MLA Decision Time

Personally, I would not take on anymore debt. I can’t tell if you have any experience yet? I am not sure that getting an MLA will make you any more hire-able in a few years…but you will have overwhelming student debt. Assuming the economy picks up, take a look at what you will make per year and then figure out what your student loans repayment will be.

Lets say you owed $30,000.

Your monthly payment on Income Contingent would be approximately $315 a month if you made around $50,000. Check out starting salary for an LA. Now, consider if you get married, both have an income and you both have loans…you could easily be paying a mortgage. I have friends that are just getting ready to graduate that talk about doing the Income Based…don’t be fooled by that one. As soon as you do not qualify for it (you must reapply every year) you will automatically be bumped up to a Standard Repayment Plan with no option of choosing another repayment option. Other tricky statements in loan repayment options including your debt will be forgiven after 25 years but you will be taxed on the forgiven amount. The last thing we want is a huge tax bill right at retirement. We could choose a lower graduated payment plan…but your interest will keep building and building and building. Look hard at those numbers. Will you be able to pay that back? That is the real question in my mind. Will your loans stop you from purchasing a home? How much will you need to make in order to qualify for a home and pay back your student loan debt. Check out income to debt ratio calculators to get a better understanding of what I mean.

I would possibly go for a Masters…but not in Landscape Architecture…it would have to pay and it would have to have job opportunities. I completely understand the desire to hide out at a university…with the assumption that it will pay off. Perhaps others with more experience could help you out more. Just those numbers though? Uff da!

Good luck!

I’d save money and go to City College.  I just don’t see you getting that much more value at UPenn and RISD (both are outstanding programs but you will be absolutely crippled by that much debt).  I’d only go in the hole $100K for an MD or DO.  I also think being in NYC will give you lots of access to resources that will benefit you later. I’d do LA as a hobby before taking on that.

If you put out the effort any MLA program will get you where you want to be (at least in a normal economy).

For what it’s worth, from somebody who went to a tiny state-school program in the Southwest.

I’m with everyone else on this one, City College is the logical choice.  At the other two schools you will end up with med-school type debt with nowhere near the salary potential.  Do you have an undergraduate degree in landscape architecture?

Also, don’t use your savings for tuition and living expenses.  Put that $73,000 into the stock market (mutual funds or the like), over the 10 years you will be paying your student loans after graduation, your interest income on the investments should be roughly 3-4% higher than you will be paying in student loan interest.  The beauty of federally backed loans and compounding interest…

Do the math.

The monthly payment on a $120,000 loan would be approx. $1,200. If you get out of school and are making $55,000 you’ll be taking home about $3,200 a month. After you pay your student loan, you’ve got $2,000 to pay for all your needs (food, rent, communications, clothing, health care & entertainment). In most major cities it’s easy to spend $1,000 on rent… have fun with that MLA… when you’re living in a van down by the river…

Unless you have a full-ride scholarship or your wealthy parents are paying for your masters, you’ll have crushing debt for the rest of your life. Frankly, I don’t see the advantage…

The way states are cutting expenditures, I wouldn’t count on the tuition staying constant anywhere. 

An MLA is really not worth that kind of money.  I got a full ride for my masters at the University of Michigan and even then I don’t think it was worth it.  There are literally no jobs in this field.  And if there are, you’ll be making like thirty grand a year with a masters.  How sad.