| Go to school for career or work now? |
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AprilK27
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Location: Newport News, VA
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| Go to school for career or work now? |
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I'm 28 and a stay-at-home mom to a toddler. My husband is in the Navy, and we purchased a house 6 months ago. I have a B.A. degree, but I've been working toward going back to school so I can get licensed to teach. A highly qualified teacher in VA earns around $46,000 a year. I have experience in education and know I would be an excellent teacher. The problem is, I still have roughly $16,000 remaining on my student loan debt, plus a mortgage payment and a car payment. If I go back to school, I may have to take on additional debt, plus pay for childcare for my son. Also, there are big cuts being made to education right now, which is driving up the cost of tuition, plus getting many K-12 teachers laid off. The economy may recover, but my husband and I are convinced it will get much worse before it gets better. My question is, should I make the investment now to become licensed teacher and hope that the economy improves in a few years (and possibly earn a good salary in the process), or get a clerical job now (making around $34,000) and pay off our debt and build our savings?
I had my mind made up to go to school this year, but the economic news seems to worsen by the day.
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Thu Mar 24, 2011 3:24 pm |
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oldguy
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quote:
I have a B.A. degree, but I've been working toward going back to school so I can get licensed to teach. A highly qualified teacher in VA earns around $46,000 a year.
I'm not sure that $46k is a very good goal - especially if you need more education to get it. Isn't the US average salary $48,000, including HS grads, college grads, etc? What is your BA major, can you apply it to employment? Are there jobs in growth industries in VA where both the pay and the future look better? Eg, clean energy companies, ship yards, transportation, tourism.
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Thu Mar 24, 2011 5:31 pm |
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oldguy
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quote:
I have a B.A. degree, but I've been working toward going back to school so I can get licensed to teach. A highly qualified teacher in VA earns around $46,000 a year.
I'm not sure that $46k is a very good goal - especially if you need more education to get it. Isn't the US average salary $48,000, including HS grads, college grads, etc? What is your BA major, can you apply it to employment? Are there jobs in growth industries in VA where both the pay and the future look better? Eg, clean energy companies, ship yards, transportation, tourism.
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Thu Mar 24, 2011 5:31 pm |
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littleroc02us
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IMO I wouldn't take on the additional debt right now because you already have a good supply of that, I feel that you would put yourself further behind for a longer period of time and increase your risk. If you feel it's important to be a stay at home mother more power to you, but if your interested in getting financially ahead then take a clerical job and pay daycare and get rid of the debt. Decisions, decisions!
Romans 13:8 “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.”
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Thu Mar 24, 2011 6:22 pm |
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AprilK27
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Location: Newport News, VA
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Actually, the most current statistics I can find on average U.S. salary is right around $46,000. My B.A. is in English. I didn't choose that major because I didn't know what else to major in (like some people do), but because I love it and I'm very, very good at it. I started out as a journalism major, but journalism was too competitive and stressful (and politically influenced) for my taste.
My biggest desire is to teach writing skills. I have had several tutoring jobs doing exactly that. Every time I search for jobs, though, most of what comes up is requests for Systems Analysts and programmers, accountants, managers, health care workers, paralegals, and low-level temp jobs in retail, sales, customer service, and welding. I suppose I could try to earn a Master's in one of those in-demand fields, but then I run into problems.
1. My interests and true skill set will be under-utilized.
2. I'll just be earning a paycheck and not helping people.
3. Some of those jobs don't have any more job security than teaching, especially the tech jobs.
4. With the exception of retail and customer service, I have zero experience in those other fields.
I suppose the only possibilities listed above that would even come close to fulfilling some of my requirements would be health care or paralegal. However, half of everyone is going into health care now, and the average salary for a paralegal is hardly better than that of a highly qualified teacher.
The main thing I'm concerned about is if I'd be putting myself and my family at financial risk by going to school right now vs. settling for a lower-paying job.
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Thu Mar 24, 2011 6:41 pm |
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AprilK27
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Oh, and problem #5 with going into another field: since I didn't major in that field, I'll need even more education to get into it.
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Thu Mar 24, 2011 6:44 pm |
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oldguy
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quote:
Every time I search for jobs, though, most of what comes up is requests for Systems Analysts and programmers, accountants, managers, health care workers, paralegals, and low-level temp jobs in retail, sales, customer service, and welding.
LOL - you have an odd way of looking for work, sounds like you really want to be a student? You say that average workers get $46,000? So why not use your English degree & look for a $46,000 job? And you say that you don't just want to work for pay, you want to "help people"? Employers that need a task performed hire an employee to do it, that helps the employer, it helps the people who need the service that the employers sells, and it helps the employee (you). Not quite the same as social work, but it is a way to ern a living.
Google "careers in english and writing", that way 'welding' & 'sales'won't be jumping up, LOL.
In the engineering company that I worked for, we had a Technical Writing Dept. When we wrote a design proposal for a customer, we formed a proposal team (including Tech Writers). We 'story-boarded' the proposal books on the wall - our company experise, cost proposal, electrical design feastures, mechanical design featues, etc - about 4 books. We assigned a book boss (editor) to each book.
We (engineers) would spend a week or two building our designs and writing rough drafts of our proposed design. The book boss and tech writers would 'normalize' the text, fix the 'person', smooth the jargon, convert to two-column magazine format, recommend/place graphics to break up the text, etc.
These jobs were in the $60k to $80k range a few years ago when I retired, probably more now. Many of the proposals were for the Pentagon - you are in the region, there must be several defense suppliers around?
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Thu Mar 24, 2011 10:13 pm |
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AprilK27
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Location: Newport News, VA
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Thanks. Perhaps I will look into that, then.
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Fri Mar 25, 2011 12:25 am |
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littleroc02us
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quote:
Originally posted by AprilK27
The main thing I'm concerned about is if I'd be putting myself and my family at financial risk by going to school right now vs. settling for a lower-paying job.
Which is more important?
Romans 13:8 “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.”
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Fri Mar 25, 2011 1:49 pm |
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terrancebrandt
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If you can afford college then by all means do so. If not, get a job for the time being, then try to get scholarships or something. It's hard, but not impossible.
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Tue Mar 29, 2011 4:15 pm |
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GotCommonCents
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| Do What You Love & Be Smart Financially |
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You mentioned that your biggest desire is to teach writing skills. You also mentioned that you have had several tutoring jobs doing exactly that. I believe by keeping your current job you could expand this entrepreneurial side and make more than you could as an employee. It might even grow enough to replace your current employment entirely. If that is what you love, I would encourage you in that route.
I would advice against going back to school simply to be paid more as a teacher when you are in debt. First, get out of debt and decide what you love to do and do that. Going back to school is risky, but the risk is significantly compounded by debt.
For more advice about how to handle your personal finances and manage your life in a way that will be prosperous, check out my blog:
www.GotCommonCents.com
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Tue Mar 29, 2011 11:34 pm |
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