Monthly Budgeting Makes the Bills Manageable

One of the ways I made paying for a graduate degree manageable was by incorporating payments into my regular budget. I found this was really easy to do with Concordia, because they offer the option to make monthly payments, rather than paying one big bill once or twice per semester. This way the cost of the program was spread out evenly over the entire year, and it was easy to incorporate my school payments into my family’s regular budget for expenses. I can’t underemphasize how much this relieved the stress of having to worry about a large upcoming payment a few times a year. If you are feeling stressed or anxious about the prospect of massive school bills in order to get a graduate degree, then relax. Take a close look at your monthly budget, and see where you can find wiggle room. By giving up a few pleasantries here and there, you will likely find that most of your degree can be paid for through careful and strategic budgeting.

Take Advantage of School or District Reimbursement Programs

Many school districts offer tuition assistance/reimbursement. If you haven’t looked into this yet, it is definitely something to check out ASAP. Chances are something is offered to help assist with your school costs. In my own experience, the school district offered a fixed amount each semester for classes in which I earned a B or higher. At first, I was dismissive of the assistance program because it didn’t seem like a lot, but once I started my degree, I quickly realized its value. Although the amount didn’t cover the full cost of tuition, it definitely took a huge chunk out of the bill and made it possible to pay for the entire degree out of pocket through careful budgeting. If you haven’t already, talk to your school’s HR representative or other school administrator about what kind of tuition reimbursement is offered. You can also try negotiating with your administration for reimbursement based on professional development through your degree. Good school districts and good administrators understand that a graduate degree in education is a worthwhile investment in their teaching staff, and any amount will go a long way toward reducing your monthly payment.

Take Advantage of Concordia’s Flexible Schedule Options

When I first looked into a master’s degree, I was unsure whether I could afford to continuously take classes without pause to recoup financial expenditures. When I talked with my Concordia advisor, we discussed the possibility of taking summer sessions off and extending the program length by a year in order to make the costs more manageable. Ultimately, with the ability to incorporate monthly school payments into my regular budget, as well as some help from tuition reimbursement, I found that there was no need to lengthen the program, and I was able to take classes continuously. Regardless of your financial situation, Concordia is great because they offer the chance to complete a degree program at a pace that best aligns with your financial situation and abilities. Getting a master’s degree in education is a worthwhile investment for a lifelong career; don’t let the prospect of stretching it out an extra year prevent you from starting now.

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Concordia Will Allow You to Fit Your Coursework Around Your Professional Schedule

The great thing about Concordia was how it allowed me to fit coursework around my professional teaching schedule, ensuring my students’ educational experience didn’t suffer, and avoiding awkward conversations with the boss about missing work time in order to go class.

As a full-time teacher, I often observed colleagues missing important responsibilities like parent teacher conferences, department planning meetings, tutoring sessions and other clubs or sports as a result of their graduate studies. Let’s be honest, in the world of education, everybody understands the need for pursuing a degree in higher education. But when the rigid schedule of traditional graduate classes begins to interfere with professional work responsibilities, it can have a negative effect on your students’ educational experience at the very least, and at worst it can affect how principals or coworkers perceive your job performance. I observed first-hand the negative effect it had on student experiences and colleague perceptions.

Thanks to Concordia’s flexibility I never had to miss a work event, or explain to my students why I wasn’t around when they needed me. The program is a great fit for full-time teachers because it provides high-quality educational experience while allowing you to continue prioritizing the education of your students first.

Maximizing the Most of Your Time

As a full-time teacher, I really appreciated how Concordia allowed me to make the most productive use of my time. Our school hosts parent teacher conferences in the late afternoon/evening in order to allow working parents to attend as well. In addition, my responsibilities often require that I chaperone or facilitate after-school events that occur late after regular school hours. Normally my time between the end of the school day and the beginning of these events would have been wasted, but with Concordia’s online program being conveniently accessible anytime and anywhere, I was able to complete much of my coursework during this time. I was also able to avoid the inconvenience and wasted time that normally comes with commuting to graduate classes, and instead use that time complete coursework.

Having visibility of my entire course at one time really allowed me to plan ahead and be more productive as a teacher by incorporating coursework as much as possible into my regular curricular planning. For example, while taking a course on curriculum design, I was able to develop performance tasks and rubrics throughout the course that aligned with three units I teach in U.S. History. Being able to create curricular content for work while completing coursework for my degree was one of the greatest parts about getting my degree with Concordia as a full-time teacher.

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Without a doubt Concordia University was the most convenient option that allowed me to balance all three of these concerns. I absolutely loved getting my master’s in education with Concordia University, because of how convenient it was to complete coursework whenever it best fit my schedule. I also enjoyed the convenience of saving time and money by avoiding unnecessary travel, while quickly improving my instructional practice and helping my students achieve better educational outcomes.

Convenience, Flexibility

As a public school teacher, I have a busy work schedule with many professional responsibilities, including lesson planning, grading, meetings, tutoring sessions and facilitating afterschool clubs. Every professional teacher knows how these responsibilities will easily take the entire work day and often more!

I realized a traditional program with inflexible hours wasn’t going to work with my busy modern family lifestyle, but Concordia gave me the same high-quality educational experience combined with the ability to complete coursework whenever was most convenient for me.  I also had the convenient option to plan my degree work around my professional work schedule, ensuring that my work performance (and my students) didn’t suffer.  I also avoided those awkward conversations with the boss about missing work commitments in order to pursue a degree.

The Online Convenience

The convenience of completing coursework online from home or work also allowed me to avoid the nuisance of wasted time and money on travel costs that many people forget to consider when applying to a traditional degree program.  In the past, I spent almost as much time in a car or on a bus as I did in class, but with Concordia, I was able to maximize my time because of convenient and constant access to online classes.   Whether I was enjoying homemade breakfast on my weekend morning, sipping mocha at my favorite local coffee house, or hanging out at work in the downtime between classes and parent teacher conferences, I always had my class available.

Concordia Made Me a Better Educator

The best part about the convenience of getting a master’s degree through Concordia University was the high-quality content and instruction that was immediately applicable to my instructional practice. Both led very quickly led to improved educational outcomes. In each class, I had the chance to apply the knowledge and skills I was acquiring daily by creating and implementing better lesson plans. I was also able to closely align my instructional objectives with relevant district and state standards.  Concordia’s online format allowed me to anticipate and plan for how future course assignments could align with my curriculum I was often able to plan for lessons while completing coursework at the same time. One of my favorite and most effective civics lessons was created as part of my coursework for Concordia!  The convenience of a flexible schedule, combined with a more -effective use of time, cannot be underestimated in the busy context of the educational profession today.

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