3
364462
***Please take my response as well intentioned, not as criticism.***
While most, if not all, of us here take financial matters with the kind of careful, serious reflection it deserves, the sentiment here suggests that education loan debt needs further consideration. Taking on debt is no small matter and should not be taken lightly. Debt, including school related debt, affects every component of your personal and professional life. For instance, it is common for prospective employers not only to conduct background check but also to review your debt history. Debt will affect your ability to negotiate the mortgage of your home. It may limit your buying power when considering a new home or a new car. Debt in the short-term affects debt in the long-term. Take it from someone with an advanced degree. (I have a doctorate.) I have loans from both undergraduate and graduate schools. Believe me, you want to carefully review your current financial situation and options as they directly affect your future educational, professional, and personal goals.
While a public health related degree will serve you well, it may be worth noting that those in the field with masters-level degrees do not earn a significant base salary. Individuals with higher incomes in the field are likely to have other advanced degrees, such as MD, PhD, JD, etc. A quick look at the leadership structure of public health organizations or related institutions will show that many have advanced degrees beyond the masters-level degree in public health. In addition, many, if not most, with masters-level degrees do not choose to pursue a higher-level degree (e.g., DrPH, PhD, etc.). Also, many students will pursue epidemiology as their concentration. This is admirable; the field needs experts with both the knowledge and skills in epidemiology, biostatistics, and related quantitive expertise. However, the high percentage of those with such backgrounds also mean a potential for saturation of the profession (i.e., we do not need that many epidemiologists). The potential - and emphasis on the potential - saturation may mean greater competition for smaller availability of epidemiology related positions or may mean lower ability to negotiate a competitive salary base (i.e., an employer can just as easily hire someone who will accept the lower pay since there are so many epidemiologists).
What may or may not happen is not sufficient to regard debt as second-class consideration. For instance, I do not foresee the government bailing out education loans anytime soon. The rewards for the government, guarantors, loan consolidators, etc. are too great and come in the form of compounded interests. People and businesses make money out of your debt. There is too much incentive to bail out education loans. Also, recessions do not recover quickly. On average it takes 10 years for a high-income country to return to its pre-recession economy. As such, if we take 2007 as the start of the current recession, this will take you to 2017. Again, your advanced degree in public health will serve you well in the job market. However, securing a job is not the same as enjoying the financial rewards of it. You may be earning less than if you were in a pre- or post-recession economy. If the base salary is low, the earning power is low throughout the course of one's employment - that is, your salary will not suddenly improve "to make up for the difference" when the economy fully rebounds in the next several years. Studies show that one's salary grade is contingent on the economic climate at the time you entered the workforce.
Many private universities offer excellent training. Columbia, for example, will offer a series of personal and professional rewards. The "name brand" is not to be taken lightly because the university is an excellent institution. However, will this be sufficient to garner financial security in the longer term? Is it possible to reach your long-term goals by taking short-term ones different than originally planned? For instance, can one go to UCLA with an in-state tuition and still graduate with personal and professional needs met? There will be sacrifices to be made, perhaps, by going to a public university, but are these sacrifices truly more costly than the high-risk prospects of accruing private university debt following a job position that has no guarantee of higher pay?
Consider your unique financial situation in very real terms. It will get very real on the other end.
