I'm seriously considering entering a school for massage therapy. A 20 months basic course will run me around $15,000. I've never been in debt before, and I'm pretty unsure about getting myself into it. But I'm 21 and working 6 hours a week at a package store, I can't seem to find any local jobs. Massage therapy seems like a good fit for me (I've been complemented on my massage skills before) and I've been to a workshop the school holds once, seemed laid back but serious. On top of that I think it would provide a good challenge to me since I have some degree of social anxiety and I need to find some way to get out of the house and overcome it.
Financially though, I don't know what to do. If I can find a job (job placement rates are supposedly 84%, which seems really good) then I'll probably be making between 12 and 15 dollars an hour for something like $35,000-$50,000 a year, so I could be out of debt in a short time. Much later on I may be able to buy my own massage supplies and work out of home, which would allow me to take the full hourly massage cost for myself and (if I'm really lucky) allow me to get up to $75,000 a year. I may be able to get some support from family, though it's hard to say how much they can and would be willing to cover. I'm sure they'd cosign a loan at least. I've been searching all over for scholarships but they seem limited to high school seniors and those with good GPAs, and I'm neither. I might be able to qualify for a disability scholarship or 2 since I have adult ADHD, but that won't cover much.
So I'm kind of stumped. Does it sound like a financially sound idea? To those adults who decided to get education later on, how did you pay for college? Anybody ever take a massage course, and if so was it worthwhile? I'm just looking down the barrel of a big decision here and though I know I need to make a change in my life I'm not sure I'm ready for the crushing responsibility of debt.
Financially though, I don't know what to do. If I can find a job (job placement rates are supposedly 84%, which seems really good) then I'll probably be making between 12 and 15 dollars an hour for something like $35,000-$50,000 a year, so I could be out of debt in a short time. Much later on I may be able to buy my own massage supplies and work out of home, which would allow me to take the full hourly massage cost for myself and (if I'm really lucky) allow me to get up to $75,000 a year. I may be able to get some support from family, though it's hard to say how much they can and would be willing to cover. I'm sure they'd cosign a loan at least. I've been searching all over for scholarships but they seem limited to high school seniors and those with good GPAs, and I'm neither. I might be able to qualify for a disability scholarship or 2 since I have adult ADHD, but that won't cover much.
So I'm kind of stumped. Does it sound like a financially sound idea? To those adults who decided to get education later on, how did you pay for college? Anybody ever take a massage course, and if so was it worthwhile? I'm just looking down the barrel of a big decision here and though I know I need to make a change in my life I'm not sure I'm ready for the crushing responsibility of debt.
