This idea has been rolling around in my head for a little while now and I wanted to throw it out. I welcome disagreement/alternate viewpoints.
Let's assume you come out $150k in the red with an effective interest rate of 9% paid off over 25 years. That's a little under $15k per year. So you get a job paying $65k per year and opt not to do anything extra on the side. Income after servicing debt is $50k per year starting out.
At this point, it might be worth checking here...
...where you will discover that even after debt payments, you are still making more per year than 75% of all working adults in the US.
So that's where you are, starting out, working a job where you help the injured live life with greater ease. And you're likely working 40 hours per week, and likely not "taking the job home with you". This seems to be why tuition keeps going up and will likely not be coming down any time soon. For a lot of people this is a bargain worth making.
I post this because I've worked jobs that pay much better than PT will and that don't require a few extra years of school. But they are thankless desk jobs that demand 60+ hour weeks with high stress and eroding job security.
Being able to do work that feels meaningful has value all its own. If you can have that and still earn a better living than most everyone else on the planet--even in your first year out of school--I would say that's doing quite well. While the stress of debt and bills and school is a real and powerful force, I wanted to write this down, if only to remind myself why I'm moving forward on this path (though I have no intention of approaching $150k or even half that...I just think the rougher scenarios are worth exploring).
Let's assume you come out $150k in the red with an effective interest rate of 9% paid off over 25 years. That's a little under $15k per year. So you get a job paying $65k per year and opt not to do anything extra on the side. Income after servicing debt is $50k per year starting out.
At this point, it might be worth checking here...
...where you will discover that even after debt payments, you are still making more per year than 75% of all working adults in the US.
So that's where you are, starting out, working a job where you help the injured live life with greater ease. And you're likely working 40 hours per week, and likely not "taking the job home with you". This seems to be why tuition keeps going up and will likely not be coming down any time soon. For a lot of people this is a bargain worth making.
I post this because I've worked jobs that pay much better than PT will and that don't require a few extra years of school. But they are thankless desk jobs that demand 60+ hour weeks with high stress and eroding job security.
Being able to do work that feels meaningful has value all its own. If you can have that and still earn a better living than most everyone else on the planet--even in your first year out of school--I would say that's doing quite well. While the stress of debt and bills and school is a real and powerful force, I wanted to write this down, if only to remind myself why I'm moving forward on this path (though I have no intention of approaching $150k or even half that...I just think the rougher scenarios are worth exploring).
