Hi everyone! 19 M AZ here. I'm currently in a predicament regarding my college and full-time work balance and I'm at the point where I'm going to be having to make a decision here soon, would love some advice.
A few months ago I was promoted from my minimum wage retail clerk position to a Corporate Trainer position at my same employer. My new position is great. Previously I was making ~$19,000 a year plus an extra $3,400/year in tuition reimbursement, working around 30 hours a week. Now I am making roughly $40,000 a year working 40 hours a week, with a guaranteed raise at my 6mo and 1 year mark which should put me at roughly $50,000 a year. The position offers full benefits (which I am currently not taking advantage of because I am under my parents insurance), 401k, PTO, Vacation and sick pay, etc. I enjoy what I do and I don't have to take my work home, it's a pretty sweet gig. I also have promotion opportunities, with the next position starting at roughly $65,000.
As I have been working full-time, I have also been doing college at my state university full-time (16 credit hours) studying Computer Science. So far, I have been able to make both work. My work schedule has allowed for a full course load taking morning and online classes, and so far I have a 3.94 GPA among my finished courses (for lower division classes). It's been rough trying to balance the two, I am actually sacrificing homework time to write this post, but I am making it work with little free time. My college tuition is 80% covered by a scholarship I will have for 6 more semesters, and I have been taking unsubsidized student loans to cover the other 20%. With my previous position I was able to make paying for college work by living at home, a roughly 1hr commute to school and 30 minute commute to work.
My parents are not making me pay rent so pretty much all of my paychecks have gone to my savings account, gas, and food. I have roughly $11k in my savings. I owe $5k in student loans for the first two semesters of college, and about $1.8k left on my car (a $100/mo payment). I have no debts otherwise. If I can, I would like to continue saving until I can afford to purchase a house near work/school instead of renting (I have a 750 credit score so far, despite my only 1-year history.)
The problem stems from my work-school balance. I have to maintain a 15 credit hour course load or my scholarship will be reduced. With a 1hr commute and many more-difficult classes with little online options for my set of classes for Fall 2019 it is unlikely I will be able to balance doing school full-time as well as work next semester.
Should I defer my scholarship for up to 2 years and work, saving money and gaining real-world experience, or should I step back down to my previous position and focus on school? If I were to lose this job, would I have enough work experience to work elsewhere or is a degree 100% necessary?
TL;DR: I am working full time making good money while also doing school. Next semester it is probably going to have to be one or the other. Focusing long-term, which is the best financial decision?
Thank you!
Submitted March 23, 2019 at 09:23PM by ProfessionalAcadia https://ift.tt/2HQqvFS
