Getting Student Loans Can Be Career Suicide

Today I read an article from Jim at Bargaineering where he discussed how debt can limit you options - Debt Severely Limits Your Option.  I wanted to highlight this issue and expand upon it for people looking at getting student loans to finance higher education.

In the above article, Jim makes the point that incurring debt can limit your future options.  I think that people who are thinking about financing their college educations need to think long and hard about this point.

Going to college or graduate school can be one of the best experiences in life, however, if you have take out student loans to finance it, you better make sure that it is worth the money.

Here are some questions you need to answer before taking out student loans.

1. What type of job will this degree allow me to get?
2. What type of salary can I expect from this type of job?
3. Is that salary enough to pay back the student loans?
4. Is the salary worth the price of the education?
5. If I end up not liking that type of job, will I be able to afford to do something else?

Let me share with you my own experience.  I loved both my undergraduate experience and my law school experience.  But, I am not sure that financing law school with law school loans was a good idea.

Don't get me wrong, I like being a lawyer, but I my law school student loans closed some doors for me that I wish were not closed.

While I got extremely lucky coming out of law school by getting a job at a large law firm, today my career options are limited.  Because of my law school debt, I cannot afford to take a lot of jobs that might interest me more, but pay less.

When I originally went to law school, I wanted to go into politics.  However, after getting buried in law school debt, I cannot afford to do those types of jobs anymore.

So, if you are thinking about financing college or grad school, make sure that you really want to do that type of work.  Also, make sure that you are comfortable with the answers to all of the questions above.  You might be closing doors to less profitable, but more enjoyable careers.

Related posts:

1. 4 Reasons Why Student College Loans Are Dangerous
2. My Student Loan Debt
3. Should I Consolidate Student Loans
4. Needing Some Focus – Student Loan Debt and College
5. How I Got Into Debt – My Story

Tagged as: Career Planning, Law School Loans, Student College Loans, Student Loans