Ginger Calhoon of Indiana talks to got tuition.
Showing posts with label Teachers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Teachers. Show all posts
Friday, November 7, 2008
Monday, September 1, 2008
LoMay Richmond, TN
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Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Got Tuition live-blogs from Denver
Got Tuition has found several new friends at the "Big Tent," a confluence of bloggers from across the nation meeting just outside the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado, this week. The "tent" -- literally a two-story skeletal structure encased in tarp -- is housing several hundred bloggers and hosting several dozen passers-through, include panelists in breakout session upstairs, and luminaries like Dan Rather, Arianna Huffington, Markos Moulitsas, Van Jones and others.
On Monday night, Got Tuition met Joaquin Guerra of New Mexico, and Shanna Weisfeld of Austin, Texas. Shanna talked to us about the work she does with new teachers in Texas, who come to their first years of teaching with thousands of dollars in college debt. They take second and third jobs, she said, and they postpone other life choices.
Watch Shanna's comments here:
On Monday night, Got Tuition met Joaquin Guerra of New Mexico, and Shanna Weisfeld of Austin, Texas. Shanna talked to us about the work she does with new teachers in Texas, who come to their first years of teaching with thousands of dollars in college debt. They take second and third jobs, she said, and they postpone other life choices.
Watch Shanna's comments here:
Monday, August 25, 2008
Mandy Plucker, NC
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Sunday, August 24, 2008
Are free, online textbooks the answer?
The Los Angeles Times has a nice article about one way professors are helping their students to afford college. R. Preston McAffee (an economics professor at Caltech) has written a free, open-source textbook and made it available online. This book is so highly regarded that it has been adopted by many prestigious universities, including Harvard. Is this a possible answer to the rising costs of textbooks?
Congress recently passed laws that would require textbook publishers to offer "un-bundled" editions of books, so students won't be forced into buying workbooks and DVDs that aren't used in classes. While this is a good first step, people like R. Preston McAffee believe that this doesn't go nearly far enough to help students cope. You can read the complete article here.
Congress recently passed laws that would require textbook publishers to offer "un-bundled" editions of books, so students won't be forced into buying workbooks and DVDs that aren't used in classes. While this is a good first step, people like R. Preston McAffee believe that this doesn't go nearly far enough to help students cope. You can read the complete article here.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Nicole Hodges-Abbasi, VA
Want to share your story with got tuition? Please e-mail your stories, pictures, and videos to gottuition08@gmail.com.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
gottuition.org is live!
As of 2:00 today, our main webpage is now live. Click on through to gottuition.org for tons of new info. You can check out the store to pick up one of our shirts, see how your congress members have voted on education issues, read fact sheets on college affordability, or even enter our video contest! Click here to visit the all new gottuition.org.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Lisa Wolf, ND
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Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Chad Roggow, IN
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Friday, August 8, 2008
Sharon Harper, TN
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Thursday, July 31, 2008
Shyla Ridley, GA
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Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Todd R introduces himself
My name is Todd R and I am a recent graduate of Emporia State University in Kansas. I received my degree in Elementary Education. Entering the teaching profession, I knew the pay would not allow me to live in a big house, drive fancy cars, or have fine dining experiences every night.
What I did expect was to be able to make enough money to support my family. A first year teacher in Kansas will make approximately $27,000 on average. That is not the best average but it looks very small once you start adding in all of my college loans. After graduating in May 2008, I have accumulated over $13,000 in debt. I would be paying back nearly $400 a month on college loans alone. Then I would need money to afford a healthy life and buy food, get gas to drive to school, my electric bill, water bill, and of course a roof over my head.
Since I have so much debt currently, I have decided to continue my schooling. I will be working as a graduate assistant and getting a tuition break. This also allows me to slowly repay my loans, which I would not have been able to afford otherwise.
My newest concern with the skyrocketing cost of college tuition is if I will be able to afford putting my daughter through college. It will be another 18 years before that happens but it scares me, knowing that I may not be able to send her to college due to the high cost of schooling. As an educator it makes sense that college should be made accessible to any student who would like to pursue higher education. To me, it seems like a no brainier that something has to be done about the unreasonably rising cost of a college degree.
I want people to be able to enter the teaching field and other noble professions without having to make a decision about whether they need to put food on the table or pay off college loans. I am very concerned about the future of higher education. What are our elected officials going to do to help out with this problem?
Please, make your voice heard and do not allow your elected officials to pass this off as just another issue. This is an issue that has a major impact on everybody.
What I did expect was to be able to make enough money to support my family. A first year teacher in Kansas will make approximately $27,000 on average. That is not the best average but it looks very small once you start adding in all of my college loans. After graduating in May 2008, I have accumulated over $13,000 in debt. I would be paying back nearly $400 a month on college loans alone. Then I would need money to afford a healthy life and buy food, get gas to drive to school, my electric bill, water bill, and of course a roof over my head.
Since I have so much debt currently, I have decided to continue my schooling. I will be working as a graduate assistant and getting a tuition break. This also allows me to slowly repay my loans, which I would not have been able to afford otherwise.
My newest concern with the skyrocketing cost of college tuition is if I will be able to afford putting my daughter through college. It will be another 18 years before that happens but it scares me, knowing that I may not be able to send her to college due to the high cost of schooling. As an educator it makes sense that college should be made accessible to any student who would like to pursue higher education. To me, it seems like a no brainier that something has to be done about the unreasonably rising cost of a college degree.
I want people to be able to enter the teaching field and other noble professions without having to make a decision about whether they need to put food on the table or pay off college loans. I am very concerned about the future of higher education. What are our elected officials going to do to help out with this problem?
Please, make your voice heard and do not allow your elected officials to pass this off as just another issue. This is an issue that has a major impact on everybody.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
An introduction from Rose Marye P.
Hello everyone.
Let me start with some quick background information about myself. I am a non-traditional student which basically means that since I am 26 years old I have to rely on myself to pay for my schooling, no help from Mom and Dad. I am currently a freshman attending Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky and for the most part I truly love going to school and I do not regret the decision to return, at least not until I see my loan bills and the realization that after just 1 semester and right at the beginning of a new semester I have already racked up $13,000 in loan debt. No, I am afraid that is not a typo, that is in fact a one, a three, and three zeroes with no decimal in sight.
We are taught from the time we are young children that if we want to get ahead in this world we need to attend college. Here I am, attending school to be a high school social studies teacher, and the reason I through this little bit in is to point out that I truly do understand the value of a good education. But keeping in mind that education is supposed to be a top priority it boggles the mind to think of the sacrifices we make to go back to school. In order to keep up my school schedule I had to drop down to part-time employment. I can no longer afford to live on my own and therefore had to resort to moving in with my financially strapped parents.
At already thirteen thousand in debt after just one year of school it boggles the mind to think of where that debt will be by May 2011 when I am supposed to graduate. Then I will be expected to start saving money towards college for my children that I may one day have, but how can I do that if I am busy paying of 40 to 50 thousand dollars of debt for my schooling?
This is a big, vicious cycle that really should end. Education, knowledge is power. It is not something that we should have to sacrifice whenever the pennies get tight. But the first thing that goes for us college students struggling day-to-day is our education. Sure it starts of slow at first, a class here, a class there, but eventually you find yourself contemplating dropping out entirely to get a full time job in order to pay your bills. We need help.
Let me start with some quick background information about myself. I am a non-traditional student which basically means that since I am 26 years old I have to rely on myself to pay for my schooling, no help from Mom and Dad. I am currently a freshman attending Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky and for the most part I truly love going to school and I do not regret the decision to return, at least not until I see my loan bills and the realization that after just 1 semester and right at the beginning of a new semester I have already racked up $13,000 in loan debt. No, I am afraid that is not a typo, that is in fact a one, a three, and three zeroes with no decimal in sight.
We are taught from the time we are young children that if we want to get ahead in this world we need to attend college. Here I am, attending school to be a high school social studies teacher, and the reason I through this little bit in is to point out that I truly do understand the value of a good education. But keeping in mind that education is supposed to be a top priority it boggles the mind to think of the sacrifices we make to go back to school. In order to keep up my school schedule I had to drop down to part-time employment. I can no longer afford to live on my own and therefore had to resort to moving in with my financially strapped parents.
At already thirteen thousand in debt after just one year of school it boggles the mind to think of where that debt will be by May 2011 when I am supposed to graduate. Then I will be expected to start saving money towards college for my children that I may one day have, but how can I do that if I am busy paying of 40 to 50 thousand dollars of debt for my schooling?
This is a big, vicious cycle that really should end. Education, knowledge is power. It is not something that we should have to sacrifice whenever the pennies get tight. But the first thing that goes for us college students struggling day-to-day is our education. Sure it starts of slow at first, a class here, a class there, but eventually you find yourself contemplating dropping out entirely to get a full time job in order to pay your bills. We need help.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Our newest blogger is Rob B.
My name is Rob B. I am 29 years old and I have $27,000 in student loan debt. My wife and I have two children; between us we will be paying for, at least in part, five degrees. Yeah, college affordability is a big concern of mine.
We live in Chicago, Illinois; we moved here to come back to the Midwest and be near family. Three years ago, I decided to go back to school to pursue a career in education. I just earned a Bachelor’s in Secondary Education and History from Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU). I had hoped that it would only take me two years to do the work necessary to gain certification, but I felt it was best to pursue that double major. In this way I would be qualified to teach several subjects; given the job market, it seems another year was a wise investment.
NEIU is the most affordable state institution in Illinois, yet the total bill for the average class has been just over $500 for me. I had to take 94 credit hours, which cost about $16,000. Throw in a few thousand dollars in textbooks and I owe a lot of money.
I was able to get one scholarship out of the dozen or so that I applied for; it bought me a laptop and some school supplies. Almost all scholarships asked for tax information; only one scholarship took cost of living into account. My wife’s and my combined income leaves us comfortable as long as we are frugal, but that meant I was unable to get most scholarships. This also precluded me from getting a Pell grant, which, even at its current level, would have taken care of almost three quarters of my school expenses.
Many students are able to get help from their parents. My parents paid for a degree work in film, but this time was different. The choice to move to education is a career change for me. It didn’t seem fair to ask for more from my family, especially since my dad is helping to pay for the three other children. The only answer for me was federal loans.
I kept working at the restaurant, sometimes overtime, in order to pay my living expenses, but it was a huge struggle to get anything resembling a regular sleep schedule, even before the family additions. I had to stop working during my student teaching, so my wife and I dug into our modest savings in order to take care of our family’s current needs. We were originally going to purchase a home, as we’ve been renting for all of our adult lives, but we’ve had to put that off in order to afford for me to go back to school.
In four months, I’ll have to start repaying my loans. In order to pay them back in 10 years, we’ll have to make $310 payments; we will pay over $38,000 for my education. We have started accounts for each of our son’s college savings, but I’m afraid it will be pretty difficult to make the necessary installments to avoid going into debt for their education.
I anticipate earning about $40,000 a year if I am lucky enough to find a job in the city of Chicago or in the surrounding area. However, I am also looking in the central part of Illinois, where my earnings expectations are much lower. A few of the districts that I am looking at only pay first year teachers $27,000. I’ll be lucky to make the payments on my own debt let alone save for the education of my children.
Of course, I worry about these things, but right now I even more worried about finding a teaching job in the first place. I graduated with a great GPA, did lots of volunteer work, and have nice recommendations, but the job market is so tight right now! What really has me worried is what’s going to happen to if I have to start making payments on my loan as a substitute teacher, where at best, I can expect to earn $125 a day. In order to stay afloat financially I’m going to have to continue to work at the restaurant on weekends and maybe some weeknights, making it all the harder to actually find my first teaching position. I’m starting to regret taking those loans.
We live in Chicago, Illinois; we moved here to come back to the Midwest and be near family. Three years ago, I decided to go back to school to pursue a career in education. I just earned a Bachelor’s in Secondary Education and History from Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU). I had hoped that it would only take me two years to do the work necessary to gain certification, but I felt it was best to pursue that double major. In this way I would be qualified to teach several subjects; given the job market, it seems another year was a wise investment.
NEIU is the most affordable state institution in Illinois, yet the total bill for the average class has been just over $500 for me. I had to take 94 credit hours, which cost about $16,000. Throw in a few thousand dollars in textbooks and I owe a lot of money.
I was able to get one scholarship out of the dozen or so that I applied for; it bought me a laptop and some school supplies. Almost all scholarships asked for tax information; only one scholarship took cost of living into account. My wife’s and my combined income leaves us comfortable as long as we are frugal, but that meant I was unable to get most scholarships. This also precluded me from getting a Pell grant, which, even at its current level, would have taken care of almost three quarters of my school expenses.
Many students are able to get help from their parents. My parents paid for a degree work in film, but this time was different. The choice to move to education is a career change for me. It didn’t seem fair to ask for more from my family, especially since my dad is helping to pay for the three other children. The only answer for me was federal loans.
I kept working at the restaurant, sometimes overtime, in order to pay my living expenses, but it was a huge struggle to get anything resembling a regular sleep schedule, even before the family additions. I had to stop working during my student teaching, so my wife and I dug into our modest savings in order to take care of our family’s current needs. We were originally going to purchase a home, as we’ve been renting for all of our adult lives, but we’ve had to put that off in order to afford for me to go back to school.
In four months, I’ll have to start repaying my loans. In order to pay them back in 10 years, we’ll have to make $310 payments; we will pay over $38,000 for my education. We have started accounts for each of our son’s college savings, but I’m afraid it will be pretty difficult to make the necessary installments to avoid going into debt for their education.
I anticipate earning about $40,000 a year if I am lucky enough to find a job in the city of Chicago or in the surrounding area. However, I am also looking in the central part of Illinois, where my earnings expectations are much lower. A few of the districts that I am looking at only pay first year teachers $27,000. I’ll be lucky to make the payments on my own debt let alone save for the education of my children.
Of course, I worry about these things, but right now I even more worried about finding a teaching job in the first place. I graduated with a great GPA, did lots of volunteer work, and have nice recommendations, but the job market is so tight right now! What really has me worried is what’s going to happen to if I have to start making payments on my loan as a substitute teacher, where at best, I can expect to earn $125 a day. In order to stay afloat financially I’m going to have to continue to work at the restaurant on weekends and maybe some weeknights, making it all the harder to actually find my first teaching position. I’m starting to regret taking those loans.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Kelly Bowers, SC
Kelly Bowers of South Carolina shares her story with 'got tuition?'. Want to share your story with got tuition? Please e-mail your stories, pictures, and videos to gottuition08@gmail.com.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Marilda Smith from Tennessee talks to 'got tuition?'
Marilda Smith of Tennessee took a moment to share some of her higher education affordability concerns with us. After dropping out of college (one class short of graduating) to take care of her children, Marilda now realizes that she can't afford to finish her degree. Want to share your story with got tuition? Please e-mail your stories, pictures, and videos to gottuition08@gmail.com.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Dual degree woes
I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one struggling but also concerned to hear there are so many of us out there. I recently graduated from Penn State University, PA with a dual degree. I have two undergraduate degrees, one is in Elementary Education and the other is in Rehabilitation Services. I was recently hired as an elementary school teacher, making $34,000, however my loans have accumulated to over $66,000. I see my self sinking, instead of getting ahead.
I am currently 25 years old and working as a full time teacher and I also carry a second job at least 3-4 days a week, to make ends meet on my loan payment. I can not even look at the housing market or rental property for that matter when my loan payments a month are more then some pay on a house mortgage. Yes, I chose to go to school for 5 and a half years but at the same time I was hoping it would pay off, and every one tells me to wait it out and things will get better, but how?
I am interested in starting a family and moving out of my parents place but under the conditions I don't see it happening in the near future. I enjoy working with the students but I'm not sure how long my wallet can handle it. When looking into graduate courses (which are required to keep certification) I cringe due to the amount of cost that needs to be payed out again. Like most, I have both standard government loans and private loans that were needed to pay for housing, which have both been consolidated since I graduated in 2006.
I want to thank you for having an open ear and listening to the current struggle most of us are going through. Any tips on how to lower payments would be greatly appreciated. May the government make some drastic changes in the near future, not only for current students but those who choose to attend college in the future.
-Sara, PA
Teacher and recent graduate
I am currently 25 years old and working as a full time teacher and I also carry a second job at least 3-4 days a week, to make ends meet on my loan payment. I can not even look at the housing market or rental property for that matter when my loan payments a month are more then some pay on a house mortgage. Yes, I chose to go to school for 5 and a half years but at the same time I was hoping it would pay off, and every one tells me to wait it out and things will get better, but how?
I am interested in starting a family and moving out of my parents place but under the conditions I don't see it happening in the near future. I enjoy working with the students but I'm not sure how long my wallet can handle it. When looking into graduate courses (which are required to keep certification) I cringe due to the amount of cost that needs to be payed out again. Like most, I have both standard government loans and private loans that were needed to pay for housing, which have both been consolidated since I graduated in 2006.
I want to thank you for having an open ear and listening to the current struggle most of us are going through. Any tips on how to lower payments would be greatly appreciated. May the government make some drastic changes in the near future, not only for current students but those who choose to attend college in the future.
-Sara, PA
Teacher and recent graduate
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Bruce Schulz of Idaho talks to got tuition
Bruce Schulz of Idaho was kind enough to share his story with got tuition.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Career change teachers struggle
My name is Phyllis. I went back to school to become a Spanish teacher in upstate New York at age 39, divorced with 3 sons ages 4, 7, and 10. My mother encouraged me to become a teacher with my background and experience in foreign languages and traveling. I speak Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Turkish and French. I lived abroad in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Florence, Italy and Ankara, Turkey for a total of 4 years, and I have another undergraduate degree and 7 years of NYC working experience in international marketing. Experience is great, but teachers are not rewarded financially for it. I finally became fully certified as a teacher at age 47.
I have now been teaching or 6 years. I love teaching! I believe that I truly enrich my students lives and they love my stories... but the debt makes it hard. To go back to school the first 3 years to get my second undergraduate degree in Spanish/Education cost me $80,000. I liquidated stock and bonds, IRA's and even a retirement savings account for $30,000, and I borrowed from Sallie Mae. I had to go onto the Food Stamps program, and get free health care for my children to survive. My graduate degree cost me another $10,000 which I borrowed also. My Sallie Mae bill is $34,000, but I also have a mortgage and car loans. The financial stress was probably worse than the academic stress of going back to school. I would frequently get up at 4:00am to find a quiet time and place to study and get my work done. I am behind on my student loan payments as others from your article. I do not feel that I will be able to pay back my loan and rebuild my retirement savings account. I work during the summers teaching summer school, or waitressing. But I can now say at age 47 it is getting harder to keep up.
Last year, my youngest son hit rock bottom in school. He was going into 7th grade, and was testing out at 1-2nd grade levels in reading and writing. I was desperate and had an IEE (Independent Educational Evaluation) done on him. It turns out that he is double-deficit dyslexic. The school assured me that their programs would work for him, but could provide no programs with scientifically proven methods that work for dyslexics. My son applied to a school that specializes in his learning disability. This is costing me another $25,000 in student loans for him, but thankfully for the first time in his life he is succeeding.
I don't mind buying clothing from a thrift shop, getting by without a cell phone ... My oldest son is paying his own way for college by working during the summer and at school. He is learning now to keep his debt at a minimum. My middle son also works. He started at age 7 acting for the Glimmerglass Opera. He also works at a coffee shop, and buses table to pay his own way. I provide basic essentials for my children. Luxuries are out of the question, including cable television. Penny pinching is a way of life. I can surely understand why students will think twice about going to school to become a teacher, and for non-traditional students to go back to school, it is a no-brainer, "no way!" It simply will not pay back financially.
Think of all of the people with fantastic experience that the school systems could have teaching, but they don't because the requirements to teach are simply too high in both time and price.
Sincerely,
Phyllis, a teacher
I have now been teaching or 6 years. I love teaching! I believe that I truly enrich my students lives and they love my stories... but the debt makes it hard. To go back to school the first 3 years to get my second undergraduate degree in Spanish/Education cost me $80,000. I liquidated stock and bonds, IRA's and even a retirement savings account for $30,000, and I borrowed from Sallie Mae. I had to go onto the Food Stamps program, and get free health care for my children to survive. My graduate degree cost me another $10,000 which I borrowed also. My Sallie Mae bill is $34,000, but I also have a mortgage and car loans. The financial stress was probably worse than the academic stress of going back to school. I would frequently get up at 4:00am to find a quiet time and place to study and get my work done. I am behind on my student loan payments as others from your article. I do not feel that I will be able to pay back my loan and rebuild my retirement savings account. I work during the summers teaching summer school, or waitressing. But I can now say at age 47 it is getting harder to keep up.
Last year, my youngest son hit rock bottom in school. He was going into 7th grade, and was testing out at 1-2nd grade levels in reading and writing. I was desperate and had an IEE (Independent Educational Evaluation) done on him. It turns out that he is double-deficit dyslexic. The school assured me that their programs would work for him, but could provide no programs with scientifically proven methods that work for dyslexics. My son applied to a school that specializes in his learning disability. This is costing me another $25,000 in student loans for him, but thankfully for the first time in his life he is succeeding.
I don't mind buying clothing from a thrift shop, getting by without a cell phone ... My oldest son is paying his own way for college by working during the summer and at school. He is learning now to keep his debt at a minimum. My middle son also works. He started at age 7 acting for the Glimmerglass Opera. He also works at a coffee shop, and buses table to pay his own way. I provide basic essentials for my children. Luxuries are out of the question, including cable television. Penny pinching is a way of life. I can surely understand why students will think twice about going to school to become a teacher, and for non-traditional students to go back to school, it is a no-brainer, "no way!" It simply will not pay back financially.
Think of all of the people with fantastic experience that the school systems could have teaching, but they don't because the requirements to teach are simply too high in both time and price.
Sincerely,
Phyllis, a teacher
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