Go back to college or work to pay off debt?

[Belle-]

My husband and I have combined credit card debt of $5,000 and I have student loans totaling close to $20,000. I already have my B.A. degree and I want to go back to school for a teaching credential. The program would take 12 - 18 months to complete during which time I would be required to take out more student loans to pay for school and help with living expenses since my husbands job doesn't pay enough to cover all our cost of living. It has always been a goal of mine to be completely debt free (I absolutely hate making the monthly payments) and the thought of working our butts off for a year is very enticing as we can get all our debt paid off in that time. We also want to get pregnant with our first child soon too. What to do first? Go back to school or work to pay off debt?

[jIM_Ohio]

Get a job teaching- it possible the school district pays for the masters

[terces]

Doesn't she need the teaching credential to teach?

I say go to work to pay off debt before acquiring more. Plus your talking about baby....more money involved. Are your schools hiring? Many districts are cutting back.

[Seeker]

It is also possible that student teaching is not "paid" except by "credits" to count toward the Masters.

I second the motion to work and earn/save as much as you can to pursue education later.

The fact that you would like to start a family, sort of goes along with my opinion.

[jIM_Ohio]

I looked into leaving my current job and entering the HS (secondary education) teaching force. What I was told is most districts would hire me if I enrolled in a masters program, and employment was conditional on me getting masters in 2-3 years.

Before you take any internet advice, I would check with local school districts- if they are hurting for teachers in your field, it is very possible you might be able to negotiate the district paying for the masters.

[disneysteve]

I want to go back to school for a teaching credential. The program would take 12 - 18 months to complete during which time I would be required to take out more student loans to pay for school

Required by whom? Will you continue to work during the time you are in school? If not, why not? How about taking a little longer to complete the course of study so that you are able to earn enough during that time to do it without taking on more debt? Have you guys sat down and gone through the budget item by item and cut out everything you could possibly cut out while you're in school? Could your husband pick up a second job to boost income during that time?

Lots of things to think about to see if there is a way to do the schooling without racking up a lot of new debt.

[jpg7n16]

In addition to paying for your masters, some districts may have a loan forgiveness program - where if you stay in the district for x amount of years, they'll pay X amount of your student loan debt.

Like Jim said, the best thing to do would be to ask the districts what options you have.

And I agree with DS too, you can change your viewpoint on "school = debt." That's not exactly true.