Graduating from physician assistant school should have felt like the finish line. For Arden Missal, it instead revealed a six-figure obstacle. After her parents left for the airport, she totaled her graduate student loans for the first time. The balance exceeded $150,000 and later settled near $155,000. Tuition at her top program alone had surpassed $100,000. Her starting salary of approximately $110,000 produced roughly $75,000 in annual take-home pay after taxes. Even living on nothing for two years would not have eliminated the debt. open
Standard advice recommended minimum payments and investing the rest because interest rates were relatively low. Missal rejected that path. Projections showed she would remain in negative net worth for years while carrying mortgage-sized payments and constant financial stress. She chose the opposite strategy: clear the entire balance as quickly as possible.
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