Gloriana
Patron Saint Of Smileys
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2009
- Messages
- 949
- MBTI Type
- INFJ
- Enneagram
- 6w5
As I've mentioned before, I'm almost one year out of a marriage and I'm currently undertaking the re-building of a whole new future for myself. I never went to college, and while I've learned a whole lot in the years since I was 18, I've got nothing on paper. This is proving a sticking point in the current job market.
I'm applying everywhere I can but unemployment is mega-high in my state, and doubly mega-high in my county. I read about stimulus funding for re-training and figured "OK, if it's going to be awhile before I can land a decent job, college would be something I could do to still be improving my future right now".
I checked out the 'targeted occupations' on the re-training list, these are occupations the government is currently providing extra funding for. I didn't find much on it that I really liked, but I saw "Health Information Technology" and thought this was something I could definitely DO. I started looking around at the approved colleges on the list.
I found one local college that has the course I want. Problem is, even after a Pell Grant and the stimulus funding, I would walk away with $18,000 to $23,000 in debt at a 6.8% percentage rate. Now, I can probably be placed into a job pretty much right after I finish, but the job I would get would net me $30,000 a year if I'm LUCKY, I could go home with less than that depending on what I get. They could not bring that interest figure down for me, they said there's a chance the people holding my loans MIGHT bring it down, but no guarantee. The thought of $23,000 collecting interest at 6.8% makes me feel a bit ill.
My heart sank about this, because I am not sure I want to walk away with that much debt. I know I can't go to school for FREE, but I'm 31 years old now and the thought. I'm almost debt free at the moment, all I have is around $4,000 in credit card debt I'm paying down. I'm living at home at the moment, I'm getting by on food stamps and what is left of my savings (I had a small interest income but that tanked to nothing back in October 2008).
I don't know if I'm being too anal retentive about that figure though. I've been looking over the targeted occupation list again and again trying to find something cheaper that I could see myself doing, but there's not much there. I wanted the Health Information Technology because it's an associates degree, a lot of the other things are just certifications or diplomas.
I mean, do you think it would be worth it? I WOULD come away with an associates degree, so that would just automatically give me more to work with in terms of looking for better paying work. I'm just not sure it's worth taking on that much debt.
What do you think?
I'm applying everywhere I can but unemployment is mega-high in my state, and doubly mega-high in my county. I read about stimulus funding for re-training and figured "OK, if it's going to be awhile before I can land a decent job, college would be something I could do to still be improving my future right now".
I checked out the 'targeted occupations' on the re-training list, these are occupations the government is currently providing extra funding for. I didn't find much on it that I really liked, but I saw "Health Information Technology" and thought this was something I could definitely DO. I started looking around at the approved colleges on the list.
I found one local college that has the course I want. Problem is, even after a Pell Grant and the stimulus funding, I would walk away with $18,000 to $23,000 in debt at a 6.8% percentage rate. Now, I can probably be placed into a job pretty much right after I finish, but the job I would get would net me $30,000 a year if I'm LUCKY, I could go home with less than that depending on what I get. They could not bring that interest figure down for me, they said there's a chance the people holding my loans MIGHT bring it down, but no guarantee. The thought of $23,000 collecting interest at 6.8% makes me feel a bit ill.
My heart sank about this, because I am not sure I want to walk away with that much debt. I know I can't go to school for FREE, but I'm 31 years old now and the thought. I'm almost debt free at the moment, all I have is around $4,000 in credit card debt I'm paying down. I'm living at home at the moment, I'm getting by on food stamps and what is left of my savings (I had a small interest income but that tanked to nothing back in October 2008).
I don't know if I'm being too anal retentive about that figure though. I've been looking over the targeted occupation list again and again trying to find something cheaper that I could see myself doing, but there's not much there. I wanted the Health Information Technology because it's an associates degree, a lot of the other things are just certifications or diplomas.
I mean, do you think it would be worth it? I WOULD come away with an associates degree, so that would just automatically give me more to work with in terms of looking for better paying work. I'm just not sure it's worth taking on that much debt.
What do you think?