Opinions wanted, can I afford to go back to school?

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
#1

The financial situation being as follows, I am 24 years old, I live alone in Ontario.
Mortgage on my house is $415 a month.
Hydro is usually $50 a month
Oil is $150 a month.
Car insurance is $55 a month.
House insurance is $82 a month.
Car gas is $200 a month.
Student loans are $250 a month.
Phone is $25 a month.
I am guessing I spend $150 a month on food, which totals almost $1400 in expenses a month.

I would really like to be able to go back to school. Right after I finished high school I started taking engineering, but couldn’t find a job in the city of the university, and couldn’t afford to carry on. I then took a Chem. Tech course through a different college, during which time I worked one full time job and one part time job so I could afford it. I cannot find a Chem. Tech job; I have been looking for almost 2 years. I would really like to go back to school, either in a vet tech course, a police foundations course, or possibly computer engineering. I applied last year for the vet tech course, and got accepted, but for personal reasons yadda yadda I didn’t take it, but I don’t think I will have any problem being accepted to any of the above courses, I had a 96% average leaving high school (in OAC courses Finite, Calculus, Algebra, English, Economics, Law, Physics, Chemistry, and Technical Communications which was just a computer course)

I cannot go back and work a full time job and a part time job and go to school full time, physically it is just too exhausting, plus it does not leave enough to study. I can do the part time thing though, but it won’t cover expenses plus of course the tuition.

I know no one here is going to be able to give a definite answer, but has anyone in a similar situation been able to get enough financial assistance (student loans or other) to go back to school?

Many thanks for any thoughts.

#2

Some info on the cost of tuition would be helpful to add to the post.

I am confident it can be done. Transportation seems to be a huge part of your expenses, but mortgage is very low. I take it you live out in the country?

Good luck!

#3

That’s it exactly Harriet the Spry. Homes are cheap out here because we are so far away from everything. I am hoping to find someone to carpool with, so hopefully I can get that gas number down.

Tuition would have helped, I knew I would forget something. I am going to guess and say it is going to be about $5000 a year, as I am aiming for community college.

#4

If you set out to do it, it likely can be done - I don’t know what type of financial aid options you have there (from your location, I’m assuming you’re in Canada, please correct me if I’m wrong). Talk to the school’s aid office to see what may be available for you as a returning student.
The other thing to consider, if student loans are an option, is how much your earnings can increase by returning to school, if at all. If you have an anticipated field of study, what are the average earnings like? What is the job market like where you live, or are you willing to move?

#5

Can you postpone payment on your existing student loans if you go back to school? I had a roommate who went back, and it seems to me that she made an arrangement to wrap the loans together in such a way that she didn’t have to make any payments until after her (second) graduation.

#6

What about a coop program like at Waterloo? Then you are earning for half the year and studying the other half. Especially if you can hack computer engineering. Did you know that UW is the largest single source of programmers at Microsoft among all universities in the world? At least that was true in the 90s.

#7

I worked my way through three degrees but doubt anybody could physically, mentally or financially hack their way, pulling a full-time AND part-time job on top of course work over a prolonged haul. Even the most dedicated person needs to eat and sleep sometime.
I’m shooting in the dark about your situation, Magayuk, but some possibilities:
[ul]
1. deferred-payment student financial aid or loans?
**2. ** with your GPA, maybe Assistantships?
3. taking terms off, w/ exhausting but high-paying seasonal work to float the rest of the year?
4. combinations of the above?
[/ul]
FWIW, I took the 2-4 route, cobbling together solutions that would, in conjunction, get me closer to where I wanted to go. It wasn’t pretty but it got it done. Gotta say, though, even the worst crappiest jobs became bearable (and even fun) when approached w/ a glinting grab-knowledge-and-RUN eye. Investment employment, doncha know.
I don’t know enough about your situation to offer better advice. I guess my best comes down to tackling the change full-tilt–now, by whatever means you can find. If your day-to-day is rough now, that’s your future unless you forcibly jolt out of the rut. Better sooner than later.
Best of luck to you,
Veb