Welcome to Wycliffe College

Money Matters: (Managing Student Debt)

At Wycliffe’s Wednesday Event on Feb 29th, 2012, Peter Patterson discussed the subjects of debt and financial planning.

In that presentation, he noted how important it is to be able to quantify the amount of debt that one has (or is likely to accumulate while obtaining the degree being sought), and to estimate the post-graduation income that is necessary to sustain and repay that amount of indebtedness.

A useful tool to estimate the income needed to cope with the level and nature of student debt is the Affordability Rule-of-Thumb Calculator –

Similarly, one of the most helpful methods of ensuring that one’s debt is no more than the essential minimum is to establish a budget and then journal all expenditures against that budget.

The attached spreadsheet entitled The Budget Plan may be useful as a basis for establishing and monitoring such a budget.

Finally, to glimpse one’s likely financial situation after graduation, it is useful to prepare a budget for that period. If based on realistic family income figures, this will enable a student to understand better the effects that current debt may have on choices after graduation, and to consider the time period over which current student debt can be eradicated.

To assist in this process, the Post- graduation Budget Plan will be useful.