NPR

Teachers With Student Debt: These Are Their Stories

If you're a teacher, you have one of the lowest-paid professional jobs in the U.S. Most require a four-year degree, which can require tens of thousands of dollars in loans that some struggle to repay.
Source: Lilli Carré for NPR

Teachers have one of the lowest-paid professional jobs in the U.S. You need a bachelor's degree, which can be costly — an equation that often means a lot of student loans. We've reported on the factors that make this particular job even more vulnerable to a ton of debt, including chronically low teacher pay, the increasing pressure to get a master's degree and the many ways to repay loans or apply for loan forgiveness.

More than 2,000 teachers responded to our first survey about the issue, and we're following up to hear a few of their stories:

is a 10th-grade English teacher in Oklahoma City with 10 years of experience. She's married and lives with her husband,

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