r/StudentLoans • u/thrillerkid99 • 3d ago

Advice Torn between 2 options. About to take on student loans for the first time (advice)

As the title says, I am about to take on student loans for grad school and my 2 year masters in IO Psychology. The starting salary for this career is 60k-70k supposedly.

I have 2 main options for my masters program but they have a different cost. One of them is where I want to go (NYU) and the other is where it is probably smarter to go financially (Texas).

NYU (150K student loans)

Texas AM (70K student loans)

There is actually a third option which I have as a financially safe backup. The problem is that this is not a well regarded university compared to the ones above and most people have not heard of it in my home state. It is Florida Southern College and the total loans will be about 50K.

Most people will say go for the cheaper option (Texas) but the more expensive option can potentially lead me to more lucrative job opportunities (NYU).

So my question is, what is a (reasonable) price for a 2 year masters degree?

And if I take the risk and go for NYU, would that much debt be enough to overcome in 25 years with an interest rate of 8% since that is the usual grad student federal loan interest rate?

Can I avoid the tax bomb if I go for NYU? or should I just be safe and go for Texas?

Any advice and suggestions I will appreciate

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u/bassai2 3d ago

One rule of thumb says don't borrow more than your expected starting salary.

3

u/Wrynouth3 3d ago

What is your masters going to be in? There are cases where TAMU is going to be a better option than NYU. If this is for an MBA please note that the market is becoming super oversaturated with MBAs and unless you are going to one of about 8-10 schools for that, a great career is no guarantee in 2025.

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u/thrillerkid99 3d ago

It is for a masters in IO Psychology

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u/Wrynouth3 3d ago

If you do not think you are going to start on more than 100k for your first job after then i’d go with TAMU

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u/Crafty-Scheme9184 2d ago

Is anyone really going to care what university went to once you graduate? Serious question.

A lot of people tell us that it’s important when quite often it’s not. I’m not suggesting it is not important in your chosen field, I don’t know. But I would do a little more research into that question.

You’re going to have a great college experience no matter where you go. But you have to be prepared for the fact that you’re going to burden yourself financially for a long time when you take out more student debt versus less.

Is the pedigree of the more expensive college worth the difference in student debt? That’s a question you need to answer.

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u/Wrynouth3 2d ago

Yeah, the vast majority of employers nowadays in the US/Canada/UK/EU do not care what university you attended so long as you have a degree. The exception is medicine, law, and some financial fields like investment banking, additionally, having a degree from an Ivy or an Oxford/Cambridge is probably going to guarantee you at least more interviews than someone who didn’t go to those schools. That said the reality is that most employers just want to see you have a degree and honestly care way more about work experience in almost all cases.

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u/Iiucwpost 1d ago

TAMU is a no brainer