My debt is growing, not sure if I should go back

College Confidential Community
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<p>I attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for three years, majoring in Broadcast Journalism. I payed for those years of college through grants, unsubsized and subsidized loans, and Parent Plus Loans. </p>

<p>However, I couldn’t get the Parent Plus loan for my final year and I had to leave (after the Spring '12 semester). I took the fall semester off but am now enrolled at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Classes start next week. But I have $28,000 in student loans to my name (and my parents have loans greater than that in their name), and I don’t know if it’s the right choice. </p>

<p>Part of me wants to just get a full-time job making something around $40,000. I could save some money and then maybe start night classes at a college that would be more suited to my dream career (something related to TV / radio broadcast). My UIC degree for Communications would just be a general degree and I am going to have to spend at least 4 semesters (whereas at UIUC I only had 2, maybe 3 semesters left) here. If I were to put off school and get that job, I wouldn’t be growing in student debt. </p>

<p>I have to work part-time right now to even pay for UIC while I go there, and I’m afraid it could get overwhelming.</p>

<p>Should I really go back?</p>

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<p>Do you know of full-time jobs that will hire you without your degree for 40k/yr (have you been job-seeking for a while)? That’s a tall order, especially in this economy.</p>

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<p>I have one opportunity where I would be making $35,000/year, but this is a 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. job. With a full schedule of classes during the daytime only, it would be impossible to take a full-time position like that. Is there any way to still finish my undergrad degree through night classes solely, while working full-time during the day?</p>