This is a lesson I just learned the hard way. I hope you can learn from my mistake. Here’s a backstory:
I wanted to go back to school, and found a corporate employer that offered tuition assistance. Full time employees would receive up to $6k, part time $3k. The stipulation is you must be at least part time, and must work for this employer for 1 year after the course ends. That seemed easy enough. I'd get to go to school for free, right? Wrong.
I started as a full time employee, taking full time classes. (My program required you be a full time student.) The problem I ran into was I could no longer balance working full time with these classes. So I cut down to part time (20 hours) and lost thousands each year for assistance. The financial assistance also didn’t not count towards books or fees, only the actual tuition- so I was still responsible for paying a lot out of pocket each semester.
My major was very difficult and I was having a hard time working even part time so I had to quit. The job I was working in with my employer was extremely demanding even for part time- 13 hour shifts, requiring me to work both overnights and daylights on rotating shifts. My grades were suffering and I just couldn't swing it.
Now I owe a few thousand to the employer. I accept full responsibility and am paying it, but I really don’t think it was worth it even if I wanted to stick with this employer. Here's why:
As stated earlier, I was still responsible for everything except tuition. My program required medical tests, books, uniforms, vaccines, etc. which ended up costing thousands out of pocket. If I wanted to branch out after graduation to a higher paying job, I couldn’t. I was unable to work less than 20 hours without owing all the money back. $3-6k really isn't that much when put into perspective.
Tuition assistance programs may seen enticing, but please consider whether or not you really can work all those hours while going to school. I was not able to take a break from work during finals week. I still had to work overnights during the school week, then switch to daylight in the middle of the week. I couldn't cut down to just one day of work, I had to put in at least 20 hours to receive just $3k.
I know this was a dumb mistake, so please don't knock me for it. I just want to make this post in case it can help someone. Contracts that bind you to your workplace can be detrimental. So please be wary of signing any workplace contract with time or financial stipulations, and proceed with caution!
Submitted September 03, 2021 at 11:10AM by Spacerockdust https://ift.tt/3DKmYDy
