I preface this by saying that I have no problem paying for my education. It is a worthwile cost and I am quite willing to take responsibility for it.
That said, I received an email today from the NYC Fellows Program. The subject read: "Important Update Regarding Your NYCTF Enrollment: Action Required." Thus far, any status updates on myNYCTF have been either positive or neutral. I am not sure this update falls into either one of those categories.
As fellows know, NYCTF covers the majority of the cost of our masters degrees and the rest is covered by bimonthly deductions from our paychecks beginning in October 08 in the amount of $115, no wait, $125, no... $150 per paycheck?
As it turns out, fellows' financial responsibility for our Masters degrees has increased from $5,500 to $6,600. Because of this change, fellows are required to electronically sign another Fellow Committment Form agreeing to the change.
A TIME magazine article recently listed education as the most secure profession during a recession. (I read the article in hard copy and have not been able to find it online- When/If I do, I will post it.) While I do not disagree with TIME, the email from NYCTF cites budget cuts as the reason for our increased financial responsibility. I must reiterate that educational costs are a noble expense, but the bottom line is that my paycheck will be less because of the city's economic constraints. Looks like education is not as secure as TIME claims it to be, at least to some degree.
A Short Addendum:
As the state of the economy slowly, but surely cuts into my future paychecks, I acknowledge another source of funding. NYCTF gives the opportunity to current fellows to apply for an AmeriCorps grant which has a potential education value of just under $10K. I can't pay my landlord with it, but it will certainly mitigate the effect of any outstanding student loans.
Another Short Addendum:
After a thorough Google search, I've found the article I referenced above. However, I cannot seem to find it directly in TIME, so maybe it was published elsewhere - my mistake. The article "5 Recession-Proof Careers" by freelance writer, Clare Kaufman was published online, albeit with no apparent date. It lists teacher only second to nurse in recession-proof careers. Here is the link: http://education.yahoo.net/degrees/articles/featured_5_recession_proof_careers.html
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2 comments:
And don't forget about the federal loan forgiveness program after 5 years of teaching! I think it's up to $40,000.
Ouch, that sucks... But at least you're not graduating with a six figure loan!
In other news, I found my old blogger account! Not much to see though.
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