<p>I am planning to do it while I work at a nearby university but I’ll have to pay the full sticker price since my undergraduate grades weren’t that strong. </p>
<p>The sticker price is fairly steep, but if I am completing it while I work, I will only be taking out loans for half of that amount. Is this a decent deal?</p>
<p>How much is too much?</p>
<p>First of all, what schools have you been accepted to, and what major?</p>
<p>The short answer to your original question is to only take out the amount of loans equal to the average starting pay in your field, as a rule of thumb.</p>
<p>I only applied to one school that is nearby where I live and it’s a top 20 engineering school.</p>
<p>My major is Industrial Engineering. </p>
<p>The total sticker is around 45K. Is that too much? Since I’ll be doing it while I work, I will take out about 20K in loans. The program is catered towards working professionals such as myself. The good news is that I only have 7K debt from undergrad.</p>
<p>Sounds to me like you’re in good shape. If this school is a research-oriented school, push to get a teaching or research assistantship. That way, tuition will be waived, you’ll receive a small stipend, and hopefully you will not have to incur any debt at all.</p>
<p>I am going to be working full time, so I won’t have time for any of that other than taking classes. If paying the full sticker price, you think it’s too much?</p>