After living with his parents for 15 months, Mr. Meru and his wife moved to a one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles with a monthly rent of $1,550. When Mrs. Meru became pregnant in 2010, the couple paid $1,800 for a two-bedroom.
One luxury was buying a used Mercedes-Benz, which carried a monthly payment of $390. Beyond that, Mr. Meru said, the couple restrained their spending. For fun, they went camping.
Mr. Meru said he spent 40 hours a week at school. He reserved evenings for studying and helping care for his young family, which left no time for a job.
By the spring of 2009, the end of his fourth year, Mr. Meru’s loans had reached about $340,000, still in line with the original estimates from the financial-aid director. That would change as he chased his dream.
After graduating from dental school that spring, Mr. Meru began orthodontics. Unlike doctors, who usually are paid to perform residencies at hospitals, dental specialists often perform their residency at universities that charge tuition.
For the next three years, Mr. Meru continued his studies at USC, and continued to borrow for tuition. Of his growing debt, he said, “I just wouldn’t look. The only thing looking did was create stress.”
After finishing the orthodontics residency in 2012, Mr. Meru used a government option known as forbearance, which allows borrowers to postpone payments. Mr. Meru said he earned little his first year out of school and needed all of it to support his family. Interest continued to accrue, expanding his debt through the magic of compounding.
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