西部落：学费:大学生不能承受之重（在线收听）

Making Cents now. Out of paying off that college loan. There is a new study.

It says a growing number of students are ma, in a major hole from the minute they enter the real world because they are already, some of them, more than 100, 000 dollars in debt. With us now in Studio B is Greg McBride, he is the senior financial analyst for Bankrate. com. Now I guess there are two kinds of debts, good debt and bad debt. Where does this go?

Well, student loan debt is traditionally considered good debt, but the problem for many students and their families is that the cost of colleges has been going up at 6 to 8% a year, far faster than the income, far faster than the standard of living. That means debt's taking on a bigger and bigger role in financing education.

How much debt is too much debt for, for one student?

Well, one guideline is that you look at the first year's salary in your field after graduation, and use that as, as a barometer, but even then. . .

Is that right?

Well, you are talking big payments even in that instance, for example, 30, 000 dollars worth of debt. If you are gonna repay that over 10 years, you are talking more than 300 dollars a month at, in payments every month for 10 years.

There is more than one way to skin a cat and there is more than one way to get a loan for college. There are government programs. There are so many kinds of grants. What's, what's the best advice for people who are looking for these loans to try to keep themselves from going under.

I understand that loans are just one piece of the bigger college financing puzzle. Take advantage of the, other opportunities. Things like a 529 college savings plan, let, let you save on a tax advantage basis.

Now, that's an interesting thing that we've talked about here before. It's state by state, different rules state by state, is that right?

Well, the, the rules are varied from state to state. You are generally, whether or not you are getting an instate tax break, but every state offers them. You don't have to invest in your state's plan.

And you do get a federal tax break?

You do get it as under current rules you get to withdraw that money free of tax at the other end.

And, now there are, there are limits per year and a maximum overall but you can get up to 100, 000 dollars tax-free save, right?

Eh, essentially, yes. I mean you can actually put, put away, er, you know, the generally account limits were limited at about 320, 000 dollars. So, I mean you can really put money away in these accounts and withdraw tax-free to pay for that educated. . .

You're putting a couple hundred bucks away if you're especially talking about a brand new kid. I mean that'll save your butt later on.

It's important to start early and that really reduces that reliance on debt later. Another thing, leave no stone unturned, looking at grants, scholarships, even on-campus jobs. I mean every dollar you get that way is seen as another dollar you don't have to borrow later.

The kinds of jobs that so many students, fresh off students, like to go into, er, charity stuff, volunteer work. This debt is eliminating a lot of that, isn't it?

I think that's the social cost, Chaper. Really, I mean , you know, when you consider that, you know, people may pass up a rewarding career in charitable work, or non--profit organization because they have to get a higher salary someplace else to pay off that debt. You know another I think, is they may dismiss the idea of going back to graduate school later, because they are afraid to incur still more debt.

Yeah, who wouldn't be. . Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate. com. Greg, good you could be here.

Thank you.