January 28, 2022 marked my one year anniversary of paying off my student loans . Reflecting back on choosing to pay off my student loans leaves me with several take a ways that I want to share with you! In September 2020 I decided to become debt free by utilizing the debt snowball method to pay off all my debt. Before this I had struggled to save and really understand basic financial principles. As a first-generation college student, I received a scholarship to attend undergrad for free, but the scholarship did not cover summers. During the summers I took out student loans to cover costs without paying interest rates or how much I was taking out. By the end of undergrad I had amassed a little under $17K. Fast forward to graduate school I received another scholarship that covered my education. At the time I was a teacher in a new very expensive city and I had missed the cutoff to have my paycheck last me throughout the summer. So, I decided to take out a loan for two summers to keep
So a little while ago, a friend gave me some news that
my doctoral program would be FREE. I honestly thought he was pulling my
leg being that I was actually in the program and had not heard anything about
this. I immediately asked my academic advisor and he said he hadn’t heard
anything. At that point I was like nope it ain’t happening! But then my
director mentioned it and I thought okay this is a thing! A few weeks flew by
and my advisor contacted me and told me he had spoken with the graduate school
dean at an event and she confirmed that it was true and for me to contact Human
Resources to complete the necessary paperwork. Within a few minutes, I sent in
my courses and a write up as to how this would be related to my current
position and everything was in motion.
Figure 1: This is a thumbnail of my latest YouTube video on “My Doctoral Degree is FREE!” where I am holding my hands on my head with a shocked look.
The doctoral scholarship at my university is a new initiative
to retain talent and encourage professionals to obtain doctoral degrees. I have
been in the program for about two years now and the university has provided me
with a $1200 stipend that did not include fees. The fees were a hefty $1667
each semester. Previously, this was a big deterrent for folks at the university in
pursuing further education and I don’t blame them! With this new initiative,
many people have already signed up and plan to take courses soon.
Figure
2: This is a doctoral graduation hat.
Since this scholarship was put in place after the semester had begun, another nice surprise was that my fees for the spring semester were refunded! I actually got another refund check last week for $1667! I should also mention that my scholarships actually took care of these fees so I didn’t even pay anything out of pocket this semester. With that being said although I now have this scholarship I still plan to apply for others. Looking at my scholarship awards for the fall I can expect at least an $1100 refund check!
Figure 3: This is a photo of five stacks of $100 bills.
I am so incredibly thankful for this amazing opportunity
and I hope that this encourages graduate students to say no to student loan
debt. Many jobs are now hopping on the free education for all bandwagon like
Target and Walmart. This may require changing industries or opening your mind
to other possibilities. Would you change careers for a free education? Drop
down in the comments and let me know! Also, be sure to check out my latest
video and subscribe to my email list!
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