08-15-2010, 09:49 AM
ham Wrote:I read that even DETC hmu.edu offers an interest-free plan, but I'm not sure how it works out.
You are right Ham, Harrison Middleton has a payment plan that is "interest free" although not exactly fee free.
http://hmu.edu/pages/learnMore/financialAid.asp
For a 4-unit grad course ($1200) they charge $650 up front ($200.00 + $150.00 (one time fee) + $300.00) and let you make two $300/month payments. So if my math is any good that's $1250 total, which means you are paying something for the privilege of time even if they don't call it interest.
A little better is AMU, which has a payment plan where you can divide the $900 cost of grad courses into four payments of $225. That one doesn't ding you anything extra.
http://www.amu.apus.edu/tuition-and-fina...t-plan.htm
Both are good programs, but tough to beat $100/month.
DETC is definitely the way to go if money is an issue. As more and more people start doing these programs, the irrational bias against DETC becomes less and less.
And as the economy continues down the toilet it doesn't take too much college level thinking to question the wisdom of getting on the hook for huge RA tuition debt with little or no likelihood of a paying job at the end of the tunnel. Considering that some foreigner with an H-1B visa already has your tech job anyway, going the cut rate route makes sense.