I'm 41....and free of student loan debt!

Posted by Clark Venable on 4/6/2006

I turned 41 years old today. Perhaps more significant to me, however, is that I finally paid off my last outstanding student loan! I finished medical school in 1992 and residency in 1996 so it took about ten years.

My total debt amounted to about $70,000 for college and medical school combined (without interest). Here are some interesting numbers from back then:

"Median U.S. Medical Schools Tuition and Fees for First-Year Students in 1992-3:
  • $20,597 for private schools
  • $7,544 for in-state residents at public schools
  • $16, 739 for out-of-state residents at public schools

Mean level of Educational debt of indebted graduates in 1992:
  • 19.5% of medical students had no debt
  • $47,088 for public schools
  • $69,479 for private schools
"

And here's the data from 2003:

"Average Educational Debt
  • $115,218 – According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the average educational debt of indebted graduates of the class of 2004 (including pre-med borrowing)
  • 63% of graduates have debt of at least $100,000
  • 81.4% of graduating medical students carry outstanding loans, combined with 62.4% with loans on college/premedical education
  • $91,438 – Mean per capita debt for 2003 allopathic graduates
  • $109,457 – Mean per capita debt for 2003 allopathic graduates excluding students without loans
  • $123, 800 – Mean per capita debt for 2003 osteopathic graduates, up 2.3% from the previous year
  • $7,277 – non-educational debt (allopathic)
"

One final note: If I'd stayed in academic anesthesia it would have taken at least another ten years to pay these loans off...

This post has 0 replies
See full thread