I'm going to throw some more math in to the mix
. The interest rate makes a big difference. Previously in 2005, you could get a 30 year consolidation loan with an interest rate fixed at 1.625% after incentives! So you could easily borrow $200,000 without stocking up on Astroglide:
Loan Balance: $200,000.00
Adjusted Loan Balance: $200,000.00
Loan Interest Rate: 1.62%
Loan Fees: 0.00%
Loan Term: 30 years
Minimum Payment: $50.00
Monthly Loan Payment: $702.30
Number of Payments: 360
Cumulative Payments: $252,828.10
Total Interest Paid: $52,828.10
Note: The monthly loan payment was calculated at 359 payments of $702.30 plus a final payment of $702.40.
It is estimated that you will need an annual salary of at least $84,276.00 to be able to afford to repay this loan. This estimate assumes that 10% of your gross monthly income will be devoted to repaying your student loans. This corresponds to a debt-to-income ratio of 2.4. If you use 15% of your gross monthly income to repay the loan, you will need an annual salary of only $56,184.00, but you may experience some financial difficulty.This corresponds to a debt-to-income ratio of 3.6.
So $700/month is definitely more manageable and even over 30 years, you're paying less interest than 10 years at 6.8%.
Unfortunately, that practically free money is no longer available. Furthermore, it probably fueled the tuition increases and the opening of expensive new private schools that students are still gladly lining up for today.
Staffords for grad students now have an interest rate fixed at 6.8%. At this rate, you definitely have to take a closer look at whether the 'investment' in education is worth it. Be careful when you hear about past students racking up $200k (at low interest rates) and are doing fine today. $200k at 6.8% is going to be very difficult!