I'm in my 3rd of 4 (maybe 4.5) years of my Bachelor of Arts degree.
I am now at $25,000 debt. By the end of this degree, I will be at $35,000 - the maximum my student line of credit will allow.
I'm currently paying about $160 a month just in
interest on my Line of Credit. I have one year after I graduate, and then I will start paying back the principle, and looking at payments of $300 or more every month, just for my student loan.
On top of that, I will be getting a two-year vocational diploma in Audio Engineering after I finish with this degree. That will cost me an extra $10,000 - which I have no idea how I will pay for.
My parents have been generous, to varying degrees. My mother set up a mutual fund when I was born for college money. By the time I used it in first year (my first year was debt-free, that $25,000 has just been the past year and a half) it had about $4,000 sitting in it. I am terrible with money, so I really had nothing substantial saved myself, but luckily my mom and stepdad have agreed to pay for 2nd term tuition every year, but my loan is paying for books, rent, 1st term tuition, groceries, and admittedly I have been using a
LOT of it, until recently, as spending money, not realizing what kind of hole I was digging myself into. My dad and stepmom give me a $1000 cheque every term, which is extraordinarily little compared to my mother (who makes about half of what my stepmom just by herself does), but they think it's generous so I'm not really willing to ask them for any more since I know what the answer will be.
Long story short, I look to be about $50,000 in debt by the time I am done school. Before I ever start a career, two full years' salary will be going right back to the bank.
I'll probably be living in my parents' house until I'm 25, since I won't be able to afford my student loan payments on top of rent.
But it's the only way I can avoid working at McDonald's for the rest of my life.