What tools can I use to find the value of my career training?

Trying to calculate the impact of tuition, fees, student loans, and job prospects on your long-term financial success can be a confusing exercise. You may have to consider many different angles of your personal situation to accurately compare the short-term costs with the long-term gains.

The good news—at least if you choose Compass Career College for your technical education—is that there are a number of ways to offset the expense of pursuing the training required for a new career. Because CCC has maintained the strict standards required for national accreditation of their programs, students at CCC may apply for several different types of financial aid. A strong reputation for excellence and positive community partnerships also equal unusually high certification and job placement rates for graduates of CCC programs.

This is why Compass Career College stresses the idea that there’s much more to determining the value of your education than looking at tuition and fees alone. You may find a technical program that’s cheaper and promises the same results, but isn’t equipped to deliver on those promises. Sure, you can borrow or invest less upfront to complete these programs, but if you can’t get necessary certifications or find a job once you graduate, that money is gone forever and you’ll have a much harder time earning enough to replace it.

One of the best tools that CCC has to offer in determining the short-term expenses involved in your training is located directly on our website. The Net Price Calculator allows you to select the particular program that interests you, and then answer different questions about your personal situation to determine what your initial investment might be. The Net Price Calculator factors in program tuition and fees, living expenses, marital status, number of children, and other variables to let you know how much you might qualify for in educational grants (which don’t have to be paid back).

If you have expenses remaining after potential grants are accounted for, other types of financial aid in the form of federal or private student loans may be available to help with those expenses. While student loans do have to be paid back, there are ways to make those payments affordable once you graduate and secure a job. You can get a rough idea of how your payments may impact your future budget by using one of any number of online student loan calculators to estimate what you would owe each month, based on standard interest rates, minimum required payments, and how much you would have to borrow. Other calculators will help you to figure out what you might be able to expect in terms of starting salary for your position, and what percentage of your monthly earnings you would need to set aside for payment of your loans. Some student loans even allow for your monthly payments to be adjusted based on your income, or give you the option to apply to have your payments temporarily reduced or deferred in times of economic hardship.

We at Compass Career College believe that there are always funding options—whether they come in the form of grants, loans, or cash investments—that can help ensure that you’ll in better financial shape after you finish training at CCC than you were before you started. Because there are so many different factors to consider, however, it can be tough to figure out exactly what’s right for you. CCC Admissions Counselors are willing and ready to discuss your unique personal circumstances and help you find the best path to a brighter future.