Over 40 million Americans are in debt due to students loans, and although that seems like a manageable enough trade-off – a bit of debt for a lifetime of job security – many of those Americans are struggling to repay their loans. Recently, student loan debt has become the largest form of consumer borrowing in the United States. “But the consequences for unmanageable student debt may hinder rather than help many Americans. During the past decade, the amount of outstanding debt on federal student loans jumped from more than $500 billion to over $1.3 trillion, surpassing all categories of household debt other than mortgages,” according to the Pew Charitable Trusts.
When it’s time to look into your educational options to start a new career, you might be hesitant when faced with the cost because you don’t want to end up in debt for the next twenty years of your life. And that’s no exaggeration since that’s how long the average student loan borrower takes to pay off their student debt.
Why? Well, the average cost of a four year college education from a state school is over $100,000. So when you weigh the benefits of the career opportunities and pay versus the overwhelming debt, you might wonder why anyone attends college, and you wouldn’t be alone in that line of thinking. With the increased acceptance of less expensive intensive training and certificate programs, many people are choosing to avoid a four year degree all together.
Rather than spending four years earning a college degree, leaving in massive debt, and being unsure if they’ll even find a job to start paying off that debt, many people are enrolling in more affordable career certificate programs to gain entry into the field they would like to pursue. Washington Technical Institute offers self-paced, flexible study programs where you can continue to work or raise a family while you complete your studies. Offering programs in paralegal work, health care, information technology, criminal justice, and business, most of the certificate programs can be completed in 8 months or fewer.
A four-year college degree is not for everyone, and WTI’s self-paced flexible programs mean that you complete your coursework on your own time, even finishing early if you want. If you prefer to work on your classes early in the morning, you can. If you are a night owl and want to work into the wee hours of the night and morning, you can. Want to work on classwork after the kids are in bed? That’s no problem. Some students prefer to set aside an entire day each week for their coursework, while others like to fit in a little bit each day. Your time, your schedule – it’s up to you.
You can also complete your studies anywhere that you have access to the internet, so your life doesn’t have to stop to get the training you need. If you travel for work or just generally lead a busy lifestyle, you don’t have to stop learning because you aren’t near a campus or are away from home.
On top of those benefits, WTI’s goal is for as many students to graduate with little to no debt, so we’ve arranged monthly payment options for students. In most cases, your tuition is divided into ten, more manageable monthly payments so that you don’t have to take out loans. You don’t have to pay your entire tuition up front.
Although our goal is to help our students graduate with no debt, we also recognize that some students might need to utilize a loan for their educational investment. We are excited to announce our partnership with Climb Credit, a student lending company focused on financing career-building programs.
If you’re ready to enroll and start your career certificate program, you can check out and register for a program online through our website. Still have questions about our certificates? Feel free to call us at 800-371-5581 or text us at 952-465-3702. Our admissions specialists will be happy answer whatever questions you have.
