A friend of my wife works for a local school district (NY State) and said that they look for teaching applicants who already have their Masters. The problem with that is that many students are already in debt from their undergraduate years. Adding the cost of the Master’s raises that burden.
Does anyone know how common it is for school districts to pay for their new teachers’ Masters degree these days?
I haven’t heard of this being common anymore. It’s definitely not the case in NYC or Philly.
You have a couple of options:
One (which my D chose) is to enroll in a direct entry program which leads directly to the masters in ed after 5 years in school. She attended a SUNY, so the tuition was reasonable and the last semester of undergrad was considered the first semester of grad but the tuition charge was undergraduate. She opted to student teach in NYC so she could live at home rather than upstate at school.
Another option is that NYS allows three years to earn the masters. Many people start to work and then go for their masters while teaching. Most of the programs have afternoon and evening classes to accommodate working teachers. IF there are UG loans, they should continue to be deferred while the person is in grad school and, theoretically earning money to pay for the masters. Also, once the masters is earned, there is generally a pay raise.
Yet another option is to participate in one of the loan forgiveness programs. If you teach in a low income area or a high needs subject for a specific time, some or all of your loans can be forgiven.
In NY, you need your Masters to eventually be certified. So I can’t imagine any district offering to pay for something you’ll need to get anyway.
All of the teachers I know have paid for our own Masters