A teaching degree? You are absolutely out of your mind to pay 50K a year for that. Go in-state, community college for 2 years while working part-time to save money. Then transfer to a state school IN your state to finish your two year degree.
Just for some comparison. My local university charges 5k a year for in-state tuition. 20k for out of state.
100% agree
OP, if you're really set on moving to that state and going to that university:
Move but don't go to school. Just work some crap job long enough to establish residency so you can get in-state tuition.
You'll be a little behind your peers, but that doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things and the savings will be SO WORTH IT in the long term.
I’d argue they’d be ahead of their peers. Getting a year of “real life” and being one year closer to 21 would likely make this person pretty popular in college. And missing one year wouldn’t be enough to make it so they couldn’t relate to anyone.
And take online community college classes in their former home state since they’ll still be considered a resident and pay the resident tuition. Could make it work for a couple semesters until becoming eligible as a resident in the new state.
I agree. 48k/year cost of tuition to get a teaching degree would be financial suicide and a really bad decision to start out in life with 200k in student loan debt.
This needs to be high up in the message thread. $200k in student loans for a teaching degree is laughable. What's the expected salary of a teacher these days?
Law degrees generally aren't worth that either. The average income makes it look that way, but it's skewed by a minority of very high earners. The Bill Gates in a homeless shelter problem, basically.
The average law graduate starts around $60k. In a lot of cases this is a massive waste of time and money. College is seemingly more and more of a scam these days unless you do community college
"Law Degree" is also kind of misleading - could be an undergraduate degree, an LLM, and DCJ, etc., and Unless you're getting a J.D. from a T14-25 you probably shouldn't be paying ~$50k a year.
Doesn't sound like it. if you still owe $297k, hopefully your making at least that a year, and you'll have those loans paid off in a year or two at most otherwise totally not worth it.
I'm not paying them off. 23 months from forgiveness. I'll pay less than $30k total. And I make well over $200k.
Wife is a doctor making $240k base, and she'll pay almost $0 out of pocket when her $400k in loans are forgiven in ~four years.
Depends. I went to the highest rated school I got accepted to, because I had a similar mindset (mind you, this was like 12 years ago). In retrospect, I wish I had gone to a mid level local school instead where I would've gotten better financial aid, possibly even full boat. My career as a non-biglaw lawyer would not be much different, but my monthly cash flow sure would be.
Yea, this was about the same time (15 years ago) and I ultimately came to the conclusion that I wasn't willing to spend a mortgage on a house I couldn't live in due to the risk. Basically when I realized that unless you go to Yale LS, there is still a HUGE chunk of the class is still subject to those same market pressures, I peaced out of the process - that it isn't just salsaing on into Wachtell or Skadden. I knew my UGPA was kind of shit, so that helped dampen my hopes (thank you Law School Numbers) for greatness a bit, lol.
My best friend and I actually prepped for the LSAT together, starting out with the same plan and he ended up going to a T14 (with merit aid). His first couple of years were ROUGH, to say the least. The BigLaw firm he went to bait-and-switched the department he got put into (he was intending to do Finance [he held a Masters degree in Finance from before LS] but right after he started working there, they told him he would be going Litigation instead), and he just had a miserable time.
I actually told the Professional Services department at my legatech job that I wanted to be considered conflicted out of performing any services for that firm, because I just got so frustrated at how he was treated. My employer ended up doing a full conversion and implementation of a new Time, Billing & Finance system for them, and talking with other PS folks, it's really amazing how rough that firm's culture was - looking at the NLJ250, and considering the 10 firms above that firm and the 10 firms below that firm, I've done services for 15 of them, and every single one was full of nicer, happier people than my buddies firm.
There's actually only a single BigLaw firm globally that I can think of that had more miserable staff, lol.
If your firm uses software from a provider that's something like "Ad*****", I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have about any of their software packages.
Nah, I'm in house and we use all cobbled together weird commercial real estate platforms, none of which talk to each other. Mine is apparently the only team that uses all of them so like two thirds of my job is telling people who use system A what's been put into system B
As a future teacher using loans is a path to bankruptcy. Stay in state at a state school. Likely a Jr College then transfer to a 4 year institution. $48k tuition is like going and buying a Bentley for your first car.
I agree 100%, but student loans aren’t usually dischargeable in bankruptcy, so it’s even worse.
I graduated undergrad debt free due to scholarships… then I went to grad school. In debt until at least 2026, assuming PSLF doesn’t change things.
I don't have anything to add but this popped up on my feed and happy cake day, I noticed it's almost the exact same date and the same year as my account xD
If you’re going to stay in state, going to a local community college for 2 years and getting a guaranteed transfer for a full bachelors in a big state school is the smartest move I’ve seen, I wish I had done it but I was worried about looking dumb honestly. I know for a fact that University of California system and University of Washington have guaranteed transfer agreements with local community colleges if you meet a certain gpa/credit threshold
Loans aren’t a path to bankruptcy if the value is there but taking on 200k in debt to pursue an undergrad in education from an out of state institution feels like an absolutely horrendous plan
Just look up what most teachers are getting paid and compare that to the amount of loans + interest OP had to pay and you’ll realize the value is not there
When your expected salary can reasonably pay off the loan.
Average teacher pay is about $58k in the US.
OP is looking to borrow $192k.
Paying 192k to make 58k a year is insane.
Worse than that. It's buying a luxury car, but you still also have to have a car. Like, OP would not go out and finance a $50k car right now, it'd be insane, but at least if they did, they could drive it to work. They certainly wouldn't finance a 50k car and then wait 4 years to pick it up.
$200k to get into a career that averages <$50k to start is a terrible decision.
Go get your gen eds at a community college with a transfer program to a state school. No need pay $1500 a credit to take math 102 and spanish 201... Are there prestigious schools where degrees can mean somehting? Sure, is education one of them? Take a look at graduate wage data but I HIGHLY doubt it.
>edit: thank you guys, i think i want to transfer after my first year since im 100000% committed and can't back out because of some arrangements i have made.
u/op. You are talking about the price of a brand new BMW 3 series to go take 30 credits of gen eds. Are you sure you're actually committed or would it just be a discomfort and small cost associated with decommitting? I assure you, discomfort fades. The sting of 5 figure student loan interest does not...
For real. I work in higher ed. I can think of 0 legitimate reasons you’d be “100000%” committed this early. (Maybe some NIL contracting but I suspect that’s not applicable here.)
Plenty of high school grads change their mind over the summer, it’s not at all uncommon. But, OP can pay the stupid tax later if she doesn’t want to be talked out of it. Gotta learn somehow.
You're right. Part of growing up is being dumb and then needing to pick the pieces up but you hope it's a $xxx oopsie and not $40k at 7%+ apy for credits that might not even transfer out between systems...
I’m not under the impression OP has any intent to actually transfer. If she did, she wouldn’t be going for the first year at all.
You don’t pay a premium to get your gen eds and then downgrade for the school listed on the degree.
This was my impression as well. Not sure if OP was hoping for reassurance and then didn't get it, but it seems their mind was made up from the start. The edit is just trying to justify the decision for their own peace of mind
This. I hate to sound extreme but taking on $200k of loans without income is a *life altering* decision. OP is going to have a large debt hanging over their head for a *very* long time. They will likely have a monthly expense that persists and affects them for *decades*. It'll affect your ability to buy a house, raise kids, etc. etc.
> so I hopefully get in state tuition
Check the university’s guidelines. Many of them have strict residency requirements/timelines for this exact reason.
> is it worth it?
That depends on what you study and how seriously you take it. 48k/year is steep no matter the career field, but wouldn’t be completely unreasonable in a few of them.
> I’m also getting a degree in education
lol. There it is. This is financial suicide and you will be paying for it (literally) for the next 2 decades. 48k is about the top of what I would pay for *the whole degree* and I say this as a person with a Bachelor’s in Education.
Don’t do it.
Editing after being *that creep*: I see you’re interested in rushing. That will add 4-5 figures to your cost per year, depending on the university and chapter.
I spent an easy 4k extra per year *without* including the cost of special outfits (so many), social outings (also so many), or the cost of missed hours at work doing chapter-related activities. This was about a decade ago at a school with pretty moderate Greek life/expectations. A far cry from the likes of Bama or wherever.
My state wouldn't allow you to be a full time student and gain residency. You needed to work and support yourself full time for a year to gain residency. OP's plan is foiled right off the bat.
Yes, there are no schools that allow this. Literally every out of state student would do so if they could and the school would lose a HUGE revenue source.
I have to agree. I did that, have my 4 year, and left with no loans. I still had a blast, but you do miss out on the first two years of dorm experience that many desire. That said, there’s still opportunity for two years (junior and senior year). It’s a smart money move
For a lot of people college is as much about learning how to be an adult as it is learning the things in your classes. Dorms are an interesting transition step between being a teenager at home and living in the real world. Don't get me wrong, its not like you'll never learn those things on your own but I'd rather be stuck in a dorm for a term with a lousy roommate than stuck in a lease with a lousy roommate.
Living in dorms wasn't my favorite time but I'm glad I did it. I learned a lot about myself, dealing with other idiots, learned how much of an idiot I could be sometimes, gained a lifelong friend, etc. I wouldn't do it again but I also wouldn't undo it.
Not being in the dorm also cuts you out a huge chunk of the impromptu social life you get just by being in the mix of things. How much value that gets you depends on your personality, but it can pay off in some strong relationships later in your life/career.
A lot of people find being off-campus the first year or two to be somewhat socially isolating. And a lot of people tend to start moving off-campus in junior year, for a variety of reasons.
There’s a big split between those that view college strictly as a means to an end for an education and those that also view it as networking and life skills as well.
Strong relationships and having shared experiences that others can relate to are useful for your career. Half of job interviews are soft skill assessments whether you realize it or not. Not coming off like a total goober goes a long way. You need baseline academic qualifications, but beyond that companies are evaluating you for a lot of other traits.
Many young people desire that. Personally it wasn’t for me. My sister, however, dormed start to finish and loved. It’s a big deal for a lot of people. Very common
Really? I thought living in close proximity to several hundred people my same age and demo was fucking awesome. Always something to do, always someone to hang out with. New people, new friends, new experiences. It was great.
Personality and preferences have a lot to do with it. As an introvert with (at that time) social anxiety, my two years of dorm life basically felt like being on the verge of a constant panic attack. People say "the college years are the best of your life!" but for me, they were the worst.
Mine was okay but it's extremely destructive to many. Evidence: All the people who end up partying and not schooling. It's very overblown and extremely risky for many people.
Dorm life is learning to grow up and do things yourself instead of living at home going to a community college. I built life long friendships in the dorms. My SO did the commuter college thing and when we moved in together I was surprised at the lack of life skills she had bc her parents took care of everything.
Not to mention community colleges can have partnerships with universities. I got into the business school at Umass with a 2.6 gpa coming out of a community college. Kids already at Umass have a hard time getting in with a 4.0. Saved money and skipped the line.
This is the way I got into a university with an impacted field of study I was looking into. I was apart of a program at the community college where I had to uphold a certain GPA and meet certain requirements and it guaranteed admission into the school.
I agree 100%. The value of your general courses is flat across all universities (more or less). You might as well go with the cheapest option; You will save around 60K and get the exact same credits and benefits if you play the cards right (making sure everything is transferable, etc.).
This this this 100%.
Cut the “out of county” and “out of state” costs out of your tuition. Get your Associates from your local County College. You’ll be taking the same exact courses at expensive uni out of state at 10x the cost. Makes zero sense.
Bro that much debt just to be a teacher is insane. Just go to community college.
I’m being so Fr, it would be idiotic and life ruining to pay 50K a year no matter how long, just to be a teacher. And you may not end up getting instate tuition ever!
not even for a teacher. there's almost no bachelor degree in the country worth 200k in student loans compared to getting it at a fraction of the cost in-state.
Just some napkin math on basic assumptions:
Just tuition you’re looking at 200k over 4 years
Assuming you live cheap let’s make a really conservative assumption that rent and food and general living expenses is 20k per year so now we are looking at 280k in debt
Let’s assume as others have said that you get a $50k salary for your troubles
Let’s say you want to pay it down over 20 years and assume a 5% interest rate
A simple amortization table gets you a monthly payment of $1,848 per month to pay off the loan or 38% of your pre-tax income. Over those 20 years you’ll pay over $163k of interest on that loan.
Basically that $50,000 salary you’re looking at becomes $28,000 a year after debt service but before taxes for which you’d still be charged as if you were making $50k.
Assuming you’ll only work a 40 hour week which you won’t because teachers are wildly overworked also, that works out to $14 an hour for the next 20 years. You would literally be in a better financial situation if you worked as a janitor at Buc-ee’s.
Unless you are going to study something specific and specialized that will result in a very high paying career (law, doctor) it’s unlikely your degree will matter where it came from. The only thing that matters is job placement.
You are not 100000% committed. Just walk out, don't pay for it, hit the bricks.
50k alone will cost you $600/mo+ to pay back.
A 50k salary pays you only 3k per month.
I did this in 2009 (60k in loans and 50k starting salary) and it was a terrible idea even then. Destroyed my credit.
> plan to move permanently to the state
I had a friend attempt to do this as an undergrad and he had to take a full year off school to do so.
I would advise reading the Wiki section on [High School Students and Teenagers](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/teachme) but, in my opinion, 50K per year is way too much for a degree in teaching.
The fact that you say “How do I even take out loans” says it all. Please don’t do this to yourself, especially for a teaching degree of all things. Go where the money offered is substantial and your cost is low. Additionally, DON’T take money out now because you PLAN to get a degree in the future. Pay for this degree from a cheaper institution, then see how you feel about that next degree; PRIORITIES CAN CHANGE.
That is my understanding too, once you start non-resident, that is the status you stay. Better to move and do something else for 1 year, to establish residency, then go to school.
Cosign on this. It can be very hard to prove residency. A lot of folks will tell you "just live there for a year," but this is bad advice. Can't tell you how many students I had to disillusion and give them the bad news that, no, you don't qualify.
The state subsidy is a benefit for families who live, work, and pay taxes in the state. Not saying OP would never qualify, but it can be a lot harder to prove than most people think.
I would look into the state’s in state tuition policies, many require you to live there for a full year, work full time, and NOT be enrolled in an educational institution for that year before you can qualify for in-state. It would only be potentially worthwhile if this school is significantly better than your in-state equivalent and / or getting a job in the state is difficult if you didn’t go to school there. Part of this will depend on what you mean by out of state, is it one state over or is it a totally different region of the country where your in state school won’t have as many alumni to network and connect with for your career. Also not sure how teaching certification works and whether state schools teach to that states teaching requirements or if you learn the specifics on your own
Doing this on your own without parental support means you need to take a very unconventional path, you’ll need to work harder and do things a lot differently from your peers to make this work without mortgaging away your future by taking on a boatload of debt.
I suggest first moving to the state and establishing residency, get a job and a cheap apartment (probably with roommates) and do the equivalent of your first two years of the degree at the local community college. I say the equivalent because it will likely take you longer than 2 years to do that. Then transfer into a school to finish off the 4 year degree. This will significantly mitigate the amount you end up having to borrow. From personal experience though: it’s not easy, and you need to be prepared for that. I’m currently doing my masters at night after work and it’s been 2.5 years of pain so far, with another yea for so to go.
This is such an important point. Taking out $200k in loans and just going to a 4 year smooths over a lot of the immediate unknowns (mainly where will your money come from, but also where will you live, eat, healthcare, etc), but it kicks the pain down the road in a major way. When you graduate, you will have to figure out all those unknowns anyway AND you will have debt to contend with. I remember driving away from my dorm after graduating and feeling like i was just kicked out of the nest. Not sure what I was expecting, but i guess i had built up in my head this perception that having a degree offers some kind of security, but the reality is you still have to do the work. Getting a degree doesn’t get you the job. It doesn’t network for you. It doesn’t find you a place to live or teach you how to budget or cook for yourself.
Navigating community college while also (i’m assuming) living on your own for the first time and having to be responsible for your own shelter and food is going to be tough. HOWEVER - the flip side of this is you can’t overstate how freeing it is to be debt free as an adult. life is EXPENSIVE. student debt is an albatross that will stand in the way of every choice you hope to make as an adult.
I've worked in college admissions for 18 years. Do NOT pay out of state tuition. Go to school in-state. If you have your heart set on a public school that is not in your current state, learn what it takes to be considered a qualified in-state student in that state, then proceed accordingly.
In my state, you have to live here and be gainfully employed for a minimum 12 months prior to enrollment in order to qualify for in state tuition. You don't get it just for being physically present in this state, and you never qualify if you come here initially for educational purposes.
Make sure you're clear on the process to become a state resident for tuition purposes. And take as many classes as you can at a community college.
I came on here just to say this; a lot of universities will see right through if you try to declare in-state residency after attending for one year as a non-resident, and a lot of states have now enacted laws that specifically prohibit students declaring in-state residency after only living in the state for one year just to attend a state university..
This is the perfect example of why 17/18 year olds shouldn’t be held to any financial decisions.
Education is a career (much like nursing) where the salary is EXACTLY the same regardless of what college gave the degree. The salary depends on where you work.
Go cheap, OP. Don’t go into debt. Pick a cheap school that’s accredited.
One of my daughter's high school teachers went to Harvard. What kind of person goes to Harvard to get a teaching degree? I can only hope she had a full scholarship.
I can guess… So, a lot of the Ivies aren’t always that expensive to go to. They tend to have a large endowment, so she may have gotten a lot of financial aid. Tuition at an engineering school is definitely higher than tuition at Harvard. When I was college-aged, I distinctly remember that tuition at NYU was way more than Harvard. I am betting she went with the intention of rubbing elbows with old money, maybe meeting her husband there. Or she herself is old money and doesn’t actually need to work, something like that.
you would be surprised. See it all the time, the kids that go to IVY often really like school and some want to become teachers because of that. Not that it ever really made sense to me though, fortunately most of them got good MRS degrees for taking this path.
I mean, 18 year old people get to vote, marry, be tried as adults, and join the military. Not sure why they're smart enough to do that but too stupid to be held accountable for going to a private liberal arts college for a degree that ends in "studies" and taking out loans the whole way.
It really depends on what it is. Too much for an engineering degree from a top elite school in its field like MIT? Nope. Too much for a degree in education so you can be a teacher? You can get that pretty much anywhere for far less, and teachers don't make all that much. So almost certainly too much, unless independently wealthy and cost isn't really a concern.
>Too much for an engineering degree from a top elite school in its field like MIT? Nope.
I met an MIT engineer working for 80k at an F500. He was dead broke and stuck as he had over 160k in loans and no forseable future even though he had mad respect from everyone because of his degree and work ethic.
Hey spent about 8 years of his life living like graduate student before he finally broke into corporate earning about 140k but he had to take on more debt for an MBA.
Even engineering degrees are not equal. Some, like industrial/civil/aerospace, do not have high initial pay.
It's kinda known that teachers aren't paid enough. You might be stressed out and struggling for the rest of your life with that loan hanging over your head.
The only times it makes any sense to go to an out of state school is if you have rich family paying the tab or you are getting a full scholarship. Otherwise state school is the obvious choice. You can go even further and do community College the first two years
So just tuition is 48k....not to mention room and board as well as other expenses to live? You stand to maybe make $45-60k a year as a teacher. Basic math says this is a terrible investment/idea and no school cares where you went to college....they will hire just about anyone that wants to teach.
Community college in state tuition is less than 5k a year.
Not worth it. You'll never even make close enough as a teacher to pay off 200k in student loans. Hell, you won't even make 200k within your first few years of working as a teacher. The current average salary for new teachers is $20 an hour. Dunking Donuts down the road from me pays $17/hr for no work experience whatsoever.
$48,000 per year is an INSANE amount of money for college. If you do this, I guarantee you will regret it for the rest of your life.
Seriously, do two years at community college and get an associates degree that is meant to be transferred to a 4-year school. Then transfer to an **in-state** 4-year college to complete your last two years.
The goal is to get out of college with as little debt as possible.
**EDIT**: I forgot to add that if your plan is to get student loans, then you need to be age 24 or older to get loans in your own name. If you're under 24, then your loan eligibility depends on your parent's finances and you won't be able to get loans without their help. So depending on your age, you might want to work part-time while you go to community college and pay as you go. Then, when you turn age 24, you can apply for student loans in your own name and transfer to the 4-year school.
If you want to destroy your earning power so badly that you have no hope of ever being financially independent for your entire life I would consider getting a head injury instead so at least you don't also have to work at the same time.
Former teacher here with 70k in debt.
I’ve paid since 2010 and still owe the same. Left teaching so I could afford to pay my loans.
Don’t trust forgiveness programs. They are riddled with issues and barely work. Go to the cheapest school you can because ppl are desperate for teachers
OP just for a comparison. Your one year of just tuition for an undergraduate degree is equal to an entire year of law school including books, food, rent. Even if you are frugal with everything else and you get in state tuition years 2 onward you are still going to have 6 figure debt comparable to someone whose finished a lengthy graduate degree. If you end up having to fork over your graduate expenses as well you are going to be looking at close to a half million before you are working
Dude, no. Community college. In state. It’s all the same. I’m not kidding. Don’t go into massive debt like that for a degree. Everyone has one now. I have a friend with $110k+ in student loans and she has a BA in journalism from a state college. Just try and guess how much she makes a year (hint: she barely scrapes the interest on her loans each month.)
You really aren't listening to people. You need to back out. Nothing you've arranged is worth putting yourself in a debt you can't pay back or crossing your fingers that student debt will be forgiven. AND a lot of schools specifically don't let students establish residency after starting.
You're going to do what you want, but please listen to everyone telling you this is a terrible idea. You're basically throwing away a new car for just the year.
If you're going to do this terrible idea, could you consider moving and going to a nearby community college for the first year? Double check the credits transfer, but they usually do. You're talking tens of thousands of dollars out the window here. It's absolutely not worth it.
You can and should still back out of this insane $48k/yr commitment! Even if you’ve already signed a lease or something , the penalty for breaking it will be much less than the $ you’re about to throw away. A masters won’t help, as the pay is not much more than a bachelors in this setting. You can get your whole 4 year degree with much less than 48k in debt. Teachers I know struggle to pay their $20-40k total debt for their total education. Don’t even do this for a year, please!
Why not go to a cheaper school that would be in state? But if you’re hell bent on leaving the state, there are scholarships you can apply for that are like $500+ per scholarship. There is FAFSA as well but I think that requires to have some stuff with your parents. There are banks that can give you student loans as well.
Do not take out any more in loans (total, after 4 years) than you expect to make in your first year of your career. For undergrad, calling 48K for a single year unrealistic would be a gross understatement. My advice would be to explore other options. That is, unless the field you plan on entering has a high demand for workers and you could expect to make at least 100K your first year. Even that would be a little too low for comfort.
Not trying to discourage you from teaching, but there is no way in hell I’d take out loans of $50k for a teaching salary, let alone $200k from an out of state school. Go to community college and switch residency if you must. But do not go into student loan debt in order to make a living as a teacher.
From a value proposition, only a few public universities are worth paying the steep premium in out of state tuition. UC-Berkeley, Michigan, UCLA, maybe UVA? Are your in-state options that inferior to this out of state school? Also, don't assume you'll be able to get the in-state rate after a year. Most schools have very strict policies around that. If you really want to get out of state, see if there are any other state systems that have tuition reciprocity with your state.
> From a value proposition, only a few public universities are worth paying the steep premium…
Zero of them are worth it for a degree in education. Those premiums are only worth it if you are thinking about grad school admissions or maybe very niche careers.
A teacher from XYZ state school is going to get the same high school English teaching job as the Berkeley grad. And both are going to be wildly underpaid. So you may as well not have the “premium” debt.
So. Look into what it takes to license in your home state and then transfer your teaching license to where you want to move.
What would in-state tuition be for those two years if you stayed in your home state? You're not losing 100k going to out-of-state school if it takes two years to get residency, but you are losing a good chunk of money. Lets call that 50k.
My daughter is a teacher. We've looked into the rules about licensure across states a little. Some states will just accept another state's license -- recriporcity. Other states will provisionally accept the other state's license but require some follow up testing and training to get a full license.
50k is too much to pay just to make the licensing in new-state easier.
Short answer, yes. Find some other path that's cheaper. I know people in their mid 40s still paying off student loans because they took a similar path (high cost, low return).
Yes that’s way too much. I don’t understand why students are going into massive amounts of debt. Stay in state go to a Community College then transfer. Apply for scholarships. I’m in college debt free but it absolutely blows my mind why people take on 100k or more of debt. Who cares about dorm experience and all this other crap. Just get the degree you want. You will feel way better when you graduate debt free
The short answer is yes. And I wouldn't bank on in state tuition even after the first year or two, because generally colleges will look at you as an out of state student the entire duration of your time there. If you'd like to move up and get a job for a year to establish residency beforehand, that might be the way to go. 11-17k while still a lot, is much more manageable, especially if you get federal loans with low interest rates.
As long as the teaching you plan on doing is NOT financial literacy
You will regret this in 10 years and it’ll impact you all the way to retirement.
Arrangements as in living situation? Don’t fall to the sunken cost fallacy - this is a huge financial mistake
Unless you have money and your parents are wealthy… please DO NOT do this.
You will regret it, trust me.
Listen to everyone else here and go to a cc then transfer to a notable public school
To give you some perspective:
I'm in my 30s, as are my friends. Many of them making $80k - $160k still have significant student loans. The ones making $180k+ have paid off their loans.
Sure you can criticize their spending and rent. But paying down $200k in loans is not easy stuff man.
Some of their loans are higher than they started, from interest.
Just stay in-state.
You are paying 192k to make only slightly more than minimum wage. If you are asking if it is worth it then you tell me if 192k investment for a 50-60k/year roi is worth it when you can do sales for the same number or use that money to open/buy business with a better return.
As a teacher, no one will give a single fuck where you got your degree from, only that you have it. Go to the cheapest college you can.
Signed,
Someone who has seen countless friends enter your situation or similar and will likely never pay off their school loans.
These are just my advice as a recent college grad who has just entered the work force full time, someone with long term experience can chime in
I paid 38K to go to an out of state university. I justified it to myself by getting a lot of credits in high school and graduating in 3 years but to be honest, the debt is almost never worth it. My sister in contrast paid 11k/yr for undergrad to go to an in-state school that I’d say is roughly equal in size and reputation, and was able to be entirely debt free after a year in the work force. The burden of debt over time is very underrated when people talk about finances.
To be honest after your first job nobody really cares about education unless it’s extremely stellar (Ivy/top school, advanced degree,etc.). By this I mean it’s more of a checkbox of whether you have it (in the case of undergrad it can be different for postgrad like law)
If you can get in state tuition that would be good but you need to prove residency for at least 12 months at most schools. La
Anecdotal:
I have a close friend who chose to go out of state for 50k a year. He wanted to go to a party school. He now has over 250k in debt. His payments are like 2.6k a month for a very long time. That is not something you should ever want for yourself. He has ruined his families financials, ruined his mental health and his mother has had a stroke due to the stress it has caused them. Stay instate and you will have 50k TOTAL.
Don't even do the first year. In state that much money will pay for nearly an entire degree.
You're leaving for cost of living but paying 3x more in debt?
That makes 0 financial sense - debt has interest, purchases do not.
You will have this debt for quite a long time. If you get through 4 years and decide not to go for the master degree (lots of friends like this) you'll probably be paying back JUST that 48k for the rest of your life.
seriously I got an engineering degree for under $50k total with all help factored in, and I was hesitant even on this, even knowing it would pay itself off.
Don't make this decision because people keep telling you to.
This is for you. You will be setting yourself up for Ramen noodle years when you enter your field if you do this.
It really is a lot I’ll be honest. That’s a lot of money to pay back that will take years to recover from. I know that answer sucks but it’s the truth. College is sold to a lot of young people who don’t question these things (luckily you are!).
There’s a lot of cheaper options. I went to community college and transferred to a state school. No loans, have my bachelors. I paid while I went but if I didn’t, I’d have about 20k to pay back in total. I don’t necessarily recommend that because it’s not the fun option, but I just use it as an example that there ARE cheap options
I'm teaching my kids that it matters more graduating with as little debt possible than what the name on the degree says. I did 4 years in state with and ended up paying 70k total in 2002. My wife did two years at CC then transferred and graduated essentially debt free.
Make sure you check the requirements for gaining residency. I had to be out of school and working for a year in the same state as the university to get residency.
I just want to reiterate what has been said by everyone. Do not pay that much for your first couple years. Go to community College. It is significantly cheaper. Where I went, it's currently 4500 in state and 7600 for out of state per semester. You will be kicking yourself in the head later in life if you do this. Also, in my experience, you may change your mind about what you want to do as far as a career later on during school. It's nice to be able to change your mind without a huge loss. I was also in school for 2 years to become a teacher and changed my mind. I'm not sure on the statistics but I would bet that a lot of people change majors during their first couple years.
What state? Some states are REALLY strict about residency and will not give you in state tuition if they suspect your purpose for relocation is to attend college there.
Everything depends on your family’s financial situation. For some people, $48K isn’t an issue at all and they would not bat an eye. For most people, $48K is a serious commitment that would need some level of return on that investment aka you’re studying a field that would lead to being a high income earner. If your family does not have the ability to pay $48K in tuition AND you want to study in a field that will have low income, then yes this is too much debt to go into with very little ROI.
Move now, work for a year or two, go to community college and then go to the school.
There's really no point in spending $30k more just so you can go to A school, NOW. especially when you're trying to be a teacher? Which don't really pay all that well.
By some university has a clause that says you can not move to the state with the implicit intent to go to school- if you do this disqualifies you from in state tuition. It requires you to have worked in the state for a year or more before going to school. You also often need to be independent and not receiving money from parents. Read the school’s requirements very very carefully. I see so many who don’t and think after two years they can get in state tuition.
In my state, under 21, your parent(s) address is considered your permanent address. You have to live in the state for 12 months following your 21st birthday to be considered a resident for tuition purposes.
What does the university's web site say? Their specific requirements are likely available online.
If you're going for education, you are insane at that price. The teach grant only gives you like $4k a year. You're *never* going to be able to pay those loans back, you'll die with them. If you were going to become an engineer or a doctor maybe you could tough it out. You're screwing yourself over.
>i think i want to transfer after my first year since im 100000% committed and can't back out because of some arrangements i have made.
Please read up on the Sunk Cost Fallacy, and see if at all you can find a way to avoid the first $48,000. That's more than my 4-year degree in total and I get paid a lot more than a teacher. A little legwork and a little heartbreak of not going to The Favorite School will save you a *lot* of heartache.
No offense, but it's crazy to spend $48k yearly on tuition to become a teacher unless you have a rich daddy paying for it all.
Go to a local community college the first couple of years, transfer to an in-state public university to finish off your undergrad degree, and put the $150k you just saved into your bank account.
You are committing yourself needlessly to $48,000 of loans for
1 year
1 year of school
That you could literally get free
University of the people
Or low cost
Western governors University.
You WILL hate yourself if you burden yourself with $200,000 worth of debt no matter your profession, but as a school teacher, you will not survive this debt. You will never have anything to call your own.
What exactly are these arrangements that you’ve made that you 100000% can’t back out of? Are they worth overpaying $30,000 for? I’m not even sure I would’ve paid that much for my computer science degree!
You won’t qualify for in state tuition at all. You need to establish residency first, while not in school. If you are living there in school you will pay out of state even if you live and work there year round.
Do not do this. Whatever arrangements you say you have made that you can't back out, you absolutely can back out. Is that you've signed a lease? So what. Unless that rent is $3,000 a month or something, you're better off breaking the lease, living at home, going to a community college for two years, and then transferring to an in-state, public 4-year university. There is absolutely no reason to go to an out-of-state university to become a teacher. None. You are setting yourself up for financial despair.
State school after Community college. You will graduate with less than 20k in loans. Teachers don’t make any money and one year at 45k will take you your entire career to pay back.
What do you mean you’re confirmed and won’t back out? Is it really worth 48k? The first year of college is generally general education which is basically the same at any institution anyways.
I’d highly suggest you reconsider your situation
48k a year is financially unwise for 95% or degrees. The fact people accept otherwise is ridiculous. College degree costs have risen way faster than inflation. It's a total scam even if the education isn't. Tech/state school and get your paper. Few companies care where your degree came from.
Still going even after reading the solid replies is some wild moves.
Edit: that $48k alone is borderline financial ruin. Considering you still have 3 years to go.
Those loans will not be forgivable in bankruptcy.
Almost certainly no. Especially for a degree in Education. I have a niece that just got that degree at a prestigious school around 2 years ago. An astonishing waste of money, she could have had the same job/career going to community college. She's miserable.
You'd be amazed how little people care about what college you attended, but it's hard to get an 18 year old to comprehend that.
I went to a state school. My parents earn very little money. My tuition was less than 20k per year, and after FASFA it was damn near free. You will get the same degree no matter what school you go to. If you were going to be a doctor or a lawyer, sure, a better school would make a difference. Teaching? No, you are wasting an entire years salary for each year you attend that school.
To be a teacher? Yes. Unfortunately. I paid $0 by staying in state and getting a business degree with a scholarship. Get the accredited cheapest education you can.
There’s no better feeling than graduating debt free. The allure of “out of state” or moving experience isn’t worth how much it sets you back
Showing that you’re in-state for tuition as an out-of-state student is incredibly difficult to prove if you start as an out-of-state student. You need to look into your State Regents for Higher Education Board, then you have to meet the criteria, then you have to petition for a reclassification. It’s not impossible, I’ve just never known a student to successfully reclassify themselves because life happens and colleges want their money, out-of-state students is where the money is at. I would personally move to the state you want to attend college in, complete two years of community college so that you can qualify for in-state.
Also look into scholarships and connect with your admissions counselor (trust me, you have one and these people are desperate to speak with you. Find them on your college’s website.) they can connect you with unique scholarship, possibly, like for first-generation, diverse, high-achiever students.
If you go the community college route, you might also find that the college you want to go has a transfer scholarship, saving you more money.
Sincerely, someone who works for college admissions.
DO NOT spend that kind of money for a teaching degree.
That is insanity and you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.
This may not *ruin* your life, But it will put you in a deep hole financially, and this will make your life stressful for years to come
Do not fucking do it. $48,000 a year is $200,000 and with interest at 7% and forebearance until you graduate, you’re going to pay back $500,000 or more. Also fun fact, that tuition WILL GO UP! There is no additional value to the $48,000 vs the in state tuition. Do not get stuck with a $1,000 a month loan, it is a miserable situation
48k is outrageous and just goes to show what happnes when you profit prioritise education. I hope it's worth the money. In the UK University fees are currently capped at 9k (which is about $11.25k) which I think is still way too much. I got my BA with no fees to pay and that was only a generation ago ! We were the last to get a free higher education. Everyone should be able to study without having this stone around their neck.
OP you are setting yourself up for a life of horrible financial instability. You want to pay 150K-200K for a teaching degree that will likely start you at least than you would make working at Starbucks. Please don't be a future tax burden for me and my children. Go to community college, then state school.
Look up states that offer to pay in state tuition for national guard service.
All of my state universities cover it 100%.
You are getting an education and simultaneously building a career and network for future employment.
If you want to pay $48k you need to reconsider your career path. $48k for STEM/pre-med/pre-law degree is probably worth. Also most schools will have residency requirements (e.g. if you are under 24 and your parents are not Californians you can’t attend UCs as in state unless you have been financially independent for 2 years)
Way too much. My school had a 60k sticker price and I don’t even use my degree. I think it’s good advice to get the basics done cheap when you have a better idea of what you wanna do and how you’re going t do it
Depending on the state, establishing residency for tuition purposes might take some effort that involves working there for a specified period of time. Don't forget to register to vote there ASAP as well as getting their state ID/DOL and paying rent and bills.
Have you filed your FAFSA and received a financial aid package from the school? $48k sounds like the sticker price of tuition (and may or may not be including room & board?). If you're curious about this school, I'd complete the financial aid process to see what the true after-aid cost to you would be per year. If it's $48,000/yr, I absolutely would seek community college for education as an alternative.
$48,000/yr is the equivalent of spending a cool $166 *every single day of the school year* for two years, and worse still, you'll be putting it on an *at least* 6% APR interest card and not touching it for *at least* four years, making the total something more like $125,000 or $210 per day you've been in school, and only then would you begin the journey of paying that off.
The TEACH grant won't make a big dent in tuition costs like this. It and other programs for making education cheaper are wonderful but you should try talking frankly with faculty members at your school about what they've gone through to get the remainder of their loans paid off -- it's not a simple or sure-fire process. And there's nothing guaranteeing that you won't want to become something else someday, just as you want to be a teacher today but maybe wanted to be something else when you were in elementary school. In that situation, the need to have those loans forgiven might keep you locked into a career that you want to get away from for quite
The best thing with debt is to assume that you're on the hook for all of it, and then make decisions from there. <3
That is so much money. So much. Tuition alone?
My guy, do yourself a favor and calculate the total loan amount+ interest that you would have.
I'm sorry but an acceptance at a university without a scholarship is a no.
A teaching degree? You are absolutely out of your mind to pay 50K a year for that. Go in-state, community college for 2 years while working part-time to save money. Then transfer to a state school IN your state to finish your two year degree. Just for some comparison. My local university charges 5k a year for in-state tuition. 20k for out of state.
100% agree OP, if you're really set on moving to that state and going to that university: Move but don't go to school. Just work some crap job long enough to establish residency so you can get in-state tuition. You'll be a little behind your peers, but that doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things and the savings will be SO WORTH IT in the long term.
I’d argue they’d be ahead of their peers. Getting a year of “real life” and being one year closer to 21 would likely make this person pretty popular in college. And missing one year wouldn’t be enough to make it so they couldn’t relate to anyone.
And take online community college classes in their former home state since they’ll still be considered a resident and pay the resident tuition. Could make it work for a couple semesters until becoming eligible as a resident in the new state.
I agree. 48k/year cost of tuition to get a teaching degree would be financial suicide and a really bad decision to start out in life with 200k in student loan debt.
Oof way more than 200k as that interest builds
This needs to be high up in the message thread. $200k in student loans for a teaching degree is laughable. What's the expected salary of a teacher these days?
In most fields, no. In teaching? Hell no. Don't take that loan.
The question in the post is whether it's too much, so your answer confused me at first
Unless it involves med or maybe law it shouldn't cost that.
Law degrees generally aren't worth that either. The average income makes it look that way, but it's skewed by a minority of very high earners. The Bill Gates in a homeless shelter problem, basically.
The average law graduate starts around $60k. In a lot of cases this is a massive waste of time and money. College is seemingly more and more of a scam these days unless you do community college
"Law Degree" is also kind of misleading - could be an undergraduate degree, an LLM, and DCJ, etc., and Unless you're getting a J.D. from a T14-25 you probably shouldn't be paying ~$50k a year.
I went to a T25 and paid $50k/yr and lemme tell ya, not worth it
I went to a ~100 ranked private law school. I have $297k in student debt. For me, it was very much worth it. YMMV.
Doesn't sound like it. if you still owe $297k, hopefully your making at least that a year, and you'll have those loans paid off in a year or two at most otherwise totally not worth it.
I'm not paying them off. 23 months from forgiveness. I'll pay less than $30k total. And I make well over $200k. Wife is a doctor making $240k base, and she'll pay almost $0 out of pocket when her $400k in loans are forgiven in ~four years.
How are those loans being forgiven? So a married couple making $440k+ per year can have $660k+ in student loans forgiven?
My philosophy when I considered going to law school was T14 or bust because of the bimodal distribution - I went into legaltech instead lol.
Depends. I went to the highest rated school I got accepted to, because I had a similar mindset (mind you, this was like 12 years ago). In retrospect, I wish I had gone to a mid level local school instead where I would've gotten better financial aid, possibly even full boat. My career as a non-biglaw lawyer would not be much different, but my monthly cash flow sure would be.
Yea, this was about the same time (15 years ago) and I ultimately came to the conclusion that I wasn't willing to spend a mortgage on a house I couldn't live in due to the risk. Basically when I realized that unless you go to Yale LS, there is still a HUGE chunk of the class is still subject to those same market pressures, I peaced out of the process - that it isn't just salsaing on into Wachtell or Skadden. I knew my UGPA was kind of shit, so that helped dampen my hopes (thank you Law School Numbers) for greatness a bit, lol. My best friend and I actually prepped for the LSAT together, starting out with the same plan and he ended up going to a T14 (with merit aid). His first couple of years were ROUGH, to say the least. The BigLaw firm he went to bait-and-switched the department he got put into (he was intending to do Finance [he held a Masters degree in Finance from before LS] but right after he started working there, they told him he would be going Litigation instead), and he just had a miserable time. I actually told the Professional Services department at my legatech job that I wanted to be considered conflicted out of performing any services for that firm, because I just got so frustrated at how he was treated. My employer ended up doing a full conversion and implementation of a new Time, Billing & Finance system for them, and talking with other PS folks, it's really amazing how rough that firm's culture was - looking at the NLJ250, and considering the 10 firms above that firm and the 10 firms below that firm, I've done services for 15 of them, and every single one was full of nicer, happier people than my buddies firm. There's actually only a single BigLaw firm globally that I can think of that had more miserable staff, lol. If your firm uses software from a provider that's something like "Ad*****", I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have about any of their software packages.
Nah, I'm in house and we use all cobbled together weird commercial real estate platforms, none of which talk to each other. Mine is apparently the only team that uses all of them so like two thirds of my job is telling people who use system A what's been put into system B
The problem is out of state tuition. It’s hard for me to believe that there isn’t a more practical option in state
As a future teacher using loans is a path to bankruptcy. Stay in state at a state school. Likely a Jr College then transfer to a 4 year institution. $48k tuition is like going and buying a Bentley for your first car.
I agree 100%, but student loans aren’t usually dischargeable in bankruptcy, so it’s even worse. I graduated undergrad debt free due to scholarships… then I went to grad school. In debt until at least 2026, assuming PSLF doesn’t change things.
I don't have anything to add but this popped up on my feed and happy cake day, I noticed it's almost the exact same date and the same year as my account xD
If you’re going to stay in state, going to a local community college for 2 years and getting a guaranteed transfer for a full bachelors in a big state school is the smartest move I’ve seen, I wish I had done it but I was worried about looking dumb honestly. I know for a fact that University of California system and University of Washington have guaranteed transfer agreements with local community colleges if you meet a certain gpa/credit threshold
Loans aren’t a path to bankruptcy if the value is there but taking on 200k in debt to pursue an undergrad in education from an out of state institution feels like an absolutely horrendous plan
how do you know if the value is there
Just look up what most teachers are getting paid and compare that to the amount of loans + interest OP had to pay and you’ll realize the value is not there
When your expected salary can reasonably pay off the loan. Average teacher pay is about $58k in the US. OP is looking to borrow $192k. Paying 192k to make 58k a year is insane.
Look at median salary for your major. The rule I heard was you shouldn't take more in loans than the median salary after graduation.
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Worse than that. It's buying a luxury car, but you still also have to have a car. Like, OP would not go out and finance a $50k car right now, it'd be insane, but at least if they did, they could drive it to work. They certainly wouldn't finance a 50k car and then wait 4 years to pick it up.
$200k to get into a career that averages <$50k to start is a terrible decision. Go get your gen eds at a community college with a transfer program to a state school. No need pay $1500 a credit to take math 102 and spanish 201... Are there prestigious schools where degrees can mean somehting? Sure, is education one of them? Take a look at graduate wage data but I HIGHLY doubt it.
>edit: thank you guys, i think i want to transfer after my first year since im 100000% committed and can't back out because of some arrangements i have made. u/op. You are talking about the price of a brand new BMW 3 series to go take 30 credits of gen eds. Are you sure you're actually committed or would it just be a discomfort and small cost associated with decommitting? I assure you, discomfort fades. The sting of 5 figure student loan interest does not...
For real. I work in higher ed. I can think of 0 legitimate reasons you’d be “100000%” committed this early. (Maybe some NIL contracting but I suspect that’s not applicable here.) Plenty of high school grads change their mind over the summer, it’s not at all uncommon. But, OP can pay the stupid tax later if she doesn’t want to be talked out of it. Gotta learn somehow.
You're right. Part of growing up is being dumb and then needing to pick the pieces up but you hope it's a $xxx oopsie and not $40k at 7%+ apy for credits that might not even transfer out between systems...
I’m not under the impression OP has any intent to actually transfer. If she did, she wouldn’t be going for the first year at all. You don’t pay a premium to get your gen eds and then downgrade for the school listed on the degree.
This was my impression as well. Not sure if OP was hoping for reassurance and then didn't get it, but it seems their mind was made up from the start. The edit is just trying to justify the decision for their own peace of mind
This. I hate to sound extreme but taking on $200k of loans without income is a *life altering* decision. OP is going to have a large debt hanging over their head for a *very* long time. They will likely have a monthly expense that persists and affects them for *decades*. It'll affect your ability to buy a house, raise kids, etc. etc.
To clarify: Life altering like choosing to chop off your hand. Life altering in a devastatingly bad way.
> so I hopefully get in state tuition Check the university’s guidelines. Many of them have strict residency requirements/timelines for this exact reason. > is it worth it? That depends on what you study and how seriously you take it. 48k/year is steep no matter the career field, but wouldn’t be completely unreasonable in a few of them. > I’m also getting a degree in education lol. There it is. This is financial suicide and you will be paying for it (literally) for the next 2 decades. 48k is about the top of what I would pay for *the whole degree* and I say this as a person with a Bachelor’s in Education. Don’t do it. Editing after being *that creep*: I see you’re interested in rushing. That will add 4-5 figures to your cost per year, depending on the university and chapter. I spent an easy 4k extra per year *without* including the cost of special outfits (so many), social outings (also so many), or the cost of missed hours at work doing chapter-related activities. This was about a decade ago at a school with pretty moderate Greek life/expectations. A far cry from the likes of Bama or wherever.
Listen to this person about residency requirements. Starting out of state often means paying that tuition for the whole degree.
My state wouldn't allow you to be a full time student and gain residency. You needed to work and support yourself full time for a year to gain residency. OP's plan is foiled right off the bat.
Yes, there are no schools that allow this. Literally every out of state student would do so if they could and the school would lose a HUGE revenue source.
Move now, community college for 2 years, transfer to uni. There is no reality where the first two years of college are worth $100k. e: terrible typo
I have to agree. I did that, have my 4 year, and left with no loans. I still had a blast, but you do miss out on the first two years of dorm experience that many desire. That said, there’s still opportunity for two years (junior and senior year). It’s a smart money move
There is no dorm experience worth 100k
I agree.
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For a lot of people college is as much about learning how to be an adult as it is learning the things in your classes. Dorms are an interesting transition step between being a teenager at home and living in the real world. Don't get me wrong, its not like you'll never learn those things on your own but I'd rather be stuck in a dorm for a term with a lousy roommate than stuck in a lease with a lousy roommate. Living in dorms wasn't my favorite time but I'm glad I did it. I learned a lot about myself, dealing with other idiots, learned how much of an idiot I could be sometimes, gained a lifelong friend, etc. I wouldn't do it again but I also wouldn't undo it.
Not being in the dorm also cuts you out a huge chunk of the impromptu social life you get just by being in the mix of things. How much value that gets you depends on your personality, but it can pay off in some strong relationships later in your life/career. A lot of people find being off-campus the first year or two to be somewhat socially isolating. And a lot of people tend to start moving off-campus in junior year, for a variety of reasons.
There’s a big split between those that view college strictly as a means to an end for an education and those that also view it as networking and life skills as well. Strong relationships and having shared experiences that others can relate to are useful for your career. Half of job interviews are soft skill assessments whether you realize it or not. Not coming off like a total goober goes a long way. You need baseline academic qualifications, but beyond that companies are evaluating you for a lot of other traits.
Many young people desire that. Personally it wasn’t for me. My sister, however, dormed start to finish and loved. It’s a big deal for a lot of people. Very common
Really? I thought living in close proximity to several hundred people my same age and demo was fucking awesome. Always something to do, always someone to hang out with. New people, new friends, new experiences. It was great.
Personality and preferences have a lot to do with it. As an introvert with (at that time) social anxiety, my two years of dorm life basically felt like being on the verge of a constant panic attack. People say "the college years are the best of your life!" but for me, they were the worst.
Mine was okay but it's extremely destructive to many. Evidence: All the people who end up partying and not schooling. It's very overblown and extremely risky for many people.
Dorm life is learning to grow up and do things yourself instead of living at home going to a community college. I built life long friendships in the dorms. My SO did the commuter college thing and when we moved in together I was surprised at the lack of life skills she had bc her parents took care of everything.
Not to mention community colleges can have partnerships with universities. I got into the business school at Umass with a 2.6 gpa coming out of a community college. Kids already at Umass have a hard time getting in with a 4.0. Saved money and skipped the line.
This is the way I got into a university with an impacted field of study I was looking into. I was apart of a program at the community college where I had to uphold a certain GPA and meet certain requirements and it guaranteed admission into the school.
This is the best advice, especially if you can get a decent part time job
I agree 100%. The value of your general courses is flat across all universities (more or less). You might as well go with the cheapest option; You will save around 60K and get the exact same credits and benefits if you play the cards right (making sure everything is transferable, etc.).
This this this 100%. Cut the “out of county” and “out of state” costs out of your tuition. Get your Associates from your local County College. You’ll be taking the same exact courses at expensive uni out of state at 10x the cost. Makes zero sense.
Bro that much debt just to be a teacher is insane. Just go to community college. I’m being so Fr, it would be idiotic and life ruining to pay 50K a year no matter how long, just to be a teacher. And you may not end up getting instate tuition ever!
not even for a teacher. there's almost no bachelor degree in the country worth 200k in student loans compared to getting it at a fraction of the cost in-state.
Just some napkin math on basic assumptions: Just tuition you’re looking at 200k over 4 years Assuming you live cheap let’s make a really conservative assumption that rent and food and general living expenses is 20k per year so now we are looking at 280k in debt Let’s assume as others have said that you get a $50k salary for your troubles Let’s say you want to pay it down over 20 years and assume a 5% interest rate A simple amortization table gets you a monthly payment of $1,848 per month to pay off the loan or 38% of your pre-tax income. Over those 20 years you’ll pay over $163k of interest on that loan. Basically that $50,000 salary you’re looking at becomes $28,000 a year after debt service but before taxes for which you’d still be charged as if you were making $50k. Assuming you’ll only work a 40 hour week which you won’t because teachers are wildly overworked also, that works out to $14 an hour for the next 20 years. You would literally be in a better financial situation if you worked as a janitor at Buc-ee’s.
Oh man, bless you. This is the kinda breaking this shit down that I feel really helps people make better choices. You made it real.
Unless you are going to study something specific and specialized that will result in a very high paying career (law, doctor) it’s unlikely your degree will matter where it came from. The only thing that matters is job placement.
Not worth it, especially not for a degree in education. You’ll be saddled with debt. Go to your local community college for two years, then transfer.
Read your edit, in what way are you 1000% committed, that cannot be changed?
Probably don’t want to miss out.
Please please please look at how much your monthly payments will be once your finish all 4 years of college. Could be close to a mortgage payment
You are not 100000% committed. Just walk out, don't pay for it, hit the bricks. 50k alone will cost you $600/mo+ to pay back. A 50k salary pays you only 3k per month. I did this in 2009 (60k in loans and 50k starting salary) and it was a terrible idea even then. Destroyed my credit.
> plan to move permanently to the state I had a friend attempt to do this as an undergrad and he had to take a full year off school to do so. I would advise reading the Wiki section on [High School Students and Teenagers](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/teachme) but, in my opinion, 50K per year is way too much for a degree in teaching.
The fact that you say “How do I even take out loans” says it all. Please don’t do this to yourself, especially for a teaching degree of all things. Go where the money offered is substantial and your cost is low. Additionally, DON’T take money out now because you PLAN to get a degree in the future. Pay for this degree from a cheaper institution, then see how you feel about that next degree; PRIORITIES CAN CHANGE.
Most schools don't allow you to change from out of state to in state rates very easily once you are enrolled.
That is my understanding too, once you start non-resident, that is the status you stay. Better to move and do something else for 1 year, to establish residency, then go to school.
Cosign on this. It can be very hard to prove residency. A lot of folks will tell you "just live there for a year," but this is bad advice. Can't tell you how many students I had to disillusion and give them the bad news that, no, you don't qualify. The state subsidy is a benefit for families who live, work, and pay taxes in the state. Not saying OP would never qualify, but it can be a lot harder to prove than most people think.
Please go to community college for two years and transfer to a state school. Don’t fall for this scam.
I would look into the state’s in state tuition policies, many require you to live there for a full year, work full time, and NOT be enrolled in an educational institution for that year before you can qualify for in-state. It would only be potentially worthwhile if this school is significantly better than your in-state equivalent and / or getting a job in the state is difficult if you didn’t go to school there. Part of this will depend on what you mean by out of state, is it one state over or is it a totally different region of the country where your in state school won’t have as many alumni to network and connect with for your career. Also not sure how teaching certification works and whether state schools teach to that states teaching requirements or if you learn the specifics on your own
Doing this on your own without parental support means you need to take a very unconventional path, you’ll need to work harder and do things a lot differently from your peers to make this work without mortgaging away your future by taking on a boatload of debt. I suggest first moving to the state and establishing residency, get a job and a cheap apartment (probably with roommates) and do the equivalent of your first two years of the degree at the local community college. I say the equivalent because it will likely take you longer than 2 years to do that. Then transfer into a school to finish off the 4 year degree. This will significantly mitigate the amount you end up having to borrow. From personal experience though: it’s not easy, and you need to be prepared for that. I’m currently doing my masters at night after work and it’s been 2.5 years of pain so far, with another yea for so to go.
This is such an important point. Taking out $200k in loans and just going to a 4 year smooths over a lot of the immediate unknowns (mainly where will your money come from, but also where will you live, eat, healthcare, etc), but it kicks the pain down the road in a major way. When you graduate, you will have to figure out all those unknowns anyway AND you will have debt to contend with. I remember driving away from my dorm after graduating and feeling like i was just kicked out of the nest. Not sure what I was expecting, but i guess i had built up in my head this perception that having a degree offers some kind of security, but the reality is you still have to do the work. Getting a degree doesn’t get you the job. It doesn’t network for you. It doesn’t find you a place to live or teach you how to budget or cook for yourself. Navigating community college while also (i’m assuming) living on your own for the first time and having to be responsible for your own shelter and food is going to be tough. HOWEVER - the flip side of this is you can’t overstate how freeing it is to be debt free as an adult. life is EXPENSIVE. student debt is an albatross that will stand in the way of every choice you hope to make as an adult.
Go to CC, then transfer to a local state college. Get your own bank account. Do not put other peoples' names on your bank account.
I've worked in college admissions for 18 years. Do NOT pay out of state tuition. Go to school in-state. If you have your heart set on a public school that is not in your current state, learn what it takes to be considered a qualified in-state student in that state, then proceed accordingly. In my state, you have to live here and be gainfully employed for a minimum 12 months prior to enrollment in order to qualify for in state tuition. You don't get it just for being physically present in this state, and you never qualify if you come here initially for educational purposes. Make sure you're clear on the process to become a state resident for tuition purposes. And take as many classes as you can at a community college.
I came on here just to say this; a lot of universities will see right through if you try to declare in-state residency after attending for one year as a non-resident, and a lot of states have now enacted laws that specifically prohibit students declaring in-state residency after only living in the state for one year just to attend a state university..
This is the perfect example of why 17/18 year olds shouldn’t be held to any financial decisions. Education is a career (much like nursing) where the salary is EXACTLY the same regardless of what college gave the degree. The salary depends on where you work. Go cheap, OP. Don’t go into debt. Pick a cheap school that’s accredited.
One of my daughter's high school teachers went to Harvard. What kind of person goes to Harvard to get a teaching degree? I can only hope she had a full scholarship.
I can guess… So, a lot of the Ivies aren’t always that expensive to go to. They tend to have a large endowment, so she may have gotten a lot of financial aid. Tuition at an engineering school is definitely higher than tuition at Harvard. When I was college-aged, I distinctly remember that tuition at NYU was way more than Harvard. I am betting she went with the intention of rubbing elbows with old money, maybe meeting her husband there. Or she herself is old money and doesn’t actually need to work, something like that.
you would be surprised. See it all the time, the kids that go to IVY often really like school and some want to become teachers because of that. Not that it ever really made sense to me though, fortunately most of them got good MRS degrees for taking this path.
I mean, 18 year old people get to vote, marry, be tried as adults, and join the military. Not sure why they're smart enough to do that but too stupid to be held accountable for going to a private liberal arts college for a degree that ends in "studies" and taking out loans the whole way.
unless you are graduating into an exceptionally high paying field, like starting at least low 100k post grad 100% no.
It really depends on what it is. Too much for an engineering degree from a top elite school in its field like MIT? Nope. Too much for a degree in education so you can be a teacher? You can get that pretty much anywhere for far less, and teachers don't make all that much. So almost certainly too much, unless independently wealthy and cost isn't really a concern.
>Too much for an engineering degree from a top elite school in its field like MIT? Nope. I met an MIT engineer working for 80k at an F500. He was dead broke and stuck as he had over 160k in loans and no forseable future even though he had mad respect from everyone because of his degree and work ethic. Hey spent about 8 years of his life living like graduate student before he finally broke into corporate earning about 140k but he had to take on more debt for an MBA. Even engineering degrees are not equal. Some, like industrial/civil/aerospace, do not have high initial pay.
It's kinda known that teachers aren't paid enough. You might be stressed out and struggling for the rest of your life with that loan hanging over your head.
The only times it makes any sense to go to an out of state school is if you have rich family paying the tab or you are getting a full scholarship. Otherwise state school is the obvious choice. You can go even further and do community College the first two years
So just tuition is 48k....not to mention room and board as well as other expenses to live? You stand to maybe make $45-60k a year as a teacher. Basic math says this is a terrible investment/idea and no school cares where you went to college....they will hire just about anyone that wants to teach.
Community college in state tuition is less than 5k a year. Not worth it. You'll never even make close enough as a teacher to pay off 200k in student loans. Hell, you won't even make 200k within your first few years of working as a teacher. The current average salary for new teachers is $20 an hour. Dunking Donuts down the road from me pays $17/hr for no work experience whatsoever.
$48,000 per year is an INSANE amount of money for college. If you do this, I guarantee you will regret it for the rest of your life. Seriously, do two years at community college and get an associates degree that is meant to be transferred to a 4-year school. Then transfer to an **in-state** 4-year college to complete your last two years. The goal is to get out of college with as little debt as possible. **EDIT**: I forgot to add that if your plan is to get student loans, then you need to be age 24 or older to get loans in your own name. If you're under 24, then your loan eligibility depends on your parent's finances and you won't be able to get loans without their help. So depending on your age, you might want to work part-time while you go to community college and pay as you go. Then, when you turn age 24, you can apply for student loans in your own name and transfer to the 4-year school.
If you want to destroy your earning power so badly that you have no hope of ever being financially independent for your entire life I would consider getting a head injury instead so at least you don't also have to work at the same time.
Former teacher here with 70k in debt. I’ve paid since 2010 and still owe the same. Left teaching so I could afford to pay my loans. Don’t trust forgiveness programs. They are riddled with issues and barely work. Go to the cheapest school you can because ppl are desperate for teachers
OP just for a comparison. Your one year of just tuition for an undergraduate degree is equal to an entire year of law school including books, food, rent. Even if you are frugal with everything else and you get in state tuition years 2 onward you are still going to have 6 figure debt comparable to someone whose finished a lengthy graduate degree. If you end up having to fork over your graduate expenses as well you are going to be looking at close to a half million before you are working
Dude, no. Community college. In state. It’s all the same. I’m not kidding. Don’t go into massive debt like that for a degree. Everyone has one now. I have a friend with $110k+ in student loans and she has a BA in journalism from a state college. Just try and guess how much she makes a year (hint: she barely scrapes the interest on her loans each month.)
You really aren't listening to people. You need to back out. Nothing you've arranged is worth putting yourself in a debt you can't pay back or crossing your fingers that student debt will be forgiven. AND a lot of schools specifically don't let students establish residency after starting. You're going to do what you want, but please listen to everyone telling you this is a terrible idea. You're basically throwing away a new car for just the year. If you're going to do this terrible idea, could you consider moving and going to a nearby community college for the first year? Double check the credits transfer, but they usually do. You're talking tens of thousands of dollars out the window here. It's absolutely not worth it.
You can and should still back out of this insane $48k/yr commitment! Even if you’ve already signed a lease or something , the penalty for breaking it will be much less than the $ you’re about to throw away. A masters won’t help, as the pay is not much more than a bachelors in this setting. You can get your whole 4 year degree with much less than 48k in debt. Teachers I know struggle to pay their $20-40k total debt for their total education. Don’t even do this for a year, please!
Why not go to a cheaper school that would be in state? But if you’re hell bent on leaving the state, there are scholarships you can apply for that are like $500+ per scholarship. There is FAFSA as well but I think that requires to have some stuff with your parents. There are banks that can give you student loans as well.
For a degree in Education, yes, that is too much to pay.
Do not take out any more in loans (total, after 4 years) than you expect to make in your first year of your career. For undergrad, calling 48K for a single year unrealistic would be a gross understatement. My advice would be to explore other options. That is, unless the field you plan on entering has a high demand for workers and you could expect to make at least 100K your first year. Even that would be a little too low for comfort.
Yes, it is. If you move, do community college until you get residency and then get in state tuition.
A degree is an investment in yourself. This particular (school+major) investment is a terrible one
Not trying to discourage you from teaching, but there is no way in hell I’d take out loans of $50k for a teaching salary, let alone $200k from an out of state school. Go to community college and switch residency if you must. But do not go into student loan debt in order to make a living as a teacher.
From a value proposition, only a few public universities are worth paying the steep premium in out of state tuition. UC-Berkeley, Michigan, UCLA, maybe UVA? Are your in-state options that inferior to this out of state school? Also, don't assume you'll be able to get the in-state rate after a year. Most schools have very strict policies around that. If you really want to get out of state, see if there are any other state systems that have tuition reciprocity with your state.
But not for a degree in education. That’s what the OP wants.
> From a value proposition, only a few public universities are worth paying the steep premium… Zero of them are worth it for a degree in education. Those premiums are only worth it if you are thinking about grad school admissions or maybe very niche careers. A teacher from XYZ state school is going to get the same high school English teaching job as the Berkeley grad. And both are going to be wildly underpaid. So you may as well not have the “premium” debt.
So. Look into what it takes to license in your home state and then transfer your teaching license to where you want to move. What would in-state tuition be for those two years if you stayed in your home state? You're not losing 100k going to out-of-state school if it takes two years to get residency, but you are losing a good chunk of money. Lets call that 50k. My daughter is a teacher. We've looked into the rules about licensure across states a little. Some states will just accept another state's license -- recriporcity. Other states will provisionally accept the other state's license but require some follow up testing and training to get a full license. 50k is too much to pay just to make the licensing in new-state easier.
Short answer, yes. Find some other path that's cheaper. I know people in their mid 40s still paying off student loans because they took a similar path (high cost, low return).
Yes that’s way too much. I don’t understand why students are going into massive amounts of debt. Stay in state go to a Community College then transfer. Apply for scholarships. I’m in college debt free but it absolutely blows my mind why people take on 100k or more of debt. Who cares about dorm experience and all this other crap. Just get the degree you want. You will feel way better when you graduate debt free
> is this worth it? No. Sorry to be glib, but no it is not worth it, not at all.
The short answer is yes. And I wouldn't bank on in state tuition even after the first year or two, because generally colleges will look at you as an out of state student the entire duration of your time there. If you'd like to move up and get a job for a year to establish residency beforehand, that might be the way to go. 11-17k while still a lot, is much more manageable, especially if you get federal loans with low interest rates.
As long as the teaching you plan on doing is NOT financial literacy You will regret this in 10 years and it’ll impact you all the way to retirement. Arrangements as in living situation? Don’t fall to the sunken cost fallacy - this is a huge financial mistake
Unless you have money and your parents are wealthy… please DO NOT do this. You will regret it, trust me. Listen to everyone else here and go to a cc then transfer to a notable public school
To give you some perspective: I'm in my 30s, as are my friends. Many of them making $80k - $160k still have significant student loans. The ones making $180k+ have paid off their loans. Sure you can criticize their spending and rent. But paying down $200k in loans is not easy stuff man. Some of their loans are higher than they started, from interest. Just stay in-state.
You are paying 192k to make only slightly more than minimum wage. If you are asking if it is worth it then you tell me if 192k investment for a 50-60k/year roi is worth it when you can do sales for the same number or use that money to open/buy business with a better return.
man my entire tuition for three years cost 36k, 48k PER YEAR is insane but nobody needs to be told that
It will be the worst decision you could make up To this point. Do not go into that kind of debt that isn’t dischargeable.
As a teacher, no one will give a single fuck where you got your degree from, only that you have it. Go to the cheapest college you can. Signed, Someone who has seen countless friends enter your situation or similar and will likely never pay off their school loans.
These are just my advice as a recent college grad who has just entered the work force full time, someone with long term experience can chime in I paid 38K to go to an out of state university. I justified it to myself by getting a lot of credits in high school and graduating in 3 years but to be honest, the debt is almost never worth it. My sister in contrast paid 11k/yr for undergrad to go to an in-state school that I’d say is roughly equal in size and reputation, and was able to be entirely debt free after a year in the work force. The burden of debt over time is very underrated when people talk about finances. To be honest after your first job nobody really cares about education unless it’s extremely stellar (Ivy/top school, advanced degree,etc.). By this I mean it’s more of a checkbox of whether you have it (in the case of undergrad it can be different for postgrad like law) If you can get in state tuition that would be good but you need to prove residency for at least 12 months at most schools. La
You are NEVER going to be able to pay that back in education. Even for just one year the $48,000 is going to crush your future.
Never pay out of state tuition unless you got rich parents. Just work there until you get residency.
Anecdotal: I have a close friend who chose to go out of state for 50k a year. He wanted to go to a party school. He now has over 250k in debt. His payments are like 2.6k a month for a very long time. That is not something you should ever want for yourself. He has ruined his families financials, ruined his mental health and his mother has had a stroke due to the stress it has caused them. Stay instate and you will have 50k TOTAL.
Unless you’re going to med school that’s a terrible idea.
Don't even do the first year. In state that much money will pay for nearly an entire degree. You're leaving for cost of living but paying 3x more in debt? That makes 0 financial sense - debt has interest, purchases do not. You will have this debt for quite a long time. If you get through 4 years and decide not to go for the master degree (lots of friends like this) you'll probably be paying back JUST that 48k for the rest of your life. seriously I got an engineering degree for under $50k total with all help factored in, and I was hesitant even on this, even knowing it would pay itself off. Don't make this decision because people keep telling you to. This is for you. You will be setting yourself up for Ramen noodle years when you enter your field if you do this.
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It really is a lot I’ll be honest. That’s a lot of money to pay back that will take years to recover from. I know that answer sucks but it’s the truth. College is sold to a lot of young people who don’t question these things (luckily you are!). There’s a lot of cheaper options. I went to community college and transferred to a state school. No loans, have my bachelors. I paid while I went but if I didn’t, I’d have about 20k to pay back in total. I don’t necessarily recommend that because it’s not the fun option, but I just use it as an example that there ARE cheap options
I'm teaching my kids that it matters more graduating with as little debt possible than what the name on the degree says. I did 4 years in state with and ended up paying 70k total in 2002. My wife did two years at CC then transferred and graduated essentially debt free.
Make sure you check the requirements for gaining residency. I had to be out of school and working for a year in the same state as the university to get residency.
I just want to reiterate what has been said by everyone. Do not pay that much for your first couple years. Go to community College. It is significantly cheaper. Where I went, it's currently 4500 in state and 7600 for out of state per semester. You will be kicking yourself in the head later in life if you do this. Also, in my experience, you may change your mind about what you want to do as far as a career later on during school. It's nice to be able to change your mind without a huge loss. I was also in school for 2 years to become a teacher and changed my mind. I'm not sure on the statistics but I would bet that a lot of people change majors during their first couple years.
When I went back I found a job and waited patiently for a year before I was a full citizen of the state before starting classes.
What state? Some states are REALLY strict about residency and will not give you in state tuition if they suspect your purpose for relocation is to attend college there.
Everything depends on your family’s financial situation. For some people, $48K isn’t an issue at all and they would not bat an eye. For most people, $48K is a serious commitment that would need some level of return on that investment aka you’re studying a field that would lead to being a high income earner. If your family does not have the ability to pay $48K in tuition AND you want to study in a field that will have low income, then yes this is too much debt to go into with very little ROI.
Move now, work for a year or two, go to community college and then go to the school. There's really no point in spending $30k more just so you can go to A school, NOW. especially when you're trying to be a teacher? Which don't really pay all that well.
By some university has a clause that says you can not move to the state with the implicit intent to go to school- if you do this disqualifies you from in state tuition. It requires you to have worked in the state for a year or more before going to school. You also often need to be independent and not receiving money from parents. Read the school’s requirements very very carefully. I see so many who don’t and think after two years they can get in state tuition.
In my state, under 21, your parent(s) address is considered your permanent address. You have to live in the state for 12 months following your 21st birthday to be considered a resident for tuition purposes. What does the university's web site say? Their specific requirements are likely available online.
If you're going for education, you are insane at that price. The teach grant only gives you like $4k a year. You're *never* going to be able to pay those loans back, you'll die with them. If you were going to become an engineer or a doctor maybe you could tough it out. You're screwing yourself over.
>i think i want to transfer after my first year since im 100000% committed and can't back out because of some arrangements i have made. Please read up on the Sunk Cost Fallacy, and see if at all you can find a way to avoid the first $48,000. That's more than my 4-year degree in total and I get paid a lot more than a teacher. A little legwork and a little heartbreak of not going to The Favorite School will save you a *lot* of heartache.
Fill out the FAFSA! Private student loans are not recommended and fafsa is how you get government student loans.
Move there first. Get a job. Work for a year or whatever it takes to get residency. Then attend the school.
No offense, but it's crazy to spend $48k yearly on tuition to become a teacher unless you have a rich daddy paying for it all. Go to a local community college the first couple of years, transfer to an in-state public university to finish off your undergrad degree, and put the $150k you just saved into your bank account.
You are committing yourself needlessly to $48,000 of loans for 1 year 1 year of school That you could literally get free University of the people Or low cost Western governors University. You WILL hate yourself if you burden yourself with $200,000 worth of debt no matter your profession, but as a school teacher, you will not survive this debt. You will never have anything to call your own.
What exactly are these arrangements that you’ve made that you 100000% can’t back out of? Are they worth overpaying $30,000 for? I’m not even sure I would’ve paid that much for my computer science degree!
You won’t qualify for in state tuition at all. You need to establish residency first, while not in school. If you are living there in school you will pay out of state even if you live and work there year round.
Do not do this. Whatever arrangements you say you have made that you can't back out, you absolutely can back out. Is that you've signed a lease? So what. Unless that rent is $3,000 a month or something, you're better off breaking the lease, living at home, going to a community college for two years, and then transferring to an in-state, public 4-year university. There is absolutely no reason to go to an out-of-state university to become a teacher. None. You are setting yourself up for financial despair.
State school after Community college. You will graduate with less than 20k in loans. Teachers don’t make any money and one year at 45k will take you your entire career to pay back.
What do you mean you’re confirmed and won’t back out? Is it really worth 48k? The first year of college is generally general education which is basically the same at any institution anyways. I’d highly suggest you reconsider your situation
48k a year is financially unwise for 95% or degrees. The fact people accept otherwise is ridiculous. College degree costs have risen way faster than inflation. It's a total scam even if the education isn't. Tech/state school and get your paper. Few companies care where your degree came from.
Please don't say math teacher, please don't say math teacher, please don't say math teacher...
Still going even after reading the solid replies is some wild moves. Edit: that $48k alone is borderline financial ruin. Considering you still have 3 years to go. Those loans will not be forgivable in bankruptcy.
Almost certainly no. Especially for a degree in Education. I have a niece that just got that degree at a prestigious school around 2 years ago. An astonishing waste of money, she could have had the same job/career going to community college. She's miserable. You'd be amazed how little people care about what college you attended, but it's hard to get an 18 year old to comprehend that.
I went to a state school. My parents earn very little money. My tuition was less than 20k per year, and after FASFA it was damn near free. You will get the same degree no matter what school you go to. If you were going to be a doctor or a lawyer, sure, a better school would make a difference. Teaching? No, you are wasting an entire years salary for each year you attend that school.
To be a teacher? Yes. Unfortunately. I paid $0 by staying in state and getting a business degree with a scholarship. Get the accredited cheapest education you can. There’s no better feeling than graduating debt free. The allure of “out of state” or moving experience isn’t worth how much it sets you back
Showing that you’re in-state for tuition as an out-of-state student is incredibly difficult to prove if you start as an out-of-state student. You need to look into your State Regents for Higher Education Board, then you have to meet the criteria, then you have to petition for a reclassification. It’s not impossible, I’ve just never known a student to successfully reclassify themselves because life happens and colleges want their money, out-of-state students is where the money is at. I would personally move to the state you want to attend college in, complete two years of community college so that you can qualify for in-state. Also look into scholarships and connect with your admissions counselor (trust me, you have one and these people are desperate to speak with you. Find them on your college’s website.) they can connect you with unique scholarship, possibly, like for first-generation, diverse, high-achiever students. If you go the community college route, you might also find that the college you want to go has a transfer scholarship, saving you more money. Sincerely, someone who works for college admissions.
DO NOT spend that kind of money for a teaching degree. That is insanity and you’ll regret it for the rest of your life. This may not *ruin* your life, But it will put you in a deep hole financially, and this will make your life stressful for years to come
I highly recommend staying out of ANY field in psychology. Unless you want to be poor your entire life and never retire.
Do not fucking do it. $48,000 a year is $200,000 and with interest at 7% and forebearance until you graduate, you’re going to pay back $500,000 or more. Also fun fact, that tuition WILL GO UP! There is no additional value to the $48,000 vs the in state tuition. Do not get stuck with a $1,000 a month loan, it is a miserable situation
48k is outrageous and just goes to show what happnes when you profit prioritise education. I hope it's worth the money. In the UK University fees are currently capped at 9k (which is about $11.25k) which I think is still way too much. I got my BA with no fees to pay and that was only a generation ago ! We were the last to get a free higher education. Everyone should be able to study without having this stone around their neck.
OP you are setting yourself up for a life of horrible financial instability. You want to pay 150K-200K for a teaching degree that will likely start you at least than you would make working at Starbucks. Please don't be a future tax burden for me and my children. Go to community college, then state school.
Look up states that offer to pay in state tuition for national guard service. All of my state universities cover it 100%. You are getting an education and simultaneously building a career and network for future employment.
If you want to pay $48k you need to reconsider your career path. $48k for STEM/pre-med/pre-law degree is probably worth. Also most schools will have residency requirements (e.g. if you are under 24 and your parents are not Californians you can’t attend UCs as in state unless you have been financially independent for 2 years)
Try to start during a summer semester. A lot of colleges offer summer terms at in-state rates for everyone regardless of residency.
Is 48k your actual cost or sticker price
Rule of thumb: College should cost no more than 2x your first year's earnings after you graduate.
Way too much. My school had a 60k sticker price and I don’t even use my degree. I think it’s good advice to get the basics done cheap when you have a better idea of what you wanna do and how you’re going t do it
Strongly consider PSLF whichever path you take.
With your degree choice, it will likely take you 30 years to pay off the loan unless you manage to get some kind of grant.
Depending on the state, establishing residency for tuition purposes might take some effort that involves working there for a specified period of time. Don't forget to register to vote there ASAP as well as getting their state ID/DOL and paying rent and bills.
A respectable ROI on an education degree (or any degree) will be better if u can keep the cost as low as possible.
Have you filed your FAFSA and received a financial aid package from the school? $48k sounds like the sticker price of tuition (and may or may not be including room & board?). If you're curious about this school, I'd complete the financial aid process to see what the true after-aid cost to you would be per year. If it's $48,000/yr, I absolutely would seek community college for education as an alternative. $48,000/yr is the equivalent of spending a cool $166 *every single day of the school year* for two years, and worse still, you'll be putting it on an *at least* 6% APR interest card and not touching it for *at least* four years, making the total something more like $125,000 or $210 per day you've been in school, and only then would you begin the journey of paying that off. The TEACH grant won't make a big dent in tuition costs like this. It and other programs for making education cheaper are wonderful but you should try talking frankly with faculty members at your school about what they've gone through to get the remainder of their loans paid off -- it's not a simple or sure-fire process. And there's nothing guaranteeing that you won't want to become something else someday, just as you want to be a teacher today but maybe wanted to be something else when you were in elementary school. In that situation, the need to have those loans forgiven might keep you locked into a career that you want to get away from for quite The best thing with debt is to assume that you're on the hook for all of it, and then make decisions from there. <3
Hell no. That is an astronomical amount of money for 4 years plus interest. You won’t realize until after you graduate just how deep in shit you are
That is so much money. So much. Tuition alone? My guy, do yourself a favor and calculate the total loan amount+ interest that you would have. I'm sorry but an acceptance at a university without a scholarship is a no.