Job Plus Patience Equals Debt Free Degree

When I graduated from High School in 1976 the sad truth was that not everyone could afford to go to college. Not much has changed in that regard.  I had no chance to attend college right out of high school. What worked for me to reach my educational needs and career goals as a low-income honor student is still possible today. That is by using the find the Right Job Plus Patience Equals Debt Free Degree Strategy.

Job Plus Patience Equals Debt Free DegreeAt a time when everyone seems to immediately go the student loan route. A direct route to high student debt. One with no guarantee that a good job will follow after graduating. Maybe it’s time to see if there is room for people to look to an alternative route or strategy. It’s an often overlooked path to take.

That path is to work for a company that is aligned with your career interest and passions.Then taking advantage of their educational tuition aid benefits.

It wasn’t that long ago when I was struggling to balance saving for our kid’s education and our retirement. What we decided to do was go the community college and vocational trade school route. A route where we could handle the cost and keep our kids free from student debt. If they wanted to take it farther we then would have to work it out. But I always had the thought that they can use their early 2 year college education to help them get a job. A job at a company that would offer opportunities they were interested in doing. Then while working use the offered tuition benefits to further their education.

Target the right company.

In my case I wanted to be a Telephone or Power Lineman. I applied for entry-level positions with the thought that after getting my foot in the door I could later get the education required. Then I would have the ability to transfer as an insider to the Lineman position. After living life and working there a few years my interests went a different direction. I ended up taking advantage of their Engineering education benefits and became an engineer. This approach could still work today.

  • Identify what you think you would be interested in to doing for a career.
  • Identify companies that have those opportunities and have educational tuition aid benefits.
  • Take the best job you can get and work your way through a degree or certification and into the career job you want.

Don’t know the direction you want to take in a career?

If you don’t know or there are limited or no opportunities to join the companies you find aligned with your educational and career aspirations then there are plenty of companies that offer educational assistance.

Just taking a quick scan of the company list I have below and you will see retail companies offering educational tuition aid benefits. The idea is to start as early as you can gaining experience and skills in the company that you have joined while improving your education on their dime.

Always move forward and once an opportunity arises to join a targeted company make the move. It may not even be a degree that you go for. Many companies offer non-degree certification education that is tailored specifically for the industry and can be very valuable to your career. That is what I ended up accomplishing to become a telecom engineer.

Patience is needed.

It does take patience to go this route. Most companies will cap their tuition benefit to the IRS annual limit of $5,250 so you won’t be taking a full class schedule but you are working and living life so this is a part-time student situation. Others are more generous and may even offer a sabbatical (even a paid one) to finish your Master’s Degree. However I would think that is rare these days.

For most people this strategy is going to take longer to get the degree or certification but you are working for a company that will most likely value you for being such a go-getter and your chances of a job within the area of your targeted study will be higher. You may take longer to get your degree but you have traded that for not taking years to repay student loans.

I finished my engineering education 10 years after I had started working there but I only started down the engineer path in my 5th or 6th year. It took me a while to figure out what it was I really wanted to do. I continued working my way up the technical ladder and made engineer in my 17th year at the company so you can see patience is necessary to go this route but I had no student debt and I was supporting my family, paying a home mortgage, saving money, and living my life the entire time.

Your Company Paid Debt Free Degree may have strings attached.

Most companies will require that your major/course of study be aligned with your job or a desired profession that is aligned with the business the company is in. For instance I worked at a Telephone Company so my engineering was in telecommunications, not chemical engineering. Other strings-

  • You may have to maintain a “B” average or other achievement measurement for them to reimburse your tuition costs.
  • They may dictate the school that you attend or limit it to online only.
  • You may have to agree to work for the company a set number of years after getting your degree as a condition of their paying for your education.

Finding companies that offer Educational Tuition Aid Benefits

Companies don’t normally go out of their way to advertise their educational tuition aid benefits. But after only a few minutes of searching the web I found a lot of information about companies that do. I have a list below where I checked the links and there is mention and sometimes details as to the amount of employee tuition aid per year that is allowed.

You don’t have to limit your targets to national companies. Many local or regional companies have tuition aid too. When I worked for a regional Bank as an entry-level clerk just out of high school it offered tuition aid as long as it was aligned with the banking industry. The course of study required approval from HR prior to tuition aid acceptance.

I think this is the same kind of strings many companies will still attach but you are getting a killer benefit for it.

Company List for a Job Plus Patience Equals Debt Free Degree Strategy

In closing

I believe that there are always alternatives to the traditional path. Whether it being retirement or in this case education. Hopefully you can see where there is a possibility beyond going to school on student loans. Graduating with high student debt. Trying to find a job in your field of education or any good job for that matter. Then spending years and years trying to pay off the student loans. If you are someone trying to balance saving for your kid’s education and your retirement then maybe you too can see that there may be other ways to make it work.

It doesn’t have to be an all or nothing education strategy either. There could always be some education with low or modest loans before starting a job with tuition benefits. Then move to using the right Job Plus Patience Equals Debt Free Degree strategy to finish as long as your field of study fit inside the parameters of what is acceptable for the educational benefits provided by the company you go to work for.

Always remember that you will need to be a hard worker and good employee since both your job and education will depend on it.

Do you feel that this Job Plus Patience Equals Debt Free Degree strategy will still work today to meet educational and career goals?

Would you consider this less than “today” traditional route to education for your kids to avoid high student loan debt?

8 thoughts on “Job Plus Patience Equals Debt Free Degree

  1. The idea that employers ever pay for degrees — even when it benefits me — still astounds me. But in a good way. I’m glad you were able to take advantage. I know a few other bloggers have been pursuing graduate degrees (at least partially) on their companies’ dime.

    1. Thanks for the comment Abigail. It is a benefit that companies have had for many years but people seldom take advantage of it. Where I worked there were people I know who got their MBA through company tuition aid program and a promotion right afterward. It does tie a person to the company when going this route which some might find undesirable but it is still worth considering instead of going the high student debt route.
      Tommy

  2. I entered college right after high school, but disliked it so dropped out to work. Being a software developer, didn’t matter much at first, but later became increasing hindrance. So returned 23 years later to finish in “adult” non-traditional program (Excelsior College) that liberally accepts credits from testing, other schools, and other means. Did lower division credit at local community colleges, and upper division online at various schools around the country. (I was struck how similar all these schools were in pedagogy and curriculum. Made shopping for classes much easier.) Surprisingly cheap, although my employer paid everything (Honeywell had generous tuition 15 years ago, not sure about today). Quality of instruction at community college good as four year school I had attended, but with worker friendly scheduling, more offerings, and far more affordable. However, online classes were definitely not easier than live ones.

    I had wanted to reenroll earlier, but workloads at prior employers too heavy and unpredictable. Even more critical than reimbursement were stable work hours, especially for graduate courses, which I also did (but not finished as next employer’s workloads again too large and erratic).

    Silver lining is that life experience made general ed classes much easier, and work experience made core major theory more comprehensible. So easier (but not easy!) the second time around. Never too late to finish, so glad I did.

    I liked the non-residential non-traditional model so much, I think it could be viable even for high-schoolers. Far more flexible and less expensive than the usual way. Its been around since the 1970s, but somehow word about this terrific alternative hasn’t received much attention.

    1. Thanks for the comment Stevie. Your path towards education is another example of alternatives to the currently pushed path which ends with huge student debt and no guarantees.
      Tommy

  3. Such a nice and Helpful Article i am happy to reach you and Read your article. i share your article on my social media accounts and also bookmarked because its very helpful for me thanks for publish.

  4. I hate spammers but I don’t think they should ruin it for everyone else. You make some really good points. I hate the ” Thanks for the post” but I think that is just part of having a blog that allows commenting.

    Thanks

    1. Thanks for the comment Jonathon. I dislike spammers too. My spam filter takes care of most of it for me so it’s not a huge problem for Leisure Freak. I am glad you found some useful points.
      Tommy

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