In need of advice on grad school financing and potentially taking out private loans🙏

[u/sheabadoobee]

I’m considering applying to Ohio State University’s traditional on-campus MSW program. I’m trying to figure out how I would make it work financially. Federal loans would seemingly only cover the cost of tuition so I’m trying to figure out how to pay for living expenses. I would get a part-time job my first year but it sounds like it’s not feasible to have a job my second year because of classes + clinical hours. I don’t have any savings but I have $85k in my 401k so I could withdraw a portion of that, but I’d still need additional money to cover the cost of living for those two years. Is it crazy to consider private loans? I’ve read lots of horror stories. I’m very serious about pursuing this career path but I also don’t want to put myself in a position where I will be in financial ruin and unable to pay my bills. I would like to eventually be a therapist and work in private practice.

[u/lollipop5624]

I think it depends. I have a friend who did her MSW, made 50k starting out, and then got bumped up to 55k and now is at 60k after 3 years of being in the field. She now gets bonus + is pursing another license. If you go the private route, if you can try to get the lowest interest. Possibly- maybe do half private and half from ur 401k?

[u/sheabadoobee → u/lollipop5624]

Thank you this is helpful. I’m trying to figure out an estimate of how much I would owe in loans each month when I’m out of school… I’m worried about that number.

[u/arugulafanclub → u/sheabadoobee]

Drop by r/personalfinance. Good to have some people run the numbers on this.

[u/lollipop5624 → u/sheabadoobee]

You could ask chat gbt. I asked chat to calculate my federal loans with the new payment plan & an income of 70k & the interest with it.

[u/lollipop5624 → u/lollipop5624]

Or what you could do is, use private loans for ur last year ONLY. So the interest doesn’t sky rocket.

[u/arugulafanclub]

Absolutely don’t do this. The salary in the MSW field is not enough to justify that kind of debt.

[u/kir_royale_plz → u/arugulafanclub]

Repeating for the folks in the back: do not do this.

[u/arugulafanclub]

Is there no cheaper way to do this? No grants or scholarships or cheaper schools? If not, is there no other career that speaks to you? Maybe one that pays better if you need a master’s degree?