Not sure if this is the best place to be posting this question but anyway. I'm about to enter my last year of community college and will be finishing my associate's degree in engineering soon. I've been able to completely pay for school so far without any loans. I don't get any grants or help from my parents, so I pay for it by myself and I've been trying to figure out what my best option is when I'm done community college.
My first option is to go to a 4 year in-state school where I'd be paying $30k+ a year and take on tons of debt (I'm not in any debt right now and I want to avoid it at all costs). The only upside to this option is that I'd probably get a higher salary when I'm done with it all.
My second option is to finish my associate's degree in engineering technology instead of engineering, which I'd be able to use to get a job as soon as I finish. The benefit to this is that I know I'd be able to pay for it without taking on any debt, but I'd have a lower starting salary than I would if I completed a bachelor's degree. However, I've had professors at my school tell me that engineering technologists are usually able to work their way up in their career to receive similar salaries to engineers.
TL;DR - Do I finish a bachelor's degree and go into tons of debt but have a higher starting salary, or finish only an associate's degree and not go into any debt but have a lower starting salary and just try to work my way up?
Submitted May 19, 2019 at 09:52AM by shmemmyy http://bit.ly/2M4EivU
