Hello everyone, I am a 21 year old working full time currently with $20,000 savings to spend towards an education. I wish to become a teacher for the state of CA, knowing that I will also need to complete a teacher credential program and preferably earn a Masters degree in education. I would have to start with community college again ( I dropped out the first semester ), then I would try to go to a cal state for everything else to keep costs down. I have a few ideas on how I could go back to school, one being that I wait until I’m 24 to file independent status to fafsa then dedicate to studying full time. The other option is that I continue my full time job and only study part time due to my company having tuition reimbursement of $5,000 per year. My job is in maintenance so I feel leaving my job to study fulltime when I am 24 would be more beneficial as I could attain a job as a part time tutor which would help far more experience wise than what I do now. My savings will only grow from $20k the longer I work and wait but I would like to not waste more time than I should or spend more than necessary when resources are readily available to aid. Do you have any other suggestions or advice? I would love to hear what you all have to say! Thank you for taking the time to read my post.
Could you not do both? Start taking one course at a time using your company reimbursement, then when you turn 24 and can be considered independent, ramp up the pace by taking more than one course?
Definitely take advantage of the tuition reimbursement. See if there are any quality 100% online programs that fit your schedule. One of my kids is doing an 100% online MBA and it works well with his full time job and his company has a reimbursement program as well.
We have a link for quality online programs here…let me get that for you.
Also, I believe that Starbucks has partnered with an Arizona (?) university for their online program so that is probably a quality program as well. Let me see if I can find out the school.
Edit… It’s Arizona State Univ and the cost is about $20k per year…which is high for your situation. Let’s see if we can find a better deal for you.
Also…can you see if that reimbursement program of $5k per year is “per calendar year” or “per school year”. My kid’s program is “per calendar year” which was great for this year since he started fall semester.
Now that I’m rereading your OP, I’m wondering why you don’t just start back at your CC while working? Do any of the CCs have online programs that would work with your work schedule?
Edit… look here for Calif CC online https://cvc.edu
If you started back in the spring, you’d probably could be “turning 24” by the time you were to transfer to a CSU. You’re independent on FAFSA, I believe, if you’re “turning 24” during the next school year that you’re applying for aid. So if when you’re applying to transfer in Fall a couple of years from now, if you’ll be turning 24 during that next school year, I believe that you’d be independent for FAFSA. Is that right @kelsmom
I agree with the idea of working full time while taking classes part-time but all year round, including summers if you can stand that. If you were to take 9 credits per semester, and maybe 12 over the summer (6+6), it would almost be like going to school full time.
OP I agree with the other posters. Try to take a few classes while you are working full time - take advantage of the 5k reimbursement. Congrats on having 20k saved. That demonstrates self-control, diligence, determination. ??? @mom2collegekids provided you with some excellent advice above.
Let your employer help you pay for your education. Start taking classes at the community college now. That is like getting a $5,000 a year scholarship!
The beauty of an online program is that they’re typically designed for folks that work. So they’re generally not expecting you to be at any place at any particular time…and assignments and tests usually have a few days to complete. One of my son’s classes gives all the assignments and tests at the beginning and as long as you complete them by their assigned dates, you’re fine. So you can work ahead and finish a class long before the semester ends. Nice. It’s also great because if you have to travel with your job (or for family reasons), you won’t “miss class” or fall behind.
Be sure you understand the rules around your company reimbursement program. Some companies limit what types of classes they will cover. Others require you to reimburse if you leave the company within a specific amount of time. But I’d start chipping away via that process.
Very true. ^^^
If his company has any rules about choice of major, then he may have to use a good strategy…
Btw…was your plan to be a high school subject teacher? If so, which subject??
And if the company would require you to reimburse them if you leave before a certain time, then maybe it would be best for you to pay for CC classes yourself and not have that obligation to stay with the company X years afterwards.
I don’t know how companies word these things in regards to unfinished degrees. I’m guessing that if you were to have them pay for a few semesters’ worth of classes and then soon leave the company, you’d still owe them even if you didn’t finish the degree.
If you are a California resident, any reasonable amount of California community college courses as a part time student should cost less than $5,000 per year.
Even if you are not a resident for tuition purposes yet, you may be able to take up to half time amounts of courses at a California community college at non resident tuition within $5,000 per year.
The California Virtual Campus website makes it easy to find transferable online courses to satisfy your degree requirements.
Check it out here: https://cvc.edu