i'm in a predicament. i've been going to school since before dd was born, and obviously things have been moving a little slower after that (2 or 3 classes a semester, including summer). hour wise, i'm now in my junior year. i am working on a physics degree, and the next classes in my sequence are the advanced classes. the university i'm going to only offers these during the day.

i was considering enrolling my dd in Mother's Day Out, but that would be an additional $180 a month, and we would already owe $2000 on my tuition after all the financial aid i'm getting. so i would have to take out a loan to do this. i've never had to take out a loan before because i went to an inexpensive junior college.

the benefits of me doing this is that i get finished with my degree faster, and i'm already looking at possible career options. i figure if we keep paying my loans little by little before i'm out of school, we won't have to worry about the interest that is tacked on 6 months after i graduate. but i don't know. i think i'm having that college student crisis when you're not sure about your future; good careers are fewer and farther between.

so in this situation would you take out a student loan to finish school faster?

Is the loan ONLY for the child care?? If so, is there no way you can come up with an extra $180/month? Sell something, provide a service, anything? I am whole-heartedly FOR you finishing the degree, for sure. I don't know where I'd be right now, or what I'd be doing, if I hadn't. Do you already have any TYPES of jobs you are interested in, associated with your degree plan? If so, start NOW and see if you can't intern with someone during your summers, to get some hands on experience, while getting a few extra bucks too. BELIEVE ME when I tell you how important that is. I make very good money as an engineer, but would have made so much more if I had been lucky enough to get an internship. So, start now and work on that too, it will be MORE benefit for you, when you graduate and have to compete for jobs. Please trust me on that, especially with the way the economy's going, it's good to have a heads up on the competition.
Lastly, if you have exhausted every other method of finding that extra money you need, I would get the loan. Just make sure to take out ONLY what you need, and pay it back as quickly as possible.
Good luck girl, it'll be more than worth it!

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Chopey

Check me out here!

Finish your degree.

And with what Chopey says.

I think that if you need to have child care to get the degree and there are NO other options (such as taking a second job or finding a child care co-op, switching childcare with a friend, etc...) then take out the smallest loan you can to finance only what you need. If you pay the loan back immediately with the increased income you will get as a result of your degree it should be paid back very quickly. You only need help for two years right? It will pay off in the end if you are disciplined.

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Grace

Wife to Stoney

Mommy of Sarah (8.5), Hannah (7), and John(4.5)

I say take the loan.

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~Happiness is a large family~