Going back to school....?

If I was rebuilding from scratch, I would take a few classes on how to fix, rebuild and upgrade a computer.

Hang a shingle in the window (or place an ad in the yellow pages, online, etc...) and see what floats back.

Start it as part time and see where it leads.

People are not buying new, but they will need to fix what they have.

 

I hate to be an ass, but it sounds like your friend made a particularly bad decision. Financing law school in your 40s or later is a huge gamble and probably isn't a good decision even when the economy is humming. To pay off $100k plus of student loans in a reasonable amount of time you need to graduate with a $100k plus job, and only students at the very top of their class or at the very top law schools have any certainty there.

Anyway, I'm not too concerned about my debt. I'll have about half your friend's total when I graduate, all federal, and easily serviceable on a public defender's salary, if need be. My state also has an excellent loan forgiveness program for people in public service. And with two more years before I'm on the job hunt, there's plenty of time for the legal market to recover. Maybe it will, maybe it won't, but odds are that in the fall of 2011 the economy should be on an upswing. All that is to say: it can be a bad choice for some and a fairly safe choice for others. You have to go into it with your eyes wide open to job prospects and debt burden.

And since I'm the only one who brought up teaching at a college in this thread: you are correct that prof jobs are competitive as hell. Again, I'm not too worried though because my particular graduate school has a high degree of success in placing its students on tenure-track jobs.

 

For the first time ever, I briefly thought about going to law school last week. I was thinking about what I'd do if/when I give up on this shit and I thought comm law would be a cool thing to practice. I'd love the topic and the reading (very important, given my track record of failing or barely passing classes that were of no interest to me) and I'd probably be able to help out Joe Blows who really need it and deserve it.

But a cursory glance of the law schools nearby revealed none that offer comm law as a major (or whatever the term is in law school). Outside of the immediate area, Boston University offers it. That's the good news. The bad news is that out of nearly 6,000 applicants last year, they accepted less than 300. No shot with my shitty transcript, even if my "what I've done since I graduated college" essay would be at least mildly interesting.

I also realize I absolutely positively am not going into six figures worth of debt in my mid-to-late 30s. I just paid off my credit card debt and my wife and I have her student loans to pay off. I'm not doing this again for anybody, outside of my own kid(s) (as SJ collectively shrieks).

So I'll have to make do with what I have.

 

I started a credential program over the summer, got my sub teaching credential and it will take me a year to finish the program and get my multisubject credential. Subbing has not been as easy to do as I anticipated. Jobs are hard to come by (in California) and districts are not hiring subs because there is not state budget. Taking classes and working full time was not a good mix either. I ended up taking a buyout so I can focus on the credential program. It's a lot harder than I thought it would be.

 

Why is this costing so much for everyone?

I was spending about $2,500 a semester for my master's. That was full time, so including summers, I think it totaled about $13,000.

I did keep working, though.

 

With all due respect, you're either completely full of crap, or 60 years old. Because nobody anywhere is going anywhere outside of community college for that kind of change.

 

I estimate the credential program I am in will cost about $10,000. It's not a master's program, but still a graduate program. It's accelerated and about $2,000 a quarter. If master's programs are similar to credential programs, then that sounds about right, especially at a CSU (California State University).

 

I was laid off last month (a mere 4 weeks after I graduated college) and was thinking going back for a masters in sports management. I guess that from reading this thread, that it's not worth it? I know a guy who got his masters in SM at the school I just graduated from and is now the director of team services for the local NHL team, for what it's worth.

 

Yep.

 

yeah ... graduated in 01 and my year was, give or take, about 26k. granted, some of that was taken care of in grants, scholarships, etc., but it wasn't $2,500 a semester. now we've got my loans and my wife's loans coming due here soon. it's just how life works - you pay on your loans for years and years. you can't pay em, you get in touch with them and they'll give you a break for a while. well, hopefully they will - mine have been pretty good about that.

 

http://www.umw.edu/studentaccounts/cgps/tuition_fees/default.php

$304 per credit hour.

 

Fuck higher education. I'm learning some kind of trade. The way I see it, most jobs that don't require your physical presence can be outsourced. As people hang on to cars and appliances longer because they don't want to buy anything they don't have to buy, I see local repair as a strong opportunity to stay afloat. I don't think anybody will get rich, but there might be stability.

Computers? You either take it somewhere or someone can come fix it.
Washing machine? Somebody has to come fix it.
Fridge? Dishwasher? Garbage disposal? Central air/heat unit? Vehicles? Small motors, like lawnmowers? Basic plumbing?

Find a trade where you must physically be there to perform the work. Try to go into business for yourself or go work for Sears at the worst. At least you'll be employed.

I think I'm going to look into some of the trade programs at my local community college.