<p>I was having a discussion the other day with a friend about one of my children and one of her children, each of whom think they would like to be a teacher. </p>
<p>My friend made the comment that she would not want her child to attend a private college if her child was going to be a teacher because earnings will be more limited/harder to pay back loans, and also because she didn't think her child would be any more likely to get a teaching job when graduating from a more prestigious school than from a state school. </p>
<p>I would love to hear CC parents chime in on this, and experiences with this would be especially helpful. Let's say you have a kid who is on the track for a school like Duke but wants to be a teacher? Would you have second thoughts? What if it were Yale? Still the same second thoughts? Now, what about a less prestigious private college versus public school? Let's assume that loans will likely need to be taken. </p>
<p>I really don't have an answer for this, and of course I realize that one's career aspirations can change (although my friend insists her kid will be sticking with teaching based on some factors that do seem to point in that direction). Also, my kid is a sophomore in high school so we aren't at the point where we have enough info on grades and scores to know what type of school will be considered. Still, I am curious as to what you all think. Thank you!</p>
<p>In 99.9% of cases [ex - Investment Banking] it makes no difference from where you get your undergrad degree. It literally is a checkbox on the app. What matters is what you do with it. </p>
<p>I am aware of a case where a Brown graduate was working as a provider of ABA therapy, and I must admit that I was dismayed at the idea of spending so much money on an education with an end result where the job did not require such an education.</p>
<p>However, one shouldn’t assume that the first job out of college is an indication of what the graduate will do with the education over a lifetime.</p>
<p>Interesting question since we are in that position. I know area schools here are no more likely to hire a grad from a private school. Do I spend $60-80000 or $10000+? I don’t know.</p>
<p>D is extremely driven, focused, and motivated. She also has a significant reading LD. These both enter into my equation. I fear she may be more likely to flounder at a huge state school. I also think she will take advantage of opportunities. We’ve found a small LAC with a great program for students like her. Yes, I’ll probably be willing to shell out the extra bucks. For a kid who didn’t care as much or work as hard or need the addt’l help, probably not.</p>
<p>I will say we graduated from private schools, as did S1. S2 attended two public state schools and I’ve dealt with another one. I realize a great education can be had at them, but our experiences at the smaller schools were better. So…I know I am biased. YMMV</p>
<p>I think it can matter especially as a first job out of college. D1 went to Syracuse’s Newhouse for communications/PR, which is arguably one of the top three communications schools in the country - many people put it at number one. She came home to the Chicago area after graduation, an area that is saturated with Northwestern journalism majors, also arguably one of the top J schools in the country. She did not have much luck networking in the field, so after six months she decided to relocate to Boston, where there are tons of Syracuse grads in PR, and she has had no problem not only getting jobs, but moving up quite nicely. The Syracuse name gets her in doors that other schools won’t. She is now very active in the Boston Syracuse alumni network, and I know she has gone out of her way to help newly-minted Syracuse grads break into the field because of the reputation of the program. </p>
<p>From what she’s told me, the same goes for Syracuse grads in NYC. They have a very active alumni network for Newhouse grads who go out of their way to mentor and help out new grads.</p>
<p>It doesn’t mean that communication/journalism majors from other schools aren’t getting jobs, but I know that the Syracuse name does mean something, much more than some directional state school from the midwest. Of course there are going to be exceptions, as no one can guarantee that every Newhouse grad has taken advantage of what the school has to offer and excelled, but I know in certain regions, it can make a big difference. It can mean much more than a checkbox on the application.</p>
<p>We never looked at potential future earnings when our Ds were deciding which school they wanted to attend. Now, none of them graduated with any debt so our situation was different from most. Interestingly, the two Ds who have incomes lower than their sisters, are the ones who attended the most expensive schools - Princeton and NYU. ;)</p>
<p>By the way, the Princeton grad is the one who is a teacher.</p>
<p>Sigh. I still remember sitting down with my niece about six years ago. She came over to ask my dh and I to co-sign some private loans for her college education. She wanted to be a teacher, and she wanted to go to a private Christian university in a nearby state. Tuition/room/board was going to run her about $30k/year, she wasn’t getting scholarships and the only financial aid was federal loans. Her parents weren’t going to contribute.</p>
<p>My husband and I sat down with her and walked her through the COA for four years, her expected salary as a first year school teacher and the impact those were going to have on her future. We gently suggested that she consider the local commuter state university for her education, which would’ve left her with normal sized student loans and the ability to someday own her own home.</p>
<p>She stormed out of our house. I suspect that my in-laws co-signed. </p>
<p>To her credit, she did graduate and she is now a teacher in rural Idaho. She doesn’t make much, and will be in debt for the foreseeable future. It will hamstring many of her choices, but it was a choice she made at 18.</p>
<p>I think the OP is right. Getting hired as a K-12 teacher isn’t much influenced by where you got your degree. And teacher salaries don’t support paying back large student loans. If either of my kids had wanted to be a teacher, I at least would have encouraged them to chase merit money (going to a school where their stats are on the high end).</p>
<p>If you don’t have to go into debt for college, I see no problem with going to a top school and becoming a teacher. </p>
<p>However, if you have to borrow money, it’s important to recognize that the relatively low salaries in education, compared to, say, investment banking, will make it harder to pay back the loans.</p>
<p>We had this dilemma with our oldest. She is currently enrolled at Boston University, elementary ed. major, and it was the priciest school she got into.</p>
<p>We had many discussions with her about this. She got into all the colleges she applied to, but the money offered varied. The difference between BU and her #3 choice was $72,000 over 4 years. I still can’t wrap my head around that number. Part of our problem was, she has outside funding (i.e., Grandma) for a lot of it. With BU, she had to take out loans for the difference–had she gone with the other school, she could have graduated with money in the bank.</p>
<p>But, here’s the thing: my D has wanted to be a teacher since she was in preschool. Specifically, she’s wanted to move abroad and teach English to Spanish-speaking children. While all her school offered semester abroad, only BU offered a chance to student teach abroad, in Ecuador. She plans to dual certify, Elem. Ed. and bilingual, which will allow her to teach in Spanish–naturally, this requires more work than “merely” going Elem. Ed./ESL. She is very, very drawn to Central/South America–I suspect she’ll eventually settle there, get married, etc. She might do a stint in the Peace Corps, and if she does move back to the US, she would like to work with the children of migrant farmers. This is what she feels she was born to do, it’s a real calling for her.</p>
<p>In the face of all this, what do you do as a parent? Tell your smart, driven, caring child that money is more important than a desire to make a difference for children who really need quality teachers? I couldn’t do that. My answer would be different if she were motivated by money or prestige or factors like school location, sports teams, or nice dorms. But, her calling is to work with poor children, and she has a life plan that is well thought out. She knows her choices won’t make her materially wealthy, and she doesn’t care.</p>
<p>A large portion of students change their mind about majors and career fields during college. Even a minor variation, such as wanting to teach at a university level instead of at a HS level, could lead to a different conclusion about how helpful a particular college would be for their career goals.</p>
<p>Frankly, I think that if money is an issue, there aren’t many private schools worth paying tens of thousands extra for. You can get an excellent education at most state flagships. It might be worth shelling out for the kid who can get into one of the tippy-top schools, or for a kid whose particular academic path justifies it, but not typically.</p>
<p>That being said, I don’t think a student’s career plans should have much to do with it unless the student is taking on debt that the chosen career won’t allow him or her to repay, or unless you see college as purely a matter of return on investment. Otherwise, if you are willing to pay for the future lawyer or doctor to go to Yale, why not also pay for the future teacher? </p>
<p>As far as I’m concerned, there are two reasons to go to college: to get a credential that will lead to employment, and, of course to get an education. As long as the student’s degree is one that satisfies condition one, condition two becomes paramount. Teachers may not be rolling in cash, but they can certainly live reasonably comfortable lives, so there is no reason not to let the aspiring teacher follow their bliss as much as the kid were going into a more lucrative field. It is one thing if you don’t believe the more expensive school offers a better education, but if you believe that it does, then demanding that it also provide a more obvious financial reward seems to me to be operating under a very limited notion of value.</p>
<p>Teacher hiring can be very local, so if the student knows where he/she would like to work, the standard advice is to ask people there which colleges/universities produce graduates who are more likely to be hired.</p>
<p>If the student can get the “Top” degree with no more than the federal loan maximum (grand total of $27,000 altogether), then fine. That will get paid down. If grandma wants to help pay for the degree, that’s fine too. On the other hand if the family must go into hock for that “Top” degree, then no. But that would also be my answer no matter what the student was planning to study.</p>
<p>*Sigh. I still remember sitting down with my niece about six years ago. She came over to ask my dh and I to co-sign some private loans for her college education. She wanted to be a teacher, and she wanted to go to a private Christian university in a nearby state. Tuition/room/board was going to run her about $30k/year, she wasn’t getting scholarships and the only financial aid was federal loans. Her parents weren’t going to contribute.</p>
<p>My husband and I sat down with her and walked her through the COA for four years, her expected salary as a first year school teacher and the impact those were going to have on her future. We gently suggested that she consider the local commuter state university for her education, which would’ve left her with normal sized student loans and the ability to someday own her own home.</p>
<p>She stormed out of our house. I suspect that my in-laws co-signed. </p>
<p>To her credit, she did graduate and she is now a teacher in rural Idaho. She doesn’t make much, and will be in debt for the foreseeable future. It will hamstring many of her choices, but it was a choice she made at 18.*</p>
<p>?</p>
<p>are you saying that your niece borrowed $120k for a teaching degree and now works as a teacher in Idaho? How much could she have been making during those first few years? Is/was she living with parents while working?</p>
<p>I agree that teacher hiring is very local. If you want to stay in the same geographic area, you are better off going to the school with the best student teacher placements.</p>
<p>If, however, you wish to teach in a private school, or a high-performing school, or abroad, the name of the college can give you an edge. It is a tough market in many places for new teachers.</p>
<p>That said, there are also many programs that assist teachers in paying off loans. We have many prestigious college graduates teaching in charter schools here to pay off student debt - they weren’t education majors, but they can get jobs more easily than education grads from the state flagship.</p>
<p>I woudnt take on the extra debt. Too much pressure to get a high paying job after school. She can be happy and get a good education lots of places. It is very difficult for a teenager to understand the impact excessive debt can have on her life.</p>
<p>My daughter attended a private college that met 100% of need, no merit aid.
Her graduate degree is in education.
She didnt take out more loans than she would have if she attended a state university.</p>
<p>Went through this with my d. She went to a private school away, knowing she wanted to teach. After her freshman year she was hospitalized and not medically cleared to return. Simultaneously, the economy imploded. She decided to stay local because the job market was tightening and teaching is very local because of student teaching and other classroom requirements. Best thing she ever did. Got internships that let her meet people which led to paid internships and a great r</p>