Other OT-Related Information Student Loan pay off

[dor814]

Good morning,

I have just been accepted to the MOT program at USC. I am obviously very excited but also quite overwhelmed with the total tuition and subsequent student loan I am going to have hanging over my head hen I graduate. I have a couple of questions I was hoping some people on here may be able to help with.

1) I have been accepted into the program at USC as well as a few other programs here in California. All very expensive but USC is 135K while the others are 100K. I know USC is a very highly ranked OT program but I am wondering if anyone on here has some insight on whether or not this higher cost is worth it to go to USC or whether it may be smarter to attend a cheaper program. Any input would be really helpful. I am struggling with the choice. Do you think graduating from USC would be that beneficial in the field of OT?

2) I am originally from Australia and have not had to worry about US student loans etc... in the past. I have heard that the federal government excuses the remainder of your loan after 20 years. Can someone provide some insight on this and if true how much are you required to pay each year?

Thanks so much for your time and help. Happy Holidays to all!

David

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[OT96]

Every OT I've observed has told me that employers don't care about prestige of the university you attend - as long as you have the degree and know what you're doing you will get a job. OT is a booming field anyway, so most graduates from any university get a job within 3 months of grad as long as your university is accredited. That said, I would focus more on what the program has to offer: faculty, fieldwork experience, curriculum, location, etc. However, the obvious hope is that we will all be successful in our careers, so if you feel called to attend USC for reasons that aren't related to the ranking then I say take on the debt and go there knowing that you'll need to be a little more frugal after graduation to pay off your loans.

In terms of loan forgiveness, most universities that I know of have a 10 year loan repayment plan so you probably wouldn't need to worry about paying for 20 years as long as you can make your payments on time. Depends on cost of attendance, type of loans you take out, and interest rates of your loans though. I'd say take out as many subsidized loans as you can because those don't accrue interest while you're in school. Good luck with your decision, and congrats on your acceptances!

 

[dor814]

Thanks so much for your advice. That is really helpful.

 

[OT_94]

Good morning,

I have just been accepted to the MOT program at USC. I am obviously very excited but also quite overwhelmed with the total tuition and subsequent student loan I am going to have hanging over my head hen I graduate. I have a couple of questions I was hoping some people on here may be able to help with.

1) I have been accepted into the program at USC as well as a few other programs here in California. All very expensive but USC is 135K while the others are 100K. I know USC is a very highly ranked OT program but I am wondering if anyone on here has some insight on whether or not this higher cost is worth it to go to USC or whether it may be smarter to attend a cheaper program. Any input would be really helpful. I am struggling with the choice. Do you think graduating from USC would be that beneficial in the field of OT?

2) I am originally from Australia and have not had to worry about US student loans etc... in the past. I have heard that the federal government excuses the remainder of your loan after 20 years. Can someone provide some insight on this and if true how much are you required to pay each year?

Thanks so much for your time and help. Happy Holidays to all!

David

Hi! About the student loans - I’m not an expert or anything regarding this, but the federal government has different types of repayment options. The standard repayment plan is typically 10 years, but there is an option for income driven repayment plans (IDR) With IDR, you’d make monthly loan payments that equal ~10-15% of your income for 20-25 years and at the end of those years, the remainder of your loans would be “forgiven”. However, depending on the plan, you have to pay taxes on the amount of loans forgiven (so if you have $80,000 forgiven, you’d be paying income tax on that $80,000 the year it is forgiven).

Here’s a resource I found useful: https://studentloanhero.com/featured/income-based-repayment-plan/

Additionally, there is a repayment option with the federal government that’s like, public service loan forgiveness, which I believe is something like if you work for the government and make loan payments for 10 years, all your federal loans are forgiven, tax free.

Hope this helps too!

 

[dor814]

Thank you so much for that, yes I have heard of those kinds of programs. I will definitely look into it all.

Thanks again for the insight. I really appreciate your help.

David

 

[TnOT96]

Go to the cheaper school. It doesn’t matter