How to Afford Grad School >
Further Yourself, not Your Debt
A couple of years ago, Helen*, a 28-year-old Cornell law school graduate, landed a job as a litigator at a well-respected New York City law firm. There was just one problem with her prestigious, highly paid position: She hated it. After deciding that she would rather work in the non-profit or government sector, she began to look for a new job. And look and look.
Her timing couldn't have been worse. In the tanking economy, there were few legal jobs open in her preferred field. So after a year of fruitless hunting, Helen did what many people do in a recession: She went back to school.
"I wanted to make myself more marketable," says Helen, who is now enrolled in a master's program at NYU's Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. "In a better economy, I could've gotten the experience by working. Now I'm hopefully getting it with a degree."
*Note: Some names have been changed for privacy.