<p>If you had a child who hoped to become a teacher, would you allow him/her to take on approximately $8-10,000 per year in debt?</p>
<p>No. There are so many great schools you can go to and become a teacher.</p>
<p>It depends. If the child in question is going to be a freshman, maybe, because most seem to change their minds about career direction the first year or two of college anyway, and many remain uncertain even thereafter. So I guess it depends on the total picture.</p>
<p>Nope, if she is certain that she wants to teach then save the money for grad school. Especially if she ends up becoming a teacher in NYC where she will have to do a mandatory masters program which she will have to pay for either out of pocket or with loans.</p>
<p>So where does one go for less than that?</p>
<p>z,</p>
<p>Does she have her heart set on going away? if not, has she considered the CUNY honors college?</p>
<p>^ Yeah, it depends what her options are. Is this the only way she can finance a college education (presumably at a public university or college)? If so, then she has no choice. </p>
<p>If it's borrowed to jump her from a public to a private -- then, NO, I wouldn't want my kid to do that. </p>
<p>(But I am about the most fiscally conservative person on CC, so...)</p>
<p>She (a) has not shot at CUNY honors and (b) is dead set on going away. I think she's right on that. She is looking happily at a couple of SUNYs, but there is no guarantee there for average kids, so that leaves some private schools. Actually, I'm not sure what it leaves since this is my first kid.</p>
<p>Attaching link to current salary structure for NYC public schools (they will probably have a new contract by the time she graduates) so you can have a jumping off point as far as salary </p>
<p>also attaching loan calculator so you can have some sort of idea of how much it will cost to repay.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.finaid.org/calculators/%5B/url%5D">http://www.finaid.org/calculators/</a></p>
<p>My rule of thumb is that total amount of debt should not exceed anticipated first year salary. (That's just my own rule - I didn't read it any where -- but if you do the math it makes sense in terms of being able to afford the loan payments).</p>
<p>Wow! Thank you both so much. Those are great links and great advice. I am very grateful.</p>
<p>SUNY N. Paltz has a well-regarded program for teachers, and the town is pretty "happening". I believe many of the kids who attend are from Long Island and NYC.</p>
<p>If you think that SUNY schools are a reach, she can always do the first two years at a two year SU"NY community college like Canton, Monroe Community College, etc. Although there are others, these two have many students from outside of the local community so there is the feel of going away to college that a local community college doesn't give a student and yet they provide the same benefit--low tuition and a proving ground to get to the 4 year level.</p>
<p>AS a HS science teacher I would say no. There are so many schools out there that do a fine job of preparing teachers that paying a premium seems a waste to me.</p>
<p>That first year out on a teacher's salary is pretty tough, at least it was for me. I also wanted to go back to school in the summers and not take a "summer job" as so many teachers do.</p>
<p>Find a school where the students spent as much time as they can in a local school districts classrooms and that has a good placement office. Schools like to hire locally, if they can, so if your students has a preference where they want to live, go to college nearby and he/she can student teach in that district. That will give her/him an advantage come hiring time as they will already know something about the applicant.</p>
<p>Drizzit, since she wants to be a high school bio teacher, your opinion is particularly helpful. The schools she is looking at are either in or very close to where she wants to teach, so that seems ok.</p>
<p>There are a number of NY schools that offer education majors. The average stats at those schools have a wide range. Some of the smaller SUNYs may fit the bill. Buffalo State, for instance, has a good education program. The other alternative is looking at colleges out of state. Pennsylvania has a number of smaller state schools that were formerly teachers' colleges and still have a lot of education majors. There are also private colleges, but if finances are an issue, the state schools are a better bet. In my opinion, since kids do change their minds so often about their majors, it is wiser to focus on schools that have a number of other choices as well. Usually these former teachers colleges have opened up to many different majors.</p>
<p>"Pennsylvania has a number of smaller state schools that were formerly teachers' colleges and still have a lot of education majors"</p>
<p>Do you, by any chance, know any of these names? It's an unfamiliar area to me and I'm not sure what to look for.</p>
<p>All have the name University of Pennsylvania after their first name, i.e. Millersville University of Pennsylvania..</p>
<p>Millersville, Kutztown, West Chester, Shippensburg, Clarion, Bloomsburg, East Stoudsburg, Shippensburg, Indiana - I think that's all..</p>
<p>If your daughter goes out of state but intends to teach in NY, it's extremely important that the states have a reciprocal agreement.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Millersville, Kutztown, West Chester, Shippensburg, Clarion, Bloomsburg, East Stoudsburg, Shippensburg, Indiana - I think that's all..
[/quote]
</p>
<p>missed a few... california, cheyney (historically black), edinboro, lock haven and mansfield.</p>
<p>to answer the original question, it makes very little sense to go into major debt as an education major. the money isnt there, and even if it were, my mother and father (both of whom have taught in public schools for more than 30 years) feel strongly that the best teachers come out of schools like clarion and lock haven. better than penn state and privates, where educational 'theory' tends to be given a lot of weight.</p>
<p>Calmom's advice is very sound. It's a good rule of thumb.</p>
<p>I would not recommend that any student take out $40,000 of debt for undergrad, unless they are going into investment banking or engineering. (See rule above.) What I think you should do is to figure out her budget when she graduates, with her. I've run through this a few times, but here it goes again:</p>
<p>First year salary
Subtract taxes
Subtract 12 month's rent - assume that she's sharing a place
subtract about $100-$150/month for utilities
subtract about $150/month for food
subtract all relevant of: car payments, insurance, car maintenance, gas, subway passes
subtract about $600/year for cell
= What she has left.</p>
<p>At this point, she hasn't seen a movie, bought a pizza with friends, replaced her student wardrobe with professional clothes, gotten a hair cut, bought Christmas presents, had a beer, or done anything besides basic living. Subtract what she can reasonably use as entertainment money, then figure out what she has left. That is the absolute maximum that she can use for her loan payments. </p>
<p>Now, what are loan payments? Assume 10 years and use the repayment calculator.</p>
<p>If she's dead-set on this, I would have her figure out how to get a summer job or two, and have her work during the school year. </p>
<p>Now, some school systems pay really well. Of course, you have to do your budget for living in those areas. Anyway, something to consider.</p>