My student loans

I graduated in 2009 from a private university in Atlanta with a BA in Sociology and Religion. I graduated in 2011 from a private graduate program in Chicago with a MSW degree. I mention that these institutions are private to indicate that the cost of attending was significantly higher than if I had chosen to attend public schools. Whether my decisions were wise, for the degrees I received...well, that's another post :)

I graduated with a mix of Perkins/Stafford loans that totaled roughly $47,000. Not too shabby, considering I got 6 years of private education out of it. I was lucky to have received plenty of grants and scholarships along the way. I'd say 90% of my friends graduated with loans that had one more place value. But for a new graduate who had never had debt and was very fearful of it, that number sure looked big enough to me.

My mom gifted me with $9,800 at my MSW graduation. This cash was the result of a LOT of scrimping and saving on her part, and I immediately put $4,500 toward student loans. The other half I used to travel for a full month later that year to Korea, Vietnam, and China, and gifted 1k to my grandparents while I was in Korea. I didn't start aggressively paying off my student loans until about two years postgrad. Before then it was more important to me to build up my Emergency Fund. Still, about four years after my graduation I had managed to get the loans down to $27,000. And then my amazing mom stepped in again, and offered to pay that off for me. I am now paying her back, sans interest.

It's been almost a year since my lender became Bank of Mom, and after my payment this month I'm down to an even $20,000 owed. That would mean I paid off more than $27,000 in 5 years; a lot more actually, considering the amount that went toward interest. I'm too lazy to look up the exact numbers.

I could be even further along in my repayment but I chose to prioritize other goals alongside paying down my student loans, namely traveling. In the past five years I have visited China, Vietnam, Mexico, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Korea twice. I have absolutely no regrets about those trips and would do it this way all over again. I am thankful to my mom for her generosity and sacrifice, and am proud of the progress I have made on my student loans. My goal is to have them fully paid off in the next three years.

**I am aware that loan forgiveness programs exist for social workers, but after some research realized they weren't for me.