to-income ratio, at least in the US.  An article on Kiplinger says: An article on Forbes agrees saying: There is a similar question here.