Paying for MOT programs?

[southerngirl100]

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I am interested in possibly doing a masters degree in occupational therapy. One thing that I have noticed is that there do not seem to be many grants/scholarships etc. available for students who are pursuing this degree. Considering this, and the cost of MOT programs, I was just wondering how most of you on here are paying for OT school or planning to pay for the program. Do most people save up before starting school and pay for it that way, or is it typical to take out large loans to cover the cost? How much debt do students typically end up having to pay back after completing one of these programs?

 

[jewel11786]

Right now I'm relying on student loans and a part-time job to get by. I'm doing a master's program in OT part-time, and the format of the program is class on alternating weekends and classwork on our own time and online during the week. We are also only taking between 9-11 credits each semester which makes the program part-time compared to most weekday OT programs. I'm in my mid 20's and I couldn't imagine doing this any other way. Federal loans only pay around $10,000 each semester and that just covers tuition and fees with extra money for traveling expenses (to and from school), books, etc. I have to travel about 2 hours one way each weekend, stay overnight, and travel home on school weekends, which really adds up. My old car would never have lasted through that trek the next 2 years and I had to buy a new car for that travel and for when we start fieldwork, which is where most of the money I get from working part-time goes. I know that I'm going to have alot of money in loans at the end of the program but I'm hoping its worth it. I got lucky in my undergrad with a full ride scholarship for my bachelor's degree, so these loans are only for my master's and the pre-req classes I had to take. I remember graduating undergrad at the beginning of the recession and seeing the limited jobs available so after a year or two of working internships and part-time, I realized I had to go into a field that was in-demand and that I could still use my degree for and OT was the perfect fit. The massive loans do seem overwhelming at times once all is said and done but I'm hoping I will make good money and have a good job once I graduate so that it won't be a huge burden one day. I'm still looking and hope to find scholarships that will support people in health-related careers since they are so important. I expect to have loans close to $100,000 but hopefully I can find some scholarships or opportunities that will pay off student loans. I am still looking for those opportunities but hopefully our government or other organizations can see the value of our profession and will set up some programs to help ease the burden of students.

My advice to you would be to think long and hard about doing OT or any graduate program for that matter because it does come with a big expense, but the payoff in the end will hopefully be worth it.

 

[Sunny324]

There is a rule of thumb to help you decide how much you should borrow:

"Basically, prospective grad students should calculate what their expected salary at graduation, then borrow no more than that amount. According to the Student Loan Network, most federal student loans follow a 10-year repayment schedule, which means that students who limit borrowing to a year of salary can expect to dedicate about 10% of their paychecks to paying off their educational debts — a manageable percentage. By contrast, they note, students who borrow 15% or more stand a much greater likelihood of defaulting." From this article

You can also play around with this calculator to see how the finances work out.

 

[southerngirl100]

Thanks for the replies! It's definitely costly and a big life decision, but I hope that spending the time and money required for grad school will be worthwhile in the long run for all of us. I tried out the finance calculator. That is really cool!

One of my biggest difficulties in deciding whether the cost of a certain grad school would be reasonable is that I have no way of knowing what my starting salary might be as an OT. It seems like the schools in my area all have very different predictions of what a starting OT's salary might be. Also, the job listings vary greatly in salary. Some give a starting salary of 40,000, and others 60,000 or 70,000. That's a big difference, especially when it comes to paying off a large loan! Has anyone else had this same problem in predicting the length of time that it might take to pay off loans from OT programs?

 

[resot]

Salary will depend on geographic area and the population you choose to work with. Pediatrics tends to be on the lower end of the pay scale (some areas as low as 40,000) while geriatric in SNF's tend to be high (some areas as high as six figures).

General rule of thumb is that public schools are affordable while private schools ...tend not to be. There are some private schools who may offer you financial aid, but there is no guarantee. (Which is why you need to research all your options!) For me it was no brainer: tuition at under 3,500 a semester at a public or tuition that runs over 20,000 a semester at a private.

For my loans, I'm capping mine at 60,000 (I figured that I can most likely find a decent place within a setting I liked that will offer me around that much a year for salary), but I'm actually trying to keep it under 50,000.