Adult returning to school -- Need some help planning...

CC_Admin · January 16, 2007, 10:42am

I will be quitting my full time job soon to go back to school and finish out my undergrad degree in electrical and computer engineering. I will have 60k saved up with no debt, no kids, no wife, no other responsibilities. I saved up the money working a lucrative IT unix admin job over the last 24 months.

I've calculated it's going to cost me 80k to get my degree and I only have 60k. I need to take out loans for the 20k I don't have.

Questions:

1) My EFC is going to be high when I file my fafsa. Is there anyway I can get the financial aid department to consider the fact that I'm QUITTING my job to attend fulltime so I can at least get subsidized loans? I don't feel it's fair that I'm getting charged unsubsidized loans when I'm PAYING 60,000 towards my own education. Many other people pay a lot less and get the benefit of grants, subsidized loans, and scholarships. The fact that I'm penalized for saving just blows in my opinion.

2) Is it possible to use a combination of loans and savings to pay for my degree? During the third and forth years my income will effectively drop to zero making me elligible for more aid such as the pell grant. how will my savings at this time impact this? I'm assuming at least 55% of my savings to be gone by the start of the third year for a total of 27k.

I'm an older student and just want to finish out my degree. I have no desire to work part time while going to school. I'm going back to do full time studies at the maximum credit load I can handle. Internships in the summer are excluded. [ Working part time does not help me at since it's just going to hurt me the next year when I file another fafsa ].

Is 60k of savings enough to get me through 4 years if I've estimated the cost of going to a public university around 20k/year without working?

Your thoughts please.

emeraldkity4 · January 16, 2007, 1:00pm

congrats on finishing your degree- but computer * and electrical?*
sounds like two different degrees- how much course work have you already completed?

both degrees are highly valued currently and some firms will even pay you to attend school.
Which is what I would recommend- if you already have expertise and background to work in the field for the past two years- have you tried finding a firm that will cover your higher ed costs?
I know Boeing does- but I bet many other companies do as well.
( And whats the prob with working part time? State schools are not going to offer much aid & work study doesn't count towards income for FAFSA purposes)

JCampbell · January 16, 2007, 1:21pm

[quote]
I will be quitting my full time job soon to go back to school and finish out my undergrad degree in electrical and computer engineering. I will have 60k saved up with no debt, no kids, no wife, no other responsibilities. I saved up the money working a lucrative IT unix admin job over the last 24 months.

[/quote]

welcome to the club

[quote]
I've calculated it's going to cost me 80k to get my degree and I only have 60k. I need to take out loans for the 20k I don't have.

Questions:

1) My EFC is going to be high when I file my fafsa. Is there anyway I can get the financial aid department to consider the fact that I'm QUITTING my job to attend fulltime so I can at least get subsidized loans? I don't feel it's fair that I'm getting charged unsubsidized loans when I'm PAYING 60,000 towards my own education. Many other people pay a lot less and get the benefit of grants, subsidized loans, and scholarships. The fact that I'm penalized for saving just blows in my opinion.

[/quote]

You may be able to get subsidized loans, however even that's unknown. It all depends on your assets, and if you have 60k saved up that's a lot more than what's usually considered as need.

I wouldn't see it as a penalty, but you have quite a bit to pay for it.

[quote]
2) Is it possible to use a combination of loans and savings to pay for my degree? During the third and forth years my income will effectively drop to zero making me elligible for more aid such as the pell grant. how will my savings at this time impact this? I'm assuming at least 55% of my savings to be gone by the start of the third year for a total of 27k.

[/quote]

As your savings decrease your EFC will drop as well.. however even qualifying will be tough even with 25k-30k in savings.

[quote]
I'm an older student and just want to finish out my degree. I have no desire to work part time while going to school. I'm going back to do full time studies at the maximum credit load I can handle. Internships in the summer are excluded. [ Working part time does not help me at since it's just going to hurt me the next year when I file another fafsa ].

Is 60k of savings enough to get me through 4 years if I've estimated the cost of going to a public university around 20k/year without working?

Your thoughts please.

[/quote]

I'm an older student as well, but you need to work to cover costs.. I understand how you have no responsibilities, but if you're going to take the 4 years "off" of work, than you can't expect to have any assistance in the matter ether, you can't have it both ways.

The fact that you saved up 60k for school is commendable.. but you can't expect handouts based on need when you have that kind of reserve.

mildred · January 16, 2007, 1:33pm

I do not know

If you are over the age of 24, then the fafsa folks and the fin aid folks are going to take your own assets into consideration and stuff. It might, as you say, "blow" for you to not be deemed eligible for scads of things. But, it also "blows" that some students come from families whose yearly incomes are what you have in savings.

If you have yet to quit your job, then I would look into obtaining a private student loan through your hometown bank or something if you can. But, with the private student loans, you sometimes have to pay them off early and whatnot. What if you do this with the no working and it takes you more than your grace period for a loan to obtain work? Your credit would be messed up and that is not cool.

If you think you can pull off never working while at University, then I would really think twice about that. Since you are an adult, you could work off the amount owed to your tuition which your savings does not cover. I do not understand why someone with a steady trade would desire to give up working at all. You are going to be up a high creek if you think you can return to your old trade in four years, because of how things change and stuff.

And, I also do not understand why someone would desire to go without working for four full years. Your resume is going to look kinda odd because of that. Can you not work part time or something? I mean, if you are ill or something, then forget I asked you about working.

Or, could you not knock out your GE's at Community College? And, then you could transfer to your state school as a junior? That is just an idea. Some Community Colleges offer the GE's online, so you could study hard in your off hours and then just go to the Community College to take your tests and the like.

Lastly, are there any CLEP tests and the like you could take? You might have a way out of some classes which pertain to your trade if you have enough of a background in them.

Northstarmom · January 16, 2007, 1:43pm

"I do not understand why someone with a steady trade would desire to give up working at all. You are going to be up a high creek if you think you can return to your old trade in four years, because of how things change and stuff. "

I agree. Working part time in your field or in a field related to your major would enhance your abilities to find a good job afterward. Not working at all would hurt you. This would be true even if you were the normal age of being a college student. Almost all employers who hire graduating seniors for permanent jobs want recent job or internship experience in the employer's field or a related one.

CC_Admin · January 16, 2007, 2:11pm

First of all, I'm not trying to get any handout here. I came from a poor background with absolutely no way to go to college because my parents were in high debt and didn't save a dime for me to attend school. When it came time to apply for financial aid, my parents had a high EFC with loads of debt the system didn't recognize. I was essentially "screwed" on attending any university. I could of took the finanicial aid package with tons of loans, but I decided instead to pass on college at the time and work. I worked and saved.

Fast forward 8 years later, I'm 27 and STILL do not have my education yet. I'm working for an IT company doing unix administration making a pretty high amount of money, but it's not what i want to do. The company does offer tuition assistance, but it would take me 8 YEARS to finish my degree at night and I have NO DESIRE to work and attend school at night for that amount of time. I don't want to be graduating when I'm 34! Not to mention the company I work for is very demanding in that I typically work 60 hours a week and I'm on call all the time. How do you complete a rigorous engineering program given my conditions at my job? My employer doesn't care about education and won't change the hours. They just laid off 500 employees last October.

I either get the degree full time and then resume work later, or I just simply settle for being a unix admin for the rest of my life and continue to be bored at my job. I'll make good money, but it isn''t what I want to do. I have no DESIRE to work 60 hours a week and then have to rush over to no-name university at night close to my work and be in class till 10-11pm. I'm approaching 30 years of age and don't want to spend all my time working and studying -- At least with full time school and a job I'd have SOME time to enjoy life even though I'd have to loan out a bit of money.

What happens if I get laid off? Do you realize how hard it is to get your resume through HR of a company without a degree these days? My success has been only through people I know at companies. I need my degree. Companies look for it and the more time I waste not getting it, the more I'm going to consider blowing off my education.

I guess I'm forced to just take out unsubsidized loans even though I was forced to SAVE and get my degree much later due to being shut out of the system at a younger age.

The system is just not fair... but I guess I shouldn't be surprised, life isn't fair either.

Frustrated,

Dew2321

Northstarmom · January 16, 2007, 2:21pm

You could work part time and go to school. That's what many students do. You don't have to work at the same company, though if you have a good reputation there, they may be willing to work something out.

You also could take your $60,000 and buy a condo or house big enough for you to live in and to have roommates. Some economically savvy students do this, and that helps pay for their college. The property also would probably appreciate, too, which would be a big plus.

I think that you could be more creative about finding options that would work. You seem to see things as all or none when there are probably other options.

"When it came time to apply for financial aid, my parents had a high EFC with loads of debt the system didn't recognize. I was essentially "screwed" on attending any university. I could of took the finanicial aid package with tons of loans,"

Presumably, you could have gone to community college, including part time while working. You may also have been able to work while going part time to some 4-year colleges. Another option would be to take on-line classes.

JCampbell · January 16, 2007, 2:35pm

[quote]
First of all, I'm not trying to get any handout here. I came from a poor background with absolutely no way to go to college because my parents were in high debt and didn't save a dime for me to attend school. When it came time to apply for financial aid, my parents had a high EFC with loads of debt the system didn't recognize. I was essentially "screwed" on attending any university. I could of took the finanicial aid package with tons of loans, but I decided instead to pass on college at the time and work. I worked and saved.

Fast forward 8 years later, I'm 27 and STILL do not have my education yet. I'm working for an IT company doing unix administration making a pretty high amount of money, but it's not what i want to do. The company does offer tuition assistance, but it would take me 8 YEARS to finish my degree at night and I have NO DESIRE to work and attend school at night for that amount of time. I don't want to be graduating when I'm 34! Not to mention the company I work for is very demanding in that I typically work 60 hours a week and I'm on call all the time. How do you complete a rigorous engineering program given my conditions at my job? My employer doesn't care about education and won't change the hours. They just laid off 500 employees last October.

I either get the degree full time and then resume work later, or I just simply settle for being a unix admin for the rest of my life and continue to be bored at my job. I'll make good money, but it isn''t what I want to do. I have no DESIRE to work 60 hours a week and then have to rush over to no-name university at night close to my work and be in class till 10-11pm. I'm approaching 30 years of age and don't want to spend all my time working and studying -- At least with full time school and a job I'd have SOME time to enjoy life even though I'd have to loan out a bit of money.

What happens if I get laid off? Do you realize how hard it is to get your resume through HR of a company without a degree these days? My success has been only through people I know at companies. I need my degree. Companies look for it and the more time I waste not getting it, the more I'm going to consider blowing off my education.

I guess I'm forced to just take out unsubsidized loans even though I was forced to SAVE and get my degree much later due to being shut out of the system at a younger age.

The system is just not fair... but I guess I shouldn't be surprised, life isn't fair either.

Frustrated,

Dew2321

[/quote]

I know exactly what you're feeling, I'm the same age and same position. the only difference is that I have NO money saved, because I have a family.. saving money with low paying jobs just isn't possible in some areas, such as NoVA.

You have a "1-up" on most people like us. I'm not going to graduate until I'm 34, but that's just life. I'm going to work to finance my education and whatever aid isn't paid.

Saying that it's not far that you need to work part time to pay the left over $5,000 a year is just silly to me. You have enough money more than cover the cost of schools.

You may also qualify for merit based scholarships while enrolled that would cover the additional cost.

But Pell Grants max out at $3000 give or take, and need based is only up to a percentage, so I don't even see why you're upset.. you have a very distinct advantage here and your complaint is that you may have to work part-time while going to school... I just can't see what's so upsetting shrug

ou have 60k in guaranteed money for your education. that's more than the vast majority of students, especially adult students, can say.

JCampbell · January 16, 2007, 2:37pm

in-state tuition at a state school for 4 years averages at about $50,000. I think you'll be fine anyway.

sybbie719 · January 16, 2007, 2:39pm

well I don't know...

As a person who completed undergrad while working full time (both parents died during the beginning of my undergrad years), completed 3 masters (one with an emphasis on adult education and workplace learning) while working full time and raising a kid and is currently in a PhD program taking classes, doing an internship and still working full time I can tell you first hand that you can work full time and attend school. I was also fortunate enough to work for a company who gives very generous tuition aid benefits and they paid my way through Cornell and 2 different grad programs at NYU (a school that is notorious for not giving FA). So if your employer gives FA, take it.

In fact with on-line courses, weekend colleges and schools giving credits for life experience. As a person who has spent many years in HR I can also tell you first hand that degree or no degree, it is easier to get a job when you have a job and dropping out of the job market for 4 years even to go to college will put you at a serious disadvantage when the time comes to look for a job.

latetoschool · January 16, 2007, 2:59pm

dew2321, comgratulations on your savings, and your decision. (I am still very late to school, and, I discovered some years ago how very difficult it is to get past HR with no college degree, so, I morphed into an entrepreneur instead.) - and I think you have lots of different options.

Have you narrowed down your list of schools yet? I discovered there are several that are very accomodating towards non-traditional students, and some of that extends to financial aid. At least one nicely ranked national doctoral university has special programs and scholarships for adults < 50 years old, and I am sure there must be others.

I would recommend playing the first year as you already intend - assuming you find no school that can offer you a scholarship, assume you'll be paying full freight, and get the very best grades you can manage. Once the first year is done, if you have a high enough gpa, you may be able to win departmental scholarships, etc.

As to financial strategy once you're past the first year, I'm tempted to suggest holding the rest of your savings, and applying for the Plus loan instead. You cannot know what will happen in the next few years (military draft that doesn't allow college deferments???), and if you can find a way to avoid totally maxing out your savings, I'd do it.

As far as working, I'd recommend it at least by year two or three - and if the work complements what you're doing in school, or is resume building in some way. You're going to be in competition for jobs with people who do have current work, internship etc. experience and it might be very hard to be competitive without it. I would also recommend getting engaged in the associations and professional organizations specific to your major as quickly as possible. (Have you looked at Northeastern btw?)

Last thought - is there any way you can volunteer to be included in the next round of layoffs at your present employer, or, negotiate with human resources to lay you off? Depending on unemployment law in your state, you may then be permitted to collect UC, and continue collecting as a segue to beginning school. It's not a lot of money but $300 or so a week helps...

sybbie719 · January 16, 2007, 3:04pm

It is easier to get a job when you have a job and dropping out of the job market for 4 years even to go to college will put you at a serious disadvantage when the time comes to look for a job.

However concerning the questions at hand:

if you are looking to attend school this fall, being single no dependents, having a job and 60k in savings, you are going to get very little FA this year.

should you quit your job, unless you spend down whatever money you have in the bank, 25% of it will go toward your EFC. for the sake of this discussion, suppose this time next year, you are not working and you have 60k in the bank.

your assets are going to be assessed about 25% or 15,000

so you would have a 15k EFC, then you would get FA based on your demonstrated (about 5k, which would be loans, you could now borrow 4500 and work study) .

[quote]
During the third and forth years my income will effectively drop to zero making me elligible for more aid such as the pell grant. how will my savings at this time impact this? I'm assuming at least 55% of my savings to be gone by the start of the third year for a total of 27k.

[/quote]

25% of the 27k (because it is an asset in the student's name) would be used toward your EFC (6750) so with pell and loans, you would be able to borrow 5500 from stafford, would this be enough for you ? Keep in mind that when you are not working you will be required to purchase heath insurance on campus.

mildred · January 16, 2007, 3:28pm

Dew? I was wondering something and I hope you do not take offense towards what I was wondering.

Here it is...

Why do you think you should go without working whilst at University?

If you are worried, for example, about being out of practice with hitting the books...then why not just knock out some of your General Education requirements online through your local Community College in order to get back into the swing of things? You know, you could just do World Civilization and a Mathematics class.

I am trying to be nice in all of this and I hope you do not take offense.

GS_Banding · January 18, 2007, 4:00pm

dew2321,

Few things you can do:
-Put money in a Roth IRA. Anything you have in a Roth (or any kind of retirement account) is not counted in financial aid calculations. You can only put 4k per year but at least it's something.

-Give the money to your parents. Since you're independent, your parent's income is not a factor. Of course, I'm assuming you can trust your parents with this amount of money.

So, IMO, best course of action is to give your savings to your parents and while you're in school make arrangements so that every year you maximize your Roth contributions. (There is no reason why anyone should not be maximizing their Roth contributions if they qualify. Little known fact is that you can withdraw contributions at any time, you don't have to be 60. It is only interest, that you have to wait until you're 60 to withdraw without penalty.)

You're better off taking out loans and putting your money in a Vanguard mutual fund earning interest. Gains from mutual fund > interest on student loans.

CC_Admin · January 19, 2007, 2:15am

GS_Balding,

That is a great idea, only I can't loan the entire thing out because of stafford loan caps. I have about 55 college credits from a CC, which 30 will transfer. I should be transfering in as a sophmore (my GPA is 3.944) which will give me the following loan amounts per year:

sophmore $7500 ALL unsubsidized) EFC:32850
junior $10,500 ALL unsubsidized) EFC: 18500
senior $10,500 possibly mixed subsidized/unsubsidized EFC:0
senior (5th) $10,500 possibly mixed subsidized/unsubsidized EFC:0

That totals out to be $39k of loans. I've calculated the COA to be about 80k over 4 years if you factor in tuition, fees, living expenses, books, food, gas, car insurance, health insurance, and fun money (small amt).

This thread has really made me think twice about going back full time, so I'm not sure what I'm doing yet. I don't think I have the motivation to go part time at night for 7-8 years either. [ I want to enjoy my last years in my 20s, not kill myeslf working a crazy job and crazy engineering classes at night on top of it. I can only do one or the other in order to maintain a balanced life. I believe in the "work to live" philosophy not "live to work" philosophy ].

Dew`

CC_Admin · January 19, 2007, 2:41am

[quote]

Dew? I was wondering something and I hope you do not take offense towards what I was wondering.

Here it is...

Why do you think you should go without working whilst at University?

[/quote]

Mildred, I have worked and worked and worked in order to pay for school. Why would I want to work during school when I just spent 24 months SAVING so I don't HAVE to work during school?

Not to bash liberal arts majors, but Engineering majors (especially EE, nuclear, and chemE) are VERY hard and require a lot of time. Many EE students I know right now are taking 15-18 credit hours with NO job and are getting probalby 4 hours of sleep a night -- and these are kids that don't party that much and had very high marks in high school. While your average liberal arts major can spend many hours out partying and lollygagging around, engineering majors don't have as much freedom and must have pencil to paper most hours of the day in order to finish in 4 years. Hell, most don't even finish in 4 years going full time and require even a 5th year. Also, have you seen the drop out rates for engineering majors? It's very very high due to the difficulty. [ The rate of drop outs for part time engineering majors is astounding! ]

Secondly, what is a part time job going to do for me anyway? Provide an extra few hundred a week in money? All that is going to do is screw my EFC for the next year and cause me to take even LONGER on my degree than if I didn't work and just knocked out as many classes as possible. I'm in my late 20s... I have no desire to wait tables and serve food to drunk colleges kids for minimum wage when I could use the time more wisely in my studies. My plan is to get my degree as fast as possible, and then break into industry. In my case, time is more valuable than the few hundred dollars I'll be saving by working.

Thirdly, I want to get the best grades as possible and not float through the classes with a C average because I may want to enter graduate school or enter the combined BS/MS program which requires at LEAST a 3.50 GPA. Many joe's out there can major in Park Management or Leisure Studies and work full time along with it and pull a 4.0, but with EE, even a part time job is a time strain. I want to get the degree as fast as possible while getting the best grades possible and learning the material and if that requires me to take out more unsubsidized loans, then I guess that's the only way. [ Or I guess I could just save up 20k more and then quit and just pay for all of it myself ].

No offense taken on your post -- I deal with jerk managers at work all day everyday, so my skin is pretty thick at this point. Hopefully my post wasn't offending.

Dew`

emeraldkity4 · January 19, 2007, 9:52am

Of course your idea of difficulty might vary.
My brother, also not the sharpest crayon in the box got his EE degree while he was active duty in the military, & living in Co Springs.( military duty- is pretty much a full time job- It also took him 3 times to pass the sargent exam)
However, with a BA, they turned around and hired him to teach-;)

I suggest that you seriously examine why you want to change careers, especially if your perspective is so narrow that you think 28 is too old to go back to school-
Or is it that you realize that late 20s is a little old to be acting like youre finally old enough to be one of those "drunk college kids"

* Im sorry your grandmother died, but you might want to be aware that your myspace info stays up forever- and "partying like a rockstar", is a little unseemly, even if you "are" a rock- star*

latetoschool · January 19, 2007, 10:10am

dew, I think the challenge you may face is that you may be competing for employment and/or graduate school with persons who document > 3.5 in very difficult majors, including engineering, while also working, and/or being varsity athletes, and also participating in high-profile ECs on campus. There is such a person in my household and we know of many, many others.

You can, of couse, attend school without working and in theory there isn't anything wrong with than. It becomes problematic when an employer - or a graduate school admissions person - has 200 applications for, say, a handfull of openings. Lack of substantive, topical work experience is one of the easiest ways to screen you out. It might not be the fairest way but time is an issue, and there has to be some gating event, because it's impossible to consider every applicant when the number of applicants far, far exceeds the available jobs or spaces in school.

As an employer who has been advertising on college career websites for a few months, I have been intentionally interviewing persons with work experience in tandem with attending school, and declining to interview those with perfect gpas and no or little work experience. I'd rather have the 3.0 person with work experience and involvement on campus and in community than the 4.0 person who has done little else.

CC_Admin · January 19, 2007, 10:10am

Emeraldkity,

Your post is so ridiculous that I'm not even going to reply to it. Also, Electrical Engineering degrees fall under Bachelors of Science (BS) and not Bachelors or Arts (BA) like you said.

mildred · January 19, 2007, 10:23am

Dew, I do not take the Engineering being harder than _______ argument seriously at all. Sorry. I was just wondering why you did not desire to work while earning your schooling.

If I were in your age group, I would worry about having a huge gap in my resume/cv. There are some intolerant minded employers out there who would wonder a thing or two about why you hadn't any alternative but to solely obtain your schooling for four full years without soo much as doing any form of volunteering or something.

Ultimately, though...it is your life. I honestly think that most everyone was trying to be helpful to you, though. You are lucky that you were able to learn a really fine trade without any University schooling under your belt.

[quote]
My brother, also not the sharpest crayon in the box got his EE degree while he was active duty in the military, & living in Co Springs.( military duty- is pretty much a full time job- It also took him 3 times to pass the sargent exam)

[/quote]

I love to hear stories like that, emeraldkity4. It takes someone who is very secure in themselves to try, try, and try again after flunking something. So, I say good for your brother! And, is your brother single? :)

LOL My posting crossed with two other postings! Oh my goodness.

[quote]
As an employer who has been advertising on college career websites for a few months, I have been intentionally interviewing persons with work experience in tandem with attending school, and declining to interview those with perfect gpas and no or little work experience. I'd rather have the 3.0 person with work experience and involvement on campus and in community than the 4.0 person who has done little else.

[/quote]

Latetoschool, I really like the mentality you have. It is very nice that you consider more than just plain schooling. It is nice to know that all of my fellow working stiffs might wind up having things a smidgen easier upon graduation. I used to feel like I had to apologize to some Professors because of how I haven't a choice but to have a job and all :(

Thread		Replies	Views
Returning Adult Student Paying for College	3	48	April 14, 2021
Returning Student - Questions about Aid Paying for College	10	44	April 15, 2021
Going back to College Paying for College	10	51	April 15, 2021
Adult Student Returning to school Paying for College	4	42	April 14, 2021
(MN) Returning to College at 25 Paying for College	5	52	April 15, 2021

Adult returning to school -- Need some help planning...

POPULAR STATES

SEARCH SAT SCORES

SEARCH ACT SCORES

SEARCH GPA’S

Adult returning to school -- Need some help planning...

Related Topics

POPULAR STATES

SEARCH SAT SCORES

SEARCH ACT SCORES

SEARCH GPA’S

CONNECT WITH US