A hard Decision…?
i took a trades school and currently have a student loan that i’ve just started paying.. it’s not that much, less than 10Gs. i did some calculations, and if i worked full time and make 1200-1500/month, id be able to pay in 2 to 2.5 years. but lately i’ve been thinking (for a little over a year now) that i would love to go back to school for a bachelor of education (elementary teacher). i am quite motivated to go and i can really see myself doing it. it would be great if i could start right away so i can finish early and hopefully start a career at an earlier age than i have planned if i were to finish paying off the loan first. i like doing my trades, but i don’t really see myself doing it as a career but more of a back-up.
so what would be the best/right decision? apply for a new loan to go to school, or pay off the first loan and start later after i’m finished? thank you for reading.
Favorite Answer
College costs are sky rocketing – they’re never going to go down, they’re just going to go up at a phenomenal rate, so the sooner you can get your degree, the better off you’ll be.
One thing to look into is getting your first loan deferred while you’re in school this time – that’s pretty obvious, but what you’d be wise to do if there’s any possible way to do so (and I know sometimes it just isn’t financially feasible) is to continue paying the interest on your first loan when you go back to school. What some people aren’t aware of is that even when the student loan is deferred and you no longer have to make payments on it, the interest keeps racking up, which can be a sizeable amount. So if there’s any way you can continue to make just the interest payments on that first loan, do so.
Hope this helps!
-Shirasaya