Can I make it as a lab tech?

February 19, 2009 8:06 AM

Is it realistic for me to expect that I can pay off my student loans with a lab tech job?

I'll have my BS in biology soon, and I'm looking at lab tech jobs. These seem like they're just about the only thing I'll be specifically qualified for other than being a product rep, which is undesirable for other regions (e.g. 50% overnight travel).

Most of the jobs I've applied for pay new hires around $10-13/hour. My student loan payments will be $530/month; tight, but doable, though probably not enough to save very much. If I switch to a graduated repayment schedule, my initial payments will be closer to $350/month, but would go up to--well, I'm not sure, but no more than 3X the initial payment--$700-800/month, let's say.

So, the question: will my income after working as a lab tech for six to eight years be high enough to make those payments? Is there a career there, or are these jobs more of a layover for people planning to move on to graduate or medical school (which I am not going to do)?

Things to consider: I'm not considering the income-contingent plans, because the idea of paying $100,000 to discharge a $40,000 debt offends me, and I'm not wild about planning to make payments for basically my entire working life (I'm over thirty). I would probably be a lousy teacher.

posted by pullayup to Work & Money (14 answers total)

Things to consider: I'm not considering the income-contingent plans, because the idea of paying $100,000 to discharge a $40,000 debt offends me, and I'm not wild about planning to make payments for basically my entire working life (I'm over thirty).

I don't know enough about student loans or lab tech work as a career to be able to give you much specific advice, but one thing worth noting is that you can always pay off the loan early. So you could, for example, use a plan that gives you lower payments, but pay additional principal every month to make it equivalent to a higher monthly payment. There is a psychological aspect that can come into play when you aren't required to pay as much each month, but from a pure financial level a lower minimum payment gives you more flexibility.
posted by burnmp3s at 8:19 AM on February 19, 2009

but one thing worth noting is that you can always pay off the loan early.

So long as there's no pre-payment penalties. Wouldn't expect them in this situation, but if you go this route, be sure.
posted by inigo2 at 8:45 AM on February 19, 2009 [1 favorite]

$530/mo is close to what rent should be for an entry-level worker, which is to say you need to refinance to something closer to $200-$300/mo in order to make it work. Your basic budget is going to be something like $1400/mo take home, $500-$600/mo rent and utilities, $200-$300 food, $250 to loans, $100/mo in aggregate car expenses, $50-$100 in aggregate for clothing, $100 for hobbies/recreation, and marginal savings and safety net. You can tweak each of those to get another hundred to the loans, but it's going to go right to your standard of living. You really are looking at payments depending on budget (you don't make alot) and paying for a long time (it's alot of debt) -- both things you don't want to hear. Having control over your debt and having a realistic plan to pay it off should allay some of the anxiety of having it. Look up any of the specific budgeting threads on MeFi, those get to the heart of "realistic."

And you should get a handle on the loan refinancing. Are they actual interest-rate-reduced student loans or is it a mix of something else? Are they consolidated with one company (like Sallie Mae)? Your numbers on interest and mo. payments seem way big and fishy.
posted by cowbellemoo at 8:54 AM on February 19, 2009

Depends on your expenses. I worked as a lab tech for 2.5 years before starting graduate school, and it would've been tough to make even a $350 monthly payment. I lived in Atlanta at the time, which isn't exactly a low cost of living area, but I had low rent, no car payment, and a not-particularly extravagant lifestyle.

The problem is that, generally speaking, lab techs are paid through grant funds. Grant funds are hard to come by these days. You won't see much more than a cost of living adjustment to your wages if you stay in the same job. Or even if switch jobs within a university department, which you should expect to do every 3-5 years as a professional tech, again due to the way grants are structured. Some labs will pay more for a lab manager, who does tech but also coordinates the business end of the lab (ordering, overseeing undergraduate workers, et cetera).

If you're not considering graduate or medical school, a 2-3 year stint as a lab tech can be a good starting point for other, more lucrative careers -- teching in the pharmaceutical industry, potentially doing contract research, et cetera. To make the most of your time as a tech, I strongly recommend that you find a position in a lab that does medically relevant research. Med school labs will pay better, generally, and you'll get technical skills and scientific knowledge that will help make you marketable down the road.
posted by amelioration at 9:03 AM on February 19, 2009

Response by poster: Are they actual interest-rate-reduced student loans or is it a mix of something else? Are they consolidated with one company (like Sallie Mae)? Your numbers on interest and mo. payments seem way big and fishy.

They're all government loans/issued through Direct Loans, and are a mix of subsidized and unsubsidized. All the numbers I quoted up there are from the payment estimation calculators on the Federal Student Loan Servicing website. My principal is $39,689.80 at 6.80%. Currently, the fixed payment is $526/month; that's the standard 120-month non-graduated repayment plan. When I switch to the graduated 120 month plan, the initial payment goes down to $350; that amount is (I believe) valid for two years.

The $100,000 figure is the most handwavey, because it depends on my income. However, the 25-year extended-graduated plan estimates a total amount repaid of $98,000, so it's probably in the ballpark.
posted by pullayup at 9:23 AM on February 19, 2009

Having worked for several years in the lab industry after graduating I can tell you that yes, these jobs are a layover. Unless you get some kind of additional education (NCA certification, masters degree etc.) you will always be working harder for less than everyone else around you.

The best way to maximize your earnings in this field when you are coming out of school is to switch jobs every year. You will both learn more and earn more by moving to a new lab on an annual basis. The other option is to go into management. By and large, lab techs are seen as interchangeable and compensated accordingly.
posted by euphorb at 9:57 AM on February 19, 2009

After you graduate, you should probably consolidate your debt if it's allowed in your loans. We are at historically low interest rates, well below 6%, and if you can lock those in your payments will drop noticeably. Consolidation can only be done once, though, so think about it. A fixed 4.5% rate would help in the long run.

For the record, I could afford my $400 payments on a salary of about $20,000, but it was often tight. I really, really wanted them paid off. $530 a month on an equivalent salary (which you would make at $10 an hour) would have made for some serious skimping on my part.
posted by hardcore taters at 10:30 AM on February 19, 2009

Oh, and you could consider waiting tables, bartending, or another moonlighting/side job to earn loan money if you want to go with the higher payment.
posted by hardcore taters at 10:32 AM on February 19, 2009

If your overall salary is similar to that of research techs in Boston (about $30k a year), you'll be paying between a third and half of your income every month to the student loans people. Depending where you are, and how much you need to pay for rent, transportation, health insurance, etc., it's probably doable, but very tight. You won't be accumulating any savings, and you'll be in a somewhat precarious position if any unexpected expenses come up.

Being a research tech won't lead you naturally into any careers, and working longer won't really get you raises, etc. The experience might make it easier to get non-research medical or pharmaceutical jobs, but to advance in research, you'll need to pick up a PhD. Most places prefer you to make a two-year commitment, so switching labs every year as euphorb suggests isn't necessarily a great idea; you will need the references of your PI to get a good new position.
posted by ubersturm at 11:02 AM on February 19, 2009

I don't think you can do much of anything on $10-13/hour.

Academic lab tech is not your only option. Have you looked into being a quality assurance/quality control tech/analyst?

All they want is a BS in chem or bio, and bench experience (if you did undergrad research you're golden, but I am sure you could spin your lab classes as relevant too). It pays better than research, and is a well-trod gateway to other kinds of jobs at the plant, in quality, R&D, technical assurance. Me, I'm now a technical writer.

Entry-level techs (QA Lab Analyst I) at the soap factory where I work, in Los Angeles, make $18-22/hour.
posted by Methylviolet at 1:25 PM on February 19, 2009

Response by poster: Have you looked into being a quality assurance/quality control tech/analyst?

I haven't seen any entry-level jobs like that around here (southeast Michigan); it could be the economy, or I might not be looking in the right places.
posted by pullayup at 3:37 PM on February 19, 2009

I agree that your numbers look wrong: when I used this calculator and put in a balance of $39689 at 6.8%, it gave a 10 year repayment schedule of $458 per month, and an income contingent repayment of about $75k over 21 years.
posted by jacalata at 8:47 PM on February 19, 2009

Response by poster: $526/month isn't an estimation, it's the actual payment that Direct Loans tells me I'll be making each month, and I'm inclined to believe them. I don't think I can modify that amount without changing my repayment schedule (e.g. to graduated/extended/extended-graduated), though you may be making a good case for refinancing. You also could be right about the income-contingent plan; I'll fiddle around with that calculator a bit.
posted by pullayup at 9:18 PM on February 19, 2009

I didn't mean that you might be wrong - just that you might want to ask them why the payment they calculate is so different, because it's possible that there is something you have misunderstood about your loans, or (if you're lucky) they're doing something wrong, or something that another lender won't do.
posted by jacalata at 10:01 PM on February 19, 2009