<p>I’m interested in their library science master’s…but it’s so expensive…it’s over $1,000 per credit hour for out of state LEEP students. </p>
<p><em>sigh</em></p>
<p>What a dream, though, to attend such a nice school. </p>
<p>Anyone in the program/going into the program? Do you think it’s worth the price? : )</p>
<p>UIUC is wonderful program, but the unless you have plans for going into academic librarianship or want to continue on to a PhD, $31,000 is a lot to pay</p>
<p>Since you’ll be taking out loans to pay for it, your repayment schedule will look something like this:</p>
<p>Loan Balance: $31,000.00
Adjusted Loan Balance: $31,000.00
Loan Interest Rate: 7.90% (current grad plus loan rate. Will probably go up in the next 2 years.)
Loan Fees: 0.00%
Loan Term: 10 years
Minimum Payment: $50.00
Degree Program: Master’s Degree
Total Years in College: 2 years (online programs tend to take longer to complete than classroom programs–3 years would be more typical)
Average Debt per Year: $15,500.00</p>
<p>Monthly Loan Payment: $374.48
Number of Payments: 120</p>
<p>Cumulative Payments: $44,937.51
Total Interest Paid: $13,937.51</p>
<p>$375/month will be about 18-21% of your AFTER tax take home pay for the next ten years. (New librarians earn in the $35-$45K range. State and federal taxes plus SS will consume about 33% of your base salary before you even see it.)</p>
<p>Additionally even with UIUC degree, there is no guarantee you’ll find a professional level position immediately upon graduation. (Or even within a year.)</p>
<p>ugh, WayOutWestMom how depressing!! lol But thank you, that’s a good way to look at it. Heck, I’m having a hard time landing an assistant position right now…might have to start as a library volunteer…Would suck to pay that much ea month with no professional job o_O</p>
<p>Do volunteer. It gets you valuable hands-on experience in a library setting. I did 3 years of volunteering before I applied to I school (which got me LORs from professional librarians and focus for my grad program because I knew which areas of specialization I was interested in.) I also volunteered while taking coursework and volunteered while I was looking for library positions. In the end it was one of my volunteer sites that hired me. </p>
<p>I also was active in the state library association (and got a scholarship thru them) and was a SIG (Special Interest Group) leader, presented a session at a state conference, met and developed a mentoring relationship with several well placed ALA officers, attended three national professional conferences, had dinner with 2 different presidents of SLA, and even had an article published in a peer-reviewed journal (something fewer than 10% of all librarians do).</p>
<p>It still took me a while to find a job…One academic staff (non TT) position I applied for (at the encouragement of the I services director who liked my journal article) had over 450 applicants! (BTW, didn’t even get an interview for that job…)</p>
<p>Networking is a critical skill for finding a job.</p>
<p>wow…well since I’m still an undergrad I’ll be happy if I do only 2 of those things! Like volunteer and join the state library association.</p>
<p>summekiss-- I love my profession and I’ve found librarians to be very open and encouraging towards newbies.</p>
<p>Volunteer and get involved–you’ll find someone who will mentor you along the way. We librarians LOVE to help people.</p>