College degree, post graduate degree, student loans… Where do I start?

As with anything you have to start at the beginning.  As a kid I thought of becoming a doctor or a lawyer because those professions (even in the former communist culture of the USSR) were perceived as prestigious and desirable.  Well, my reality was defined by choices I made in high school and the overall economic capabilities of my family. 

After immigrating from the former USSR to New York, my Mom and I were poor (on public assistance) and I qualified for free lunches and breakfasts for that matter at my high school.  To make my financial and educational future just slightly more complicated (as it wasn’t already) I had a baby at 17 and 10 months (I was almost 18).  Still I wasn’t going to drop out of my career path to becoming a lawyer, three days after having my Son I went to college.  I went to St. Johns University government and politics undergrad program.  My first semester of school was challenging.  The reality of my situation finally hit and I had to drop out in my second semester to take time off to focus on “single parenthood” and on running a business.  Yep, I started a company that allowed me to be somewhat financially independent and allowed me support my Son and Mom.

Let's fast forward a few years, I had a group of friends who were successful professionals in various industries.  The ones I admired the most happened to be in finance and accounting.  They helped me determine that I would go back to school and get a degree in accounting.  Admissions in St. John’s were helpful and worked with me to get me re-admitted and get started on an accelerated track to completing my undergrad.  After one semester in Accounting (and speaking to a number of kids in that program) I changed to Finance.  I completed the program in 2001.  Before graduation I worked with the career center to get interviews with company that hired from St. Johns and was hired by a department in the U.S. Treasury to be an agent in the international banking division.

My education cost me about $55,000 (including living expense and books) and my first year on the job I was making about $45,000 (federal agent = government salary).  Not too bad considering I was learning a lot about banking and finance on the job!

However, I wasn’t a lawyer or a doctor.  What changed?!  Well, I had to be responsible and needed to get on a career track that could make me money right away.  If I followed law or medicine I wasn’t going to have the same opportunities after my undergrad program, I would need to go to a law school or a medical school.  My Mom wasn’t going to be able to support me since I was really supporting her and my Son.  So my reality was to get into a career that allowed me to start working and making a reasonable living right away.

If you are a kid or a parent, take a look at your “economic reality”.  Are you able to support a 7 year (undergrad and post grad) education track?  What should you make once you graduate (check salary info on BLS.gov the link is listed in references below)?  What are your annual expenditures for basic needs and necessities?   What will your tuition cost?  What will your student loan responsibilities cost once you graduate?  Assuming your education is an investment.  What should your return on investment be?  These are important questions that can be asked before you apply for a student loan and get into obligations beyond your financial capacity or reality.

By the way, I have had a successful career in banking and finance and have been doing great managing my own investment portfolio.  Living from pay check to paycheck is not on my radar. Nor should it be on yours.

References:

College Costs can be found here http://collegecost.ed.gov/catc/Default.aspx

Tamar Lewin, 6/2011, What’s the Most Expensive College? The Least? Education Dept. Puts It All Online New York Times retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/30/education/30collegeweb.html on 4/25/12

Salary data from the BLS: http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcst.htm

Take a look at our budgeting related blogs with sample budgets.