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I would love to hear from people who have already been through it or who are currently going through it.
It took me a very, very long time to earn my Masters. So long that I had to repeat a couple of classes. Worked full time, so could only take one class a semester. Maybe a semester or two I took two classes.
I would not recommend anyone do it the way I did. But, I did it without taking on any student debt.
I was in a program that was financed by AmeriCorps. As long as I worked for two years full-time in my designated area of need, they paid for my M.S.
The union I am currently in will pay for me to return to school but it's not a lot of money they offer up so I'd probably attend the city college if I saw something of interest to me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MI-Roger
I will be very interested in reading the posts regarding this topic. We just learned today that one Niece was accepted into a Master's Program at Columbia in NYC. Even with the 50% Tuition Scholarship she received I estimate she will need $50K per year to cover the other half of tuition plus the living expenses in the City. Maybe other posters can offer suggestions that I can pass along to my BIL and SIL.
I think it would depend on what she was pursuing as to whether or not it might be worth it.
I had a friend who wanted to do her post-bacc at Columbia. Then she found out how much it would cost and she decided to go to the local city college. She ended up getting into Harvard/UCLA after going to the city college and was thrilled because she avoided a lot of debt. She said when she initially asked Columbia about paying for the program, they basically pointed her in the direction of taking out a loan.
My husband had a co-worker who was in a very similar situation---she completed her Master's Program at Columbia and took out loans for about 50K/year for two years. She told my husband she ultimately regretted it, as she struggled to pay off the loan. Then again, I probably wouldn't have studied what she did knowing I'd owe 100K after that.
I would suggest she inquire as to any other programs, jobs, etc. they might offer at the school. Don't be surprised if it's a fruitless inquiry, but I'd pursue all avenues with them if I really wanted to go there.
I think it would depend on what she was pursuing as to whether or not it might be worth it.
My husband had a co-worker who was in a very similar situation---she completed her Master's Program at Columbia and took out loans for about 50K/year for two years. She told my husband she ultimately regretted it, as she struggled to pay off the loan. Then again, I probably wouldn't have studied what she did knowing I'd owe 100K after that.
I am pretty sure her degree plan is in a career-less field; just like her undergrad degree.
My husband used his GI Bill. I used a small grant and Graduate Assistantship.
Got it done in two years working two part-time jobs and with two young children. Since that day I have never opened that dratted thesis once and am glad I never have to do that again!
I was lucky. I worked full time in my profession while taking grad classes in the late afternoon and at night. Since it was an Education degree, most of the people in those classes were teaching full time and needed those hours for classes. I took about 9 credits a semester. It took me two years from beginning to thesis completion, and I graduated with no loans.
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I worked full time and kept my classes to two days a week, arranging my work schedule around it. No need for any loans, kept up a 4.0 which was pretty much required to stay in the program.
For my MBA, I saved about $20k, then moved back in with my family to save on living expenses. Covered tuition with scholarship, fellowship and graduate assistantship and graduated debt-free.
For my Master in Computer Science degree, my wife covered living expenses and I had a teaching assistantship. We still took out $40k+ in loans, but we were able to pay it off within a year of graduation.
ASU offered to pay for a M.S. in geotechnical engineering but I'd had enough and went to work instead. Tuition, fees and books only of course. I still would have had to pay for living expenses.
My wife's company did tuition for her MBA.
I think there were some grade requirements.
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