Is A Loan to Cover Your Living Expenses in Graduate School A Good Idea?

Is A Loan to Cover Your Living Expenses in Graduate School A Good Idea?

Are you a graduate school student and always find yourself with more expenses than the cash you have? Are you wondering how to navigate this shortfall? Maybe you’re wondering whether to take a part-time job, cut your expenses, or get a loan. 

If this is your situation, you should worry no more. This article will offer useful advice on whether you should take a loan to cover your living expenses while you are doing graduation or not. Before addressing this aspect, however, it is important to answer several questions.

Do you need a graduate education?

Certainly, higher education is the best way to a fatter paycheck. Getting a higher education enhances your knowledge and sets you out as an expert, improving your chances of boosting your income. However, this depends on your area of specialization. Before enrolling in a graduate school, you need to assess the demand for your major. If the program is not in demand or won’t change your earning status, you do not need graduate education. If you decide to pursue the degree anyway, there are ways to ensure that you can afford the accompanying expense

What is the cost of a graduate or professional degree?

The next aspect to consider is the cost of a professional degree. When you enroll in a graduate program, you are certain of enhancing your employment opportunities. A professional degree holder will have better chances to get a well-paying job than an undergraduate degree holder. Nevertheless, it is advisable to consider the cost of this degree. Some degrees will cost you more than the potential income. In other words, ask yourself whether getting a loan to cover your living expenses will lead to a lower living standard than the one you had before. 

Now let’s focus on the main question: 

If you find you cannot afford to pay for your living expenses the best option is not to drop out of college, instead look at other ways you can go about it, including nation 21 loans. Like other loans, a loan to pay for living expenses in graduate school has both benefits and shortcomings. 

Benefits of a graduate school living expenses loan 

First, you will have an opportunity to take your classes without financial challenges. As you know, some courses require maximum concentration. A graduate class largely involves researching particular issues. Because of this time requirement, you may not be able to continue with your job. Sometimes, you will need to terminate your employment to concentrate on your studies. With a loan to cover your expenditures, you will have peace of mind. 

With the loan, you will have cash for personal needs such as transportation, food, purchasing school accessories, and housing expenses. The loan will enable you to meet your day-to-day needs and help you focus on your education. This way, you will enhance your chances of scoring high grades.  

Secondly, these loans help you to continue with your education if your financial status is weak. As stated already, a higher degree opens bigger income doors. You might be able to earn three or four times your current income. However, saving enough money to cover your graduate education costs can be a hard chore. You do not need to wait for years to generate or save the needed cash to cover your costs. Remember, education cost is increasing annually. A student loan to cover your living expense, therefore, can help you realize your dream. 

 Shortcomings of this loan

Despite these benefits, such loans have some shortcomings. First, it will affect your living standards after graduation. Like other student loans, you start paying this type of credit obligation as soon as you graduate. The lenders do not care whether you have a job after graduation or not, and you may need to squeeze your budgets to start repaying the loan. 

Secondly, the loan adds a new burden in your life. Student loans are attractive and seem helpful. Given that you do not start repaying them immediately, you can fall into temptation and increase your loan burden. 

Finally, the lenders charge hefty interest and make the loans available to you at any time. If you are not careful, you can find yourself paying more money than your graduate degree is worth. Consequently, the loans can become a burden and hinder your future endeavors. 

What is the way forward?

As you can see, taking out a loan to cover your living expenses in graduate school can be both a good and a bad idea. The loan is important in helping you reach your career goals. However, it can become a burden later on in life and hinder the realization of other life goals, so, before you borrow on this type of loan, you need to follow these best practices:

  • Always take the loan when it is a necessity and do not exceed the needed amount.

Do not take more debt than you require just because you can access it, since doing so means more adding more obligations to yourself in the future.

  • Assess the expected income after completing your course. The total loan repayment should be 8% to 15% of the expected income.

Is the course you are taking marketable and well-paying, or is it just something you have always wanted to learn but has no financial gain? If this is the case, steer clear of a loan to cover your living expenses because the graduate course won’t help.

  • Consider the interest charged, unexpected issues that can hurt your loan repayments, and repayment time.

Shop around for a loan and go for the one with the lowest interest rate so that you minimize your monthly payments, as well as the final amount you pay.

  • Determine the kind of lifestyle you want after graduation. Will the loan hurt your future living standards?

If the loan will put an unnecessary strain in your life after you finish school, it’s better to avoid it. It will put you deeper into debt if you take even more loans to try and clear it.

Considering these aspects instead of acting on impulse will help you make the right decision on whether to take out that loan.

Wrapping up

It’s possible you’ll need a loan to cover some expenses in your graduate program. Even if you had a good budget for your graduate education, you can be in a situation where you need a loan to keep going. However, you need to consider its impact on your life after graduating and the potential loan burden. If you decide you can handle the loan burden after you graduate, there is no reason why you should live hand-to-mouth when you can get a loan. Go for it and fulfill your dream to get an education and live well while you do it.

Shivangi
Bookmark and Share

Leave a Reply