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Tips for preparing for a doctorate degree? Student loan related
Posted on 1/4/23 at 2:55 pm
Posted on 1/4/23 at 2:55 pm
I’m starting a PhD in education soon, and I’m looking into how to best plan for paying for the degree. I’ll continue to work as a teacher while taking online and evening classes. Degree will take 3-4 years to complete. I’m shooting for 3.
I have extra funds to pay for some of it myself, but I want to make sure I’m planning this out correctly. I’m not sure if anyone here is knowledgeable about this, but I figured I’d take a shot.
The max I would pay for the degree is $40k based on estimated tuition, fees, and books. Obviously that could be a little higher or lower, but it should be around that number.
I can contribute $300/month at the least, so I should be able to take off about $10k from the total cost of the degree.
I’m looking at $30k-$40k in loans.
There’s a chance I can pay for more myself, but I want to use worst case scenario numbers for planning purposes.
So let’s say it’s $40k in loans to get the degree.
1) Is a direct unsubsidized loan my best option?
2) Can I apply for loans as needed? Or do I need to estimate a yearly total? What about by semester?
I ask because I could participate in a payment plan that divides up the cost. I could (hypothetically) pay $1000 out of pocket and then $2000 for the remaining 2/3’s of the semester tuition. So I would only need $2000 in loans instead of the full $3000. But I wouldn’t know how much the courses are until I sign up for them.
3) Also, since I might have more personal funds than expected at times, is it better to just pay tuition in full with loans and then pay off bigger chunks of the loan? Or should I still try to pay as much out of pocket before the loan gets into my account?
*Since I know some might ask, this degree helps me get into administration, a college-level teaching job, or even a job outside of education. I’m tenured and would receive an automatic $8500 raise with the degree, which would also help with my pension. I could go to a cheaper online school, but I don’t think I’d really be competitive for other careers outside of being a school admin at a small high school.
I have extra funds to pay for some of it myself, but I want to make sure I’m planning this out correctly. I’m not sure if anyone here is knowledgeable about this, but I figured I’d take a shot.
The max I would pay for the degree is $40k based on estimated tuition, fees, and books. Obviously that could be a little higher or lower, but it should be around that number.
I can contribute $300/month at the least, so I should be able to take off about $10k from the total cost of the degree.
I’m looking at $30k-$40k in loans.
There’s a chance I can pay for more myself, but I want to use worst case scenario numbers for planning purposes.
So let’s say it’s $40k in loans to get the degree.
1) Is a direct unsubsidized loan my best option?
2) Can I apply for loans as needed? Or do I need to estimate a yearly total? What about by semester?
I ask because I could participate in a payment plan that divides up the cost. I could (hypothetically) pay $1000 out of pocket and then $2000 for the remaining 2/3’s of the semester tuition. So I would only need $2000 in loans instead of the full $3000. But I wouldn’t know how much the courses are until I sign up for them.
3) Also, since I might have more personal funds than expected at times, is it better to just pay tuition in full with loans and then pay off bigger chunks of the loan? Or should I still try to pay as much out of pocket before the loan gets into my account?
*Since I know some might ask, this degree helps me get into administration, a college-level teaching job, or even a job outside of education. I’m tenured and would receive an automatic $8500 raise with the degree, which would also help with my pension. I could go to a cheaper online school, but I don’t think I’d really be competitive for other careers outside of being a school admin at a small high school.
7
Posted on 1/4/23 at 3:08 pm to StringedInstruments
Reach out to HR and see if they have a program as well. Many school districts offer tuition help for educators going back for their masters or doctorate in exchange for them committing to stay X amount of years in the district. Plus if you are looking at administration in your current district it puts you on the inside track because they know you already and have recommendations.
Posted on 1/4/23 at 3:22 pm to Falco
quote:
Reach out to HR and see if they have a program as well. Many school districts offer tuition help for educators going back for their masters or doctorate in exchange for them committing to stay X amount of years in the district.
I tried. No dice!
But I did get some good advice about how to pursue a path to the district office. I don’t currently see myself as a superintendent, but a $200k+ salary is certainly intriguing.
Posted on 1/4/23 at 6:43 pm to StringedInstruments
You get paid to go to school for an PhD that is worth getting. Just buy a piece of paper if this is to be a higher paid teacher.
Posted on 1/4/23 at 8:14 pm to StringedInstruments
These Instructional Design PhDs are such bullshite. Only exist so public schools can say their principal is “Dr. Smith.” The only other PhDs people pay tuition for are in Business Schools for similar reasons.
Posted on 1/4/23 at 8:54 pm to Drizzt
quote:
These Instructional Design PhDs are such bull shite. Only exist so public schools can say their principal is “Dr. Smith.” The only other PhDs people pay tuition for are in Business Schools for similar reasons.
Im not disagreeing, but District SuperIntendents in Texas make really good money and all go by "Dr. Smith." It may be a racket but their TRS pension is going to be nice.
This post was edited on 1/4/23 at 8:54 pm
Posted on 1/4/23 at 9:27 pm to BearsFan
You don’t need a PHD to go or admin or superintendent. Research what you need and get that. And for both there are different praxis’s you need to pass
Posted on 1/5/23 at 8:27 am to StringedInstruments
quote:
But I did get some good advice about how to pursue a path to the district office. I don’t currently see myself as a superintendent, but a $200k+ salary is certainly intriguing.
IMO you should bust it to pay it off asap. That way in the end at least you don't have any loans. The mistake people make is putting it all into loans and then not making more money. But it sounds like you are.
If you are getting an automatic raise, I'd put that into the loans immediately.
Also, you are very unsure of your future plans. No way in hell would I recommend someone getting further education unless they know they are going to use it.
Posted on 1/5/23 at 10:06 am to StringedInstruments
quote:
I’m starting a PhD in education soon, and I’m looking into how to best plan for paying for the degree. I’ll continue to work as a teacher while taking online and evening classes. Degree will take 3-4 years to complete. I’m shooting for 3.
I have extra funds to pay for some of it myself, but I want to make sure I’m planning this out correctly. I’m not sure if anyone here is knowledgeable about this, but I figured I’d take a shot.
The best advice I ever got about graduate school was not to go unless someone else was funding it. At the PhD level if a school doesn't offer stipends and tuition waivers or at least TAships it might not be the best move. My PhD is in the Humanities, so maybe things are different in Education Depts.
But even in professional fields, students pursuing degrees like MBAs can get their employer to pay for the degree.
quote:
I could go to a cheaper online school, but I don’t think I’d really be competitive for other careers outside of being a school admin at a small high school.
I have met a lot of university administrators in my day, and a fair amount of them have graduate degrees (including PhDs and DEds) in education from for-profit and online schools. I am not sure if the "cheaper school" is the limiter you think it might be.
Posted on 1/5/23 at 11:06 am to StringedInstruments
Haven't taken a student loan out in 20 years, but will try to help since no one has really answered your questions 
1) I don't recall what all of the options are, but I do recall there were options where the interest accrued would also be deferred until 6 months after enrollment. If you qualify, these would be the best option. After that, the unsubsidized may be 2nd because they at least defer payment until 6 months post enrollment, but interest continues to accrue.
2) When I was applying, I could apply for less than the max if I wanted. But, I wanted the max because I was also foolishly subsidizing my lifestyle. Check to see if there is an option to apply for the max amount, then once you know how much you really need make a lump sum payment.
3) IMO, this is a preference thing because the amount of time from when you take out the loan until when you make the payments could be negligible in interest costs. But, this is exactly how I would do it. Have the lender pay the school and send you a check for the difference. Then once the check clears make a payment to the lender for the amount you do not need plus any amount you were planning to pay towards tuition.
And as another poster suggested, once you get that raise I would start pushing the extra money to get rid of the loans.
1) I don't recall what all of the options are, but I do recall there were options where the interest accrued would also be deferred until 6 months after enrollment. If you qualify, these would be the best option. After that, the unsubsidized may be 2nd because they at least defer payment until 6 months post enrollment, but interest continues to accrue.
2) When I was applying, I could apply for less than the max if I wanted. But, I wanted the max because I was also foolishly subsidizing my lifestyle. Check to see if there is an option to apply for the max amount, then once you know how much you really need make a lump sum payment.
3) IMO, this is a preference thing because the amount of time from when you take out the loan until when you make the payments could be negligible in interest costs. But, this is exactly how I would do it. Have the lender pay the school and send you a check for the difference. Then once the check clears make a payment to the lender for the amount you do not need plus any amount you were planning to pay towards tuition.
And as another poster suggested, once you get that raise I would start pushing the extra money to get rid of the loans.
Posted on 1/5/23 at 12:30 pm to StringedInstruments
Don’t do it bruh
Move back to br and get a job at the plant and be a real man
Move back to br and get a job at the plant and be a real man
Posted on 1/5/23 at 1:50 pm to StringedInstruments
quote:A childhood friend of mine was a superintendent for his last ten years.
I don’t currently see myself as a superintendent, but a $200k+ salary is certainly intriguing.
His retirement package is silly. And he left at age 56-ish.
Something to consider.
He did spend 15 years or so in relative poverty from age 24 to 40 or so.
Posted on 1/6/23 at 2:55 am to soccerfüt
ROTC will pay for school and you can work in one of the on-base schools for a federal salary and benefits, maybe work at West Point or someplace like that.
Posted on 1/6/23 at 11:39 am to StringedInstruments
quote:
administration, a college-level teaching job, or even a job outside of education.
I would clarify which of these three you genuinely want to do.
You can get a well-paying administration or external job with an Ed.D. in education from a state university. That potentially gives you freedom to attend part-time and pay for your degree as you go (with hopefully minimal loan debt). The Ed.D. is essentially a practitioner degree that fits your first and third career options.
If you want a professorship, you need to attend the best Ph.D. program you can that offers full funding, health insurance, and lots of opportunities for grant-funded research. You'll also need to identify a strong faculty advisor who is respected in their field so they can pull strings to get you interviews in an extremely competitive faculty job market. If you don't have at least a couple of solo-authored publications by the time you finish your Ph.D., you can likely forget about finding a tenure-track position unless you get extremely lucky.
This post was edited on 1/6/23 at 11:41 am
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