>
>but debt for something like a degree seemed a crazy idea to me,
Right, of course, it depends on what degree. Starting in the fall I will be able to pay off my remaining law school debt six months and still have about 140% of my current (non-derisory) salary. Be working for it too, of course. And I went in-state to LS because I didn't want to run up a huge debt at a top 10 school. Then it would take me 18 month-2 yrs to pay off the debt.
>particularly because, being poor, i was constantly reminded of all the
>dishwashers, small time sales reps, etc. who had PhDs.
>
>Consequently, i got through college and grad school with a grand total of
>$5k in debt because I took out two student loans of 2500--the max at the
>time ten years ago as an undergrad.
Me too, though my undergrad years are longer ago than that.
I was unaware, actually, that I
>could
>even get a loan for graduate school. I got fellowships and TAships and
>taught 2 courses a semesters, sometimes 4, to get by. No one ever said
>anything. I guess they figured I knew.
Na, nobody cared. The most honest exchange I had was at at Cambridge, where the dean of grad students at my college (Kings) called me in to ask if I had money to live and a place to stay. I said I did, and asked, but what if I didn't? He seemed very surprised, "Oh, then, _bad luck_, old chap."
I also made my way through grad school as a TA, no loans. Figured that it was insane to borrow money to get a PhD in philosophy. I knew people who ran up $30,000-$80,000 in debt--this was 10, 15 years ago, when that was more than it is now. Thought they were nuts.
jks
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