Amber and Danny Masters thought they would never pay off their debt. After grad school, the couple's student loan burden came to $600,000 — more than 27 times the average for college graduates in their 20s.
But now, Amber, a licensed attorney, and Danny, a practicing dentist, are focused on paying off the debt, and quickly . They aim to have the total eliminated in five years.
How they got into the red
Amber and Danny finished undergrad at Brigham Young University with virtually no debt at all. "We were lucky to receive scholarships, Pell Grants and the help of some family members," Danny tells CNBC Make It .
Then, the two decided to further their education. After receiving her bachelor's degree in sociology, Amber went back to BYU for law school. Danny, who earned his bachelor's in business, attended Barry University for a master's in biomedical science and Roseman University for dental school.
"Danny's master's [degree] cost about $60,000. Then each year of dental school cost about $55,000," Amber says. "Dental school is four years. Without interest, that put his debt around $280,000."
For Amber, law school was just under $50,000. However, interest started accruing immediately, with rates as high as 7.9 percent.
Overcoming denial to get started
At first, they "thought the debt would magically go away," Danny admits. "We just assumed that we would both have high earning potential after we graduated and that it would all work out. We never looked realistically at our debt until the end."
Then they became parents.
"Our beautiful son was born my third year of law school. Having a child is not the cheapest thing I have ever done, but it is the most incredible," Amber writes on Red Two Green, the couple's student loan advice blog. "[Our son's] birth was the start of us looking more seriously at our finances, and starting to make a plan for how we were going to manage [them]."
Most people told Amber and Danny to pay the debt gradually with an income-driven repayment plan, or not at all. "We scoured the internet, talked with colleagues, financial advisers, our school's financial aid offices, anyone at all who was willing to talk to us," the couple writes. "But in the end, most people agreed that there was basically no way on earth we would ever be able to pay off our debt on our own."
The couple knew that not paying the debt wasn't an option, either.
Getting back to black
Amber and Danny started thinking of ways to increase their income while they were still in school. "We resolved that if we could live within a modest budget and commit to working hard and smart, we could make enough money to pay it off quickly," they write.