Originally Posted by Cimarron29414

It isn't $50K. It's $50K + 3 more years of earning potential. So, let's suppose you get our of school with a BA in Psych. Most likely, you get a job as a state-funded counselor and earn (for example) $40K. In 3 years you have grossed $120K.

...No you haven't, you were in grad school. So, you now have $170K to make up. So, you get out of school with $50K in debt plus $120K in lost earnings. If you get a job as a...guess what...state-funded counselor and make $44K because of the masters, it will only take you 30 years to make up the lost wages if you never receive a raise. So, let's factor in raises (and that your masters will get you better raises) and knock it down to 15 years. So, you will spend the first 15 years of your career BREAKING EVEN on wages, not to mention the student loan.