How I Paid Off $250K in Student Loans One Year After Grad School
When I decided to go to graduate school for physical therapy, I was looking at more than $150,000 in student loans for tuition alone. I decided to take it one step further and also get my Master of Public Health as a dual degree—and was looking at a total of $250,000 of debt (not including living expenses). It was that looming number that made me almost decide not to go.
The reality was that I had also lost three years of my life (from 22 to 25) to depression. I lost income from those years of not working, and I also lost my savings from working through high school and college to medical bills. I had a numbing and isolating fear of going back into debt and falling victim to the lack of a paycheck. I had just escaped the all-encompassing struggle of debt when I thought about applying for school, and I asked myself if I really wanted to choose to go back into debt.
But like many people who chose to go to school, I wanted a career—not just a job. I wanted a career in something I was passionate about. I couldn’t imagine working 40 hours a week for just a paycheck. I am just not built that way. So I saved enough money to afford a year of living expenses and started graduate school at 29. Now, while I don’t recommend depression or debt to anyone, they both taught me some really important lessons.
- Everybody is dealing with something. We can play victim, or we can act.
- Asking for help is essential to success.
- Action without a plan leads to failure.
My plan to overcome student debt was simple and included three parts: budgeting, applying for scholarships, and working.
The Simple Effectiveness of Budgeting
Priority number one was budgeting. If you don’t pay attention to your spending, it’ll catch up with you. Easily the most underrated way to save money is to spend less. I looked at my spending and I set limits on everything—from eating out to groceries, clothes, and social events. At the end of each week, I updated an Excel sheet and tracked how much I spent in each category. If I wanted more money for one category, it had to come from another one. No exceptions!
The Challenge of Finding Scholarships
Priority number two was applying for scholarships. The reality is that there is rarely financial aid available for PT school and there are minimal scholarships. But some do exist! They just take some hunting to find. I used Google and reached out directly to my university for opportunities. I was able to earn more than $60,000 in scholarships (THANK YOU RIZING TIDE!).
I applied to more than 30 scholarships though. And while the effort was worth it, it took a lot of dedication and scheduling to not be overwhelmed by all the applications. My advice when applying for scholarships is this: Don’t focus on your grades. Focus on your passion and your identity, and present yourself with an authentic voice. Most people who apply for these scholarships are “qualified.” Most scholarship organizations want to hear YOUR story and who you plan to become.
Personal Limits and Working Within Them
After budgeting and finding scholarships, you have to ask yourself, “Do I have the capacity to work while I am in grad school?” For me, the answer was “yes.” That looming debt motivated me, but so did having the ability to travel with my friends during my time off without the guilt of adding to my debt. But I always told myself if my schoolwork started to drop off, then I would stop working. There is no bigger waste of money than retaking semesters or dropping out completely because you weren’t focused on your schoolwork.
Before I was a physical therapist (and while I was in DPT school), I was a personal trainer and strength conditioning coach. I was able to dedicate 10–20 hours a week to building an online business that paid for the majority of my tuition. It was a risk. I took what could’ve paid for my living expenses for a year and invested it in my business coach.
Work-Life Balance
The reality is that I didn’t have much work-life balance while I was in grad school. I was easily pulling 60-hour weeks (and a lot of 80-hour weeks) between my two degrees and business. I even worked during my school breaks. In my opinion, the payoff was worth it. Today, I’m debt free. I work my dream job as a physical therapist on Broadway. I have a thriving personal training business with eight employees—and we have worked with more than 500 clients. I was able to fully furnish my own apartment in NYC, and a lot of that personal life I missed during school I get in spades now. All within a year of graduating!
To be clear, you don’t have to do what I did. You can take pieces of my plan. You can minimize your debt and find more balance in your spending. You should absolutely get in the habit of budgeting, but maybe you can work part time or apply to just a few scholarships. Whatever works for you!
Truly what worked for me might not work for you, but if the fear of debt stops you from chasing your dreams, reconsider. There are ways to overcome that fear and work for a future you love.
