Ray works as a business analyst and helps companies improve their performance — a field that requires advanced degrees. Both he and his wife went to private colleges rather than public universities, which significantly added to their college costs. However, they saved money where they could.
"I enrolled in an accelerated program [at Robert Morris University-Illinois]," he says. "I did a dual degree, earning a bachelor's and two master's degrees in four years."
Although his unique program was cheaper than it would have been to earn each degree individually, his education costs still added up quickly.
But Ray took on the debt with his eyes wide open. "I knew a ballpark estimate of what to expect for my starting salary in the technology field," he says. "I knew what I was getting into."