Registered for my first semester. It hurt
I got a notice yesterday that today is the first day to register for Fall 2007 courses for my masters program. Since it’s my first semester in this program, and the first time I’ve had to handle tuition on my own, I wasn’t sure what the process would be like.
I logged in to the registration site this morning. For an IT masters program, their system could use a lot of work! I expected to be able to search and pick courses, but really the screens are pretty basic. There’s not even any help text to describe what I should plug into each box.
Also, I wasn’t even sure when I would have to pay tuition (now, later? never!). Now, this particular institution’s tuition per course is $2,475. The total program will cost about $25,000 plus books and materials. I did find out, though, that to complete the online registration that I had to pay tuition right then and there. I whipped out the Visa and punched in the numbers.
Total bill for 2 courses: $4,950. Yeah, and I still have to buy books. Only 5 or 6 more semesters of this!
Tuition Reimbursement
I need to mention that my employer will be reimbursing up to $5,200 each calendar year (Jan 1 – Dec 31). That means for this year, I still have $250 to spend on books and submit for reimbursement. Then, next spring will also be covered, but I’ll have to pay totally out of pocket for the Summer and Fall 2008 semesters.
As soon as I completed registration, and printed each screen as a PDF, I filled out the reimbursement form and handed it to my boss with the receipts. His boss isn’t back in the office until next Wednesday, so it will be sitting in his bag until then. I know I could have waited to sign up, but I wanted to get it off my mind.
Now I just need to wait for HR and Accounting to approve and reimburse the expenses.
Classes start September 4th. The great thing is September 8th is a 21 mile training run (for the Marine Corp Marathon)! I’m scared….
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Don’t think too much about these expenses since the extra education will pay itself off in no time (especially if your employer is paying for it some of it).
It’s worth the expense, especially with your employer footing over 1/3 of the total bill. I plan on starting an MBA program next January. It will cost a lot, but it will definitely be worth it! 🙂
I’ll be doing the same thing this fall for my MBA. My employer does $5,250 per year so I’ve got you beat just barely.