Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012

[Zoebird]

well, in general, so cal has a lot of opportunities that, say, rural iowa may not.

[HKPassey]

For something like that I'd do a certificate program rather than a degree (at somewhere credible - colleges often offer these). Not that those are free, but they aren't the kind of massive debt you'll never pay back type of thing, at least not yet. Of course if you never ever get employment in your life again then .... well yes you are in trouble. And of course like everything else it depends on what else you bring to the table, bachelors in another field - that's an argument for the certificate rather than a degree, work experience in a similar field - that's makes a certificate more favorable - since it may not be a super hard transition. No degree AND working in an ENTIRELY different field, that's a harder transition. So yea that makes getting a degree more favorable (or at least a community college degree). If I had less than steller training in that case, then I'd know it's risky (but so is taking out massive loans), and I'd be darn sure to be looking to volunteer where I could use those skills to get something to show an employer. Trust me from what I've seen there are volunteer opportunities for those skills.

I really see the whole employment thing as a terribly uncertain thing really. You never know what will actuallly get you an "in". In this economy it's more than just being able to do the work. It's rather unpredicatable. I mean sure do research, and of course the more you bring to the table in every way the better your chances, but I always feel I've gambled.

A certificate program is what I went for. Total cost: $18K, mostly in student loans. At 56 years old, that's more than I can pay in a lifetime unless I get a very good job, and soon, especially since my private loans are 8-9% interest. Thank goodness they finally stopped allowing the loan servicers to charge a hefty fee to allow you to get an unemployment deferral (above and beyond charging you interest during the deferral.) Local community college: still $9,000+ for a two-year program.

[HKPassey]

actually, you don't really even need certificates.

DH is on a web site where he markets himself (or jumps on bids) where people post requests for writing/editing/etc work that they want. Requests run anywhere from $20 up to $250+ (as the ranges on the web site), and then you negotiate the hours and what you will do.

I don't know if something like this would work for you, but it's definitely an option for anyone who is a decent writer. DH and I talked about having me write some, but right now I'm writing so much content for our own web site plus one other that it's quite a bit of writing and editing on it's own! (and it markets our business, so. . .).

Thanks, Zoebird. Which website does your husband use? Most of the ones I've found pay abysmally, as you're competing with people in Bangladesh and Rumania. People expect you to research and write a 1-page article for as little as $1-2, or do a company logo for under $15. I do write for a hospital in California, so at least I'm building my portfolio and samples, but when you're only allowed to bid on 10 projects a month, you don't want to waste any of those slots on assignments you're not sure will pay. I've even seen graphic designers and writers in the US listing their base rates at as little as $8-9/hr, which after subtracting site fees and payroll taxes comes to well below minimum wage - all in order to compete. Worse, several have gone to the "crowdsourcing" model - you do the work up front and "compete" with other writers/designers for the work, then the client pays for the one they like. The only site I've found so far that seems to support a fairly decent pay scale is peopleperhour.com in the UK.

For skills acquisition, your husband's approach sounds great, and I really wish I'd known to try that way. We were actually expected to learn our software skills pretty much on our own time using tutorials anyway. Still, I'm not sure about learning about design itself that way: I don't think you really can pick it up without the feedback of an instructor and class, or at least fellow learners. You can't develop a critical eye very well on your own. There's got to be something cheaper than Art Institute, however!

PS: oops, sorry, just saw the post where you gave the website. Thanks for sharing!

[ApatheticNoMore]

Ok extension classes at colleges here can run as much as $1000 a class, certificates are generally 8-10 classes (so 8-10k). I guess a more extensive program would be more classes, but are seldom offered.

Community colleges OTOH are $36 a unit here, and I would imagine if one had an existing degree (yes even an existing 2 year community college degree) one wouldn't need to take the general ed type stuff (so maybe a years worth of classes your talking 2k something - of course if your talking having to do two years it would be more).

Those classes made me want to take classes I'm sad to say, yea let's blow some more money on education, why does it always seem money is tight, I don't know . But when I'm employed as I am now, I do pay out of salary.

[HKPassey]

Ok extension classes at colleges here can run as much as $1000 a class, certificates are generally 8-10 classes (so 8-10k). I guess a more extensive program would be more classes, but are seldom offered.

Community colleges OTOH are $36 a unit here, and I would imagine if one had an existing degree (yes even an existing 2 year community college degree) one wouldn't need to take the general ed type stuff (so maybe a years worth of classes your talking 2k something - of course if your talking having to do two years it would be more).

Those classes made me want to take classes I'm sad to say, yea let's blow some more money on education, why does it always seem money is tight, I don't know . But when I'm employed as I am now, I do pay out of salary.

Wow, $36/unit? Where are you? Community college is just under $96/unit here in WA. I can use some of the credits from my existing AAS toward the general requirements, of course, but only a certain fraction of credits - I think something like up to 25% - can come from a previous degree in any case.


Info about senior citizens and student debt as the next "debt bomb": http://lifeinc.today.msnbc.msn.com/_...-student-loans

[flowerseverywhere]

our local community college has soared to $158 per credit hour, plus you have to pay an activity, lab and for books so it can add up fast. full time for one year costs 5,700.

For the closest state college undergraduate tuition is only slightly more than that, and a year with room and board runs about $20,000, and $370-$425 per credit hour for graduate degrees. These are for in state residents.

I read that article about seniors and college debt, some people actually have their social security garnished. Sometimes they cosigned for kids and grandkids loans.

AP exams cost $87 and if you have an ambitious high schooler and your school offers it you can save quite a bit of money going that route.