How do you pay for your tuition

Here is mine.

- Bachelor : DoD Tuition Assistance plus out of pocket
- Master: Out of Pocket plus Employer's
- Planned Ph.D: New MGI Bill plus seeking fellowship and stipend.

 

I have paid about a total of 8.5K for all my degrees. No students loan - all cash over the course of 9 years (excluding DeVry - my parents paid for a semester in 1986)
AA - UoP - credits fron DeVry, military, community college, Microsoft exams, plus CLEP - cost about $4,000 out of pocket
BS - CCU - employee tuition assistance - cost out of pocket about $360 (books)
BS - COSC - employee tuition assistance for a few courses taken - cost out of pocket about $1,200
MBA - CCU - employee tuition assistance - cost out of pocket about $240 (books)
MS - TUI - employee tuition assistance - cost out of pocket about $0
UF - Certificate - cost out of pocket about $2,500
NCU - PhD - employee tuition assistance - cost out of pocket about $500

 

I'm still working on my BA degree, but I have paid out of pocket for everything. The tuition at Penn Foster College is $29.50 per month. I'm leaving after this semester, which is just as well because PFC is increasing its tuition to $90 per credit hour, which still isn't horrible...but it is a 39 percent increase in tuition.

I'm transferring to Andrew Jackson University, where I will pay about $500 per semester for tuition, plus books and proctor exam fees.

 

My B.A. has been paid for with a combination of out of pocket, through testing out with CLEP/DSST, and some loans. Total cost about $7500?

My cert. I'm working on to teach Secondary Ed is paid out of pocket.

My Master's degree will most likely be a combination of out of pocket and some small loans.

 

Took out a home equity line of credit. That was after my company said they would pay the whole bill but then backed out because it was not directly related to my work.

 

http://training.fema.gov/IS/crslist.asp

 

Undergrad was scholarship (athletics and academic), grants, etc. - full ride to a traditional residential program. Additional courses to prepare and qualify for the CPA exam (5th year) was out of pocket. My next degree(s) will be from savings over the past several years. Trying to decide on a traditional evening law school or a DL doctorate.

 

For my associate, bachelors and masters degrees, my wife and I both worked (fortunately, I worked primarily on campus). I received some pell grant monies for my undergraduate studies and took out student loans (about half of which went to pay for health insurance premiums for a growing family. Once I completed my masters, I started getting decent paying jobs that helped me to pay for my doctoral work. Since I was working full-time during the day (and teaching at night or online above that), my doctorate was on the "slow track" (usually 1-2 classes per quarter). We made monthly payments on the student loans for several years. It took a while, but with persistence and a very supportive family, I finished. It is difficult, but it can be done.

P.S. While I was going to school, none of the institutions that I worked for offered tuition reimbursement. Now I am working for a university with a terrific tuition benefit program--go figure!

 

So what is next then??

 

Not hiring you.....they'd go broke in tuition reimbursements!

 

Heres a story from my local newspaper (The Desert Sun) today that demonstrates it is possible for someone with a low income to become successful:

From Coachella to Harvard and back again
STAFF • THE DESERT SUN • SEPTEMBER 20, 2008
Raul Ruiz has done more than just beat the odds. He has annihilated them
The 36-year-old doctor, who practices emergency room medicine at Eisenhower Medical Center, grew up in a low-income neighborhood in Coachella. Raised by migrant farmworker parents, he knows what it means to work hard. And while his SAT scores were not the best, he made up his mind to turn things around and went on to the University of California, Los Angeles.
It's raw determination that has led Ruiz to be first Latino to hold three degrees from Harvard University. He has earned a medical degree from Harvard Medical School, the two-year master's in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government and a master of public health degree from the Harvard School of Public Health.
What's more, he has not forgotten from where he comes. In fact, he made a promise to his community that he would return after college and practice in the Coachella Valley.
He made promises to himself. He made promises to his community and he has kept them. Now, he's making and keeping more extraordinary promises to others in need.
Ruiz, who had practiced in Chiapas, Mexico, before, plans to return this winter with supplies and money to help build a hospital there, where the need is so great.
Ruiz is not satisfied to look at certain situations, do what he can and move on. He makes extraordinary promises and then he unselfishly keeps them. He is a shining example of what is good about this valley. We thank him for his work and commitment to communities in need.

 

I saw this on TV as well. Good story.

 

Think of all the knowledge you get for so little

 

Supporting my wife as she completes her degree(s).

 

Paid for by the Arrrrrrrrmy, owww buuuddy

Pauly Shore.

 

I paid full tuition at Northcentral in cash as I went along. Fortunately my business has been doing very well.

What I thought unfair was how military, police and government learners could get a big discount but teachers didn't qualify. I recommended NCU to a teacher friend and was told this.