2.5 years or 5 years?


christyml
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My husband works at a company who will help pay for the rest of his schooling, which is great. The down-side to it is that they will only let him take 5 credits per semester (if he takes more than 5, he forfeits any financial assistance from his place of work), and he has about 80 credits left (which equals out to be about 5+ years).

If he were to quit working, he would be able to finish college in 3 years tops (more like 2.5). He'd have a double major and we'd be closer to being financially stable. We'd have a ton of loans, but if we went the other route (of finishing in 5+ years), we wouldn't be financially stable for at least 6 years from now, and that is something I don't want....

There is also the option of working AND going to school full time (he works night shift), but he'd hardly see us, and there would be NO financial support from his job since it would be more than 5 credits a semester...

I know it's up to us (or mostly up to my husband), but I'm just wanting an outsider's perspective on the matter.

Thanks

Edit: I realized that I did my math wrong. If he did the 5 credits per semester route, it would take him closer to 8 years!

Edited by christyml
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My husband works at a company who will help pay for the rest of his schooling, which is great. The down-side to it is that they will only let him take 5 credits per semester (if he takes more than 5, he forfeits any financial assistance from his place of work), and he has about 80 credits left (which equals out to be about 5+ years).

Please double- and triple-check this. It is very hard to believe. I could easily believe that his workplace would PAY only five credits, but what business is it of theirs how many credits he takes beyond that? How would they even find out? I'm thinking you must have heard wrong or been told wrong.

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Please double- and triple-check this. It is very hard to believe. I could easily believe that his workplace would PAY only five credits, but what business is it of theirs how many credits he takes beyond that? How would they even find out? I'm thinking you must have heard wrong or been told wrong.

I added that part at the end, but it is confusing what I said.

They will pay for only 5 credits per semester. If my husband were to take more than 5 per semester, he would forfeit all financial help from them. They don't want him spending all of his time on school, and then come to work, only to give their company his second-best, if that makes sense.

There are lots of forms to be filled out in order to get financial aid from his place of work, so I'm assuming they'd know about it in the forms.

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What he does in his free time is none of their darn business, unless he's working for a competitor (which his non-compete agreement would prohibit, anyway).

If you are sure this is actually their policy, I would look into seeing if the school would set up two separate accounts for him and provide only information on the first account to his place of work, so that they never saw the other classes he was taking. Don't know if this is possible, but it's certainly unethical (if not illegal) for his place of employment to prohibit him from taking classes on his own time and with his own money.

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What he does in his free time is none of their darn business, unless he's working for a competitor (which his non-compete agreement would prohibit, anyway).

If you are sure this is actually their policy, I would look into seeing if the school would set up two separate accounts for him and provide only information on the first account to his place of work, so that they never saw the other classes he was taking. Don't know if this is possible, but it's certainly unethical (if not illegal) for his place of employment to prohibit him from taking classes on his own time and with his own money.

It's not that they would prohibit him from taking more classes. If he did take more, they would just not pay for any of it.

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It's not that they would prohibit him from taking more classes. If he did take more, they would just not pay for any of it.

That's a ridiculous policy. It would make sense if he could take any number of credits desired, but the company would only agree to reimburse for up to 5 credits per semester. All or nothing is too extreme, and not very competitive.

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That's a ridiculous policy. It would make sense if he could take any number of credits desired, but the company would only agree to reimburse for up to 5 credits per semester. All or nothing is too extreme, and not very competitive.

I agree, but that's what my husband told me.

On another note, they don't have any openings in the exact position he would be going for anyway, after he gets his degrees (double majoring, with only a few extra classes), so I feel like we won't be staying with this company for long anyway....:\

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My husband works at a company who will help pay for the rest of his schooling, which is great. The down-side to it is that they will only let him take 5 credits per semester (if he takes more than 5, he forfeits any financial assistance from his place of work), and he has about 80 credits left (which equals out to be about 5+ years).

If he were to quit working, he would be able to finish college in 3 years tops (more like 2.5). He'd have a double major and we'd be closer to being financially stable. We'd have a ton of loans, but if we went the other route (of finishing in 5+ years), we wouldn't be financially stable for at least 6 years from now, and that is something I don't want....

There is also the option of working AND going to school full time (he works night shift), but he'd hardly see us, and there would be NO financial support from his job since it would be more than 5 credits a semester...

I know it's up to us (or mostly up to my husband), but I'm just wanting an outsider's perspective on the matter.

Thanks

It's a bit hard to draw conclusions without knowing the exact majors and how much the tuition rate is and cost of living. Essentially, you described 3 options:

1) Take the free route with work. Why would you not be financially stable for 6 years if he's working the whole time? Does the job not pay the bills? It would really matter to know how much he's expected to make at graduation. Most of the time, double majors have very little value. I would go the quick route to graduation with one major and then get a graduate degree instead, because they usually bring a better return on investment.

2) Work and go to school full time. I've done this before without kids. I spent about 2 hours/day at home. I'm not a big fan of this option because your family life will suffer. I suppose there are worse things than investing in his future career, but it won't be easy. My brother went to law school full time with 4 kids and worked full time. He survived and they are doing great now that he's done.

3) Quit the job and just go to school full time. This analysis requires knowing how much debt you'll take on what his earning potential will be when he is done. It's a risk to take on debt in this economy, which may extend financial struggles a few more years. This is the equivalent of kicking the can down the road that the government is doing now. Whether the debt is manageable depends on starting salary when graduated and debt load.

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Vort is right. A company with a tuition reimbursement policy will pay up to the number of credits allowed per semester. If you take more than this, then you will pay for the rest of the credits BEYOND the maximum reimbursement.

Also, tuition reimbursement policies usually has a grade requirement where they will only reimburse the tuition for a B or higher grade.

Also, tuition reimbursement policies may have a maximum $ figure in addition to, or in lieu of, number of credits.

What you would want to do is ask HR for a copy of the tuition reimbursement policy and both you and your husband read and study it through word for word.

As far as decision-making is concerned, you will need to come up with a cost-benefit analysis that takes into consideration opportunity cost (assigning a cost to lost opportunity). It's a great Saturday exercise... there's even a Cost-Benefit Analysis for Dummies thing you can study online (I think).

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Please double- and triple-check this. It is very hard to believe. I could easily believe that his workplace would PAY only five credits, but what business is it of theirs how many credits he takes beyond that? How would they even find out? I'm thinking you must have heard wrong or been told wrong.

Vort - Usually places will only pay for 2 courses a semester. They don't want the employee spending so much time at school that work suffers - also, this is a perk. It's not like they have to give the employee anything for school. A lot of places will only pay for courses that relate to the current work that you are doing, which also restricts the number of credits you can get covered.

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christyml - My son had hours left and did a few of them part time while working full time. His job only paid for work-related courses, and none of his courses were work-related, so he paid for all of it. At the end, he decided to quite work and go full time so he could finish in a year. Going to school full time doesn't mean your husband can't work. It's quite possible to get a part time job on or off campus, so at least there would be some money coming in. Also, most schools have insurance, so he could get insurance as a full time student. He'll probably have to pay something, but it's better than not having any.

My son knew he wanted to go on for the PhD. He was already in his 30's and didn't want to waste anymore time, so it was worth it to him to take the financial hit, quit work, and finish in a year. btw - he got a 4.0, which helped with grad school applications, if your hubby is thinking of going that way.

I'm a professor, so from an educator's view point, I had to see students who are working full time and trying to take a lot of courses. One or two, depending on the course, is enough. Usually something suffers, either work or school work. When you are in my class, I want your attention. I want you to do the assigned work. Your classmates who are in teams with you don't want you slacking because of your job. Hard, but there it is. I'm the kind of person who always puts education first. I'd rather eat ramen, take the bus, and get my degree than anything else.

The other issue is this - if it takes too long to finish, your husband could well burn out and not finish at all. Have seen that a lot of times when people try to do too much at one time. You have been warned. : )

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Vort - Usually places will only pay for 2 courses a semester. They don't want the employee spending so much time at school that work suffers - also, this is a perk. It's not like they have to give the employee anything for school. A lot of places will only pay for courses that relate to the current work that you are doing, which also restricts the number of credits you can get covered.

Dahlia you are correct; it is just a perk. My husband works for a private company, so they get to decide what they want.

He is going to finish his degree in electrical engineering and/or computer engineering, to answer the person who asked.

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christyml - My son had hours left and did a few of them part time while working full time. His job only paid for work-related courses, and none of his courses were work-related, so he paid for all of it. At the end, he decided to quite work and go full time so he could finish in a year. Going to school full time doesn't mean your husband can't work. It's quite possible to get a part time job on or off campus, so at least there would be some money coming in. Also, most schools have insurance, so he could get insurance as a full time student. He'll probably have to pay something, but it's better than not having any.

My son knew he wanted to go on for the PhD. He was already in his 30's and didn't want to waste anymore time, so it was worth it to him to take the financial hit, quit work, and finish in a year. btw - he got a 4.0, which helped with grad school applications, if your hubby is thinking of going that way.

I'm a professor, so from an educator's view point, I had to see students who are working full time and trying to take a lot of courses. One or two, depending on the course, is enough. Usually something suffers, either work or school work. When you are in my class, I want your attention. I want you to do the assigned work. Your classmates who are in teams with you don't want you slacking because of your job. Hard, but there it is. I'm the kind of person who always puts education first. I'd rather eat ramen, take the bus, and get my degree than anything else.

The other issue is this - if it takes too long to finish, your husband could well burn out and not finish at all. Have seen that a lot of times when people try to do too much at one time. You have been warned. : )

He could very easily burn out. Thank you for that insight. I'll mention that to him. Thank you for your educational perspective.

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The 5-hour limit is troublesome for another reason. Will all your husband's courses be exactly 5 hours, or can they be taken in magic combinations (2+3 or 1+4) that add up to 5 hours each semester? If not, he may be effectively limited to 3 or 4 credit hours per semester, which would drag things out even more.

I was both a part-time college student (while serving in the military) and then a full-time student afterwards. Full-time was a lot better, in my opinion. Learning was easier because you weren't distracted by a day job, you could meet lots of people and network, and taking courses concurrently instead of serially had a kind of synergy that made things easier. Yeah, I ate beans and rice for 2 years and slept on the floor on a tiny efficiency apartment, but I'd do it over again in a heartbeat.

I majored in computer science. It's a wonderful degree. I thank God every day that I switched my major from German when I was a naive teenager. But do your homework. Study the financial aid available to full-time vs. part-time students and calculate your total income after 10 years (even with loans, getting a higher-paying job earlier may earn you more money in the long run).

Finally, when I was in college studying computer science, almost all of my friends had part-time jobs as student programmers or tutors or assistants to professors or interns at corporations or just doing something simple like oiling the keypunch machines (this was 1980). There were lots of part-time jobs for students in high-tech. Perhaps it's the same way today. Onward and upward...

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The 5-hour limit is troublesome for another reason. Will all your husband's courses be exactly 5 hours, or can they be taken in magic combinations (2+3 or 1+4) that add up to 5 hours each semester? If not, he may be effectively limited to 3 or 4 credit hours per semester, which would drag things out even more.

I was both a part-time college student (while serving in the military) and then a full-time student afterwards. Full-time was a lot better, in my opinion. Learning was easier because you weren't distracted by a day job, you could meet lots of people and network, and taking courses concurrently instead of serially had a kind of synergy that made things easier. Yeah, I ate beans and rice for 2 years and slept on the floor on a tiny efficiency apartment, but I'd do it over again in a heartbeat.

I majored in computer science. It's a wonderful degree. I thank God every day that I switched my major from German when I was a naive teenager. But do your homework. Study the financial aid available to full-time vs. part-time students and calculate your total income after 10 years (even with loans, getting a higher-paying job earlier may earn you more money in the long run).

Finally, when I was in college studying computer science, almost all of my friends had part-time jobs as student programmers or tutors or assistants to professors or interns at corporations or just doing something simple like oiling the keypunch machines (this was 1980). There were lots of part-time jobs for students in high-tech. Perhaps it's the same way today. Onward and upward...

After talking with my husband yesterday, we came to the decision that he will probably work full time and go to school full time. I agree with everything you've said, and my husband is slowly realizing it as well. Thank you for your input.

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