I am a 41 year old, newly separated man/father of one, who is considering to go back to graduate school for either another Masters degree or a post graduate certification. Living out of state from my wife and son, I am trying to figure out what I can do to pay for this. My wife has decided months ago to go back to school, so I want to do the same( not just tit for tat). I have been wrestling with the idea for years, but hadn’t gone thru with it. My earning scale hasn’t been high as I would like it to be, since being laid off from a teaching job. I have been working two jobs, as a teacher aide and a part time mental health worker, so keeping a steady job through out the year has been sketchy. In the meantime, I am working as an office cleaner part time, and hoping to land a full time job as an teacher aide to help with court ordered support payments. I’m not sure how I can get the extra funds to help pay for school? Are there any scholarships or grants out there for someone like me? And how would I start the process of applying, I’m new to this. I’m not much of filing paperwork and crunching numbers. Thanks!
I think the first step is to find out what the college options are in your area. Are there state schools? Community colleges? Private schools with the programs you want? what kind of program(s) are you looking for?
Graduate school is normally funded via research assistantship or teaching assistantship. There is not generally need-based or merit-based aid for grad school, just loans.
There is a separate forum on CC for grad school.
What do you want to study? Until that is defined, no one here or in the grad school forum can give you much advice.
Some school districts have quick teacher-certification programs and/or will help a teacher aid pay for courses needed for certification. If that is what you are thinking of, start with the school district where you have been working, and with the state office of public instruction.
For graduate programs such as an MSW or MBA, you can borrow up to the full cost of attendance in student loans. I have a friend who did that for her MSW when she changed careers. She now has a boat-load of debt that may take the rest of her life to pay off, but she also has a new career that she loves and that she’s very good at.
You mentioned you were laid off from a teaching job. So do you already have your teaching certificate? And you mentioned considering going back for another Master’s degree. Does that mean you already have a graduate degree?
If you already have either that teaching certificate, or that Master’s Degree, I don’t think pursuing more education is the answer for you right now. If you don’t already have either that certificate or graduate degree, then it is probably not the best answer for you right now either. You are not likely to find free money to do this, so it will require school loans, and you should try to avoid taking on any debt right now.
Sounds like you have been through a lot recently, and maybe you just need to meet with a career counselor or a life coach who could help you figure out what you are really meant to do. If I am reading your post correctly, you are currently only employed part-time cleaning offices, and you are putting a lot of faith into getting a full-time job as a teacher’s aide, the salary for which cannot be very high, is it?
If you ever listen to Dave Ramsey on the radio, I think he might advise you to focus on getting more work doing anything - you need to be working full-time along with another part-time job (he always tells people to deliver pizzas in their spare time in the evenings, estimating they’d bring in another $1000 a month just doing that.) You have the opportunity to work tons of hours right now since you are living apart from your child right now. Then, once you get working full time plus, and you’ve put away some savings, then start thinking about a career transition. Is teaching really for you? Are you living in the best area for teaching if you have already dealt with a layoff? Maybe you should consider pursuing vocational training at a local community college in an industry where the entry level jobs offer much better pay. Maybe you need to be open to moving to another location with more job opportunities.
Just don’t jump into a graduate program, especially at an expensive for-profit college, with the idea that doing so will solve your income problems. You are 41, which, while not old, is also not young. You have already been out of your primary industry (education) for a while now, with a job history you describe as sketchy. If you choose to go back to school, rather than get back into full time employment, you might graduate two years from now, at age 43, with all that education yet no job but a lot of school loan debt. Too much education without the work history is not going to help you.
Given your teaching experience, there are several at-home opportunities that you could work in your spare time, through companies like Pearson or ETS (you would be scoring standardized tests.) You could also work as an online tutor. You should check out Pearson’s career page and read about their distributed scoring opportunities. The work is seasonal, but the pay is good for a part-time opportunity, and you can work from home.
Best of luck to you.
It is unlikely you are going to find any scholarship or grants for Master’s or certificates, but you can take graduate student loans. I agree you need a better plan than that. You don’t even say here what you intend to do or if you have figured that out or not. Not being good with filling out forms or crunching simple number sounds alarming for a grown up. If you need to do some remedial review, you might like the free tutoring units on khanacademy.com or youtube has tutortials too.
How much in education debt do you currently have?
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My earning scale hasn’t been high as I would like it to be, since being laid off from a teaching job. I have been working two jobs, as a teacher aide and a part time mental health worker, so keeping a steady job through out the year has been sketchy.
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Can you move to a state where you’d be more likely to get a full time teaching job?
Going back to school isn’t probably the right answer. Your wife may find the same issues…no funding for grad school besides loans.
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In the meantime, I am working as an office cleaner part time, and hoping to land a full time job as an teacher aide to help with court ordered support payments. I'm not sure how I can get the extra funds to help pay for school? Are there any scholarships or grants out there for someone like me? <<<
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Sorry, not likely. I don’t think taking on grad-debt is the answer. I think getting a real job is the answer.
Displaced worker programs?
Any chance you could land a teaching job…rather than a teaching assistant job? Is there some reason why you aren’t applying for teaching positions?
What do you want to get your masters in?