How To Finance A Mid-Career Return To College
When you completed your university degree, you probably thought that would be the end of your education. With such dramatic changes occurring in the modern workplace, that’s really the case. A lot of people with high-flying careers actually find themselves having to return to college and study again.
The question is how to finance such a venture. Going to college in the middle of your career can take its toll, especially if you have rent, bills, and taxes to pay. In this guide, you’ll find all of the information you need if you’re planning to finance a mid-career return to college. We teach you how to manage your money and some of the practical steps you can take to achieve financial security.
Capitalise on free money
The first thing you’ll want to do is look for opportunities to get free money to pay for your college tuition. This isn’t pie-in-the-sky thinking; in fact, it’s what the majority of working professionals actually wind up doing.
- Employer tuition reimbursement. Under current tax laws, companies can provide up to $5,250 per year in tax-free educational assistance to employees. Just check with your HR department. Many companies will literally fund your degree if it aligns with their business goals, as long as you maintain a certain grade point average.
- FAFSA. There’s no age limit on federal financial aid, so even if you’re 55, you can still apply for this option.
- Adult-specific scholarships at institutions. These are often called things like non-traditional student grants or returning worker scholarships.
- Private institutions. Private institutions may provide even higher reimbursements to working professionals if they believe that training you will result in a benefit for wider society.
Leverage your life experience for academic credit
If you’re in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, or beyond, you might wonder how you can compete with teenagers entering college for the first time. The best way to do this is to leverage life experience for academic credit.
Sometimes you can convert career expertise into college credits by using prior learning assessments (PLAs). Some institutions offer these, shortening your programme and preventing you from having to go over material you already know. CLEP and DSST exams are around $100 each. These are standard introductory tests for general courses like business or psychology. Depending on how you score, you may be able to skip certain classes and get through programmes faster.
Adult-friendly universities also let you submit portfolios showing how your years of professional work align with the specific requirements of their courses. You may also be able to receive credits through this method, reducing the number of units you have to take.
Find cheaper student loans
Usually, you’ll have to borrow to go back to college in the middle of your career unless you’ve already built up significant savings. If you have to take out finance to cover the gap, then make sure you find the best student loans you can.
The safest option for most people is direct subsidised federal loans. These offer fixed interest rates and income-driven repayment plans. In other words, the amount that you have to repay and the pace that you need to repay depend on how much you earn when you return to your career. Federal safety nets protect you from default, so even if your post-graduation income isn’t as high as you want, you’re still relatively financially stable.
Another option is to use tuition payment plans. Some universities offer these internally and allow you to split the cost of semesters into multi-month instalments, usually for a small fee (say $50). The great thing about this approach is that it allows you to pay off your tuition costs quickly if your post-graduate income supports it. If you aren’t earning enough money when you return to work, you’ll need to think carefully about whether this is the right option. You should plan out your expected income increase versus the cost of tuition payments and see if you’re better off overall.
Another option is to search platforms for private student loans. These are great if you have an established credit history because you can get pretty decent rates.
It is possible to technically withdraw from your 401(k) for education, but most financial advisors recommend against this. The idea is that you can borrow money for college, but you can’t borrow money for retirement.
Choose the right academic vehicle
Another way to finance a mid-career return to college is to think carefully about the specific academic vehicle you use to obtain the qualifications you need. These should represent the most cost-effective path for you individually.
- Part-time online programme: Spreading your degree out over time permits continuous cash flow from your working income to your tuition while you keep your regular day job. This approach is the most demanding and challenging, but it allows you to remain financially secure throughout the process. There’s no debt at the end, and you’re not worrying about your future income covering your repayment bills.
- Competency-based education: Several universities, like Southern New Hampshire University, allow you to pay a flat rate for six-month terms. These mean that you can accelerate and finish dozens of credits in a single term, so your college tuition fees aren’t spread out over a long period. Of course, this option requires you to work extremely hard. Most professionals spend upwards of eight hours a day studying on these courses, but it does allow them to finish more quickly and get the qualifications they need.
- 2+2 pipeline: You complete your foundational courses at a local community college (around a third of the cost of a university) and then transfer those credits to a four-year institution where you complete your bachelor’s degree for the final two years. There’s no need for you to spend literally four years in college to get a degree.
There you have it: some of the options you can use to finance a mid-career return to college. None of these are easy, but they can ease your money situation substantially if you get them right.
