Not sure which school to choose...

[meganljohnson06]

I'm in a pickle.  I've narrowed it down to two schools and I'm not sure how to choose, so I'm putting it here.

School #1 - It has program I would be okay with, but that's it...just okay.  Location is not the most convenient either.  However, it is a shorter program and it would be completely free.

School #2 - This option has a much better program that I would definitely prefer and the location is more convenient.  However, it would take me twice as long to finish my masters at this school and it comes with a significant out-of-pocket cost.

Which would you choose?  Better program or completely free?

[fuzzylogician]

What are your career prospects with each choice? Will your expected earnings allow you to pay for the extra debt of school 2 in a reasonable amount of time and leaving you enough money to live reasonably well? This should be a cost-benefit analysis but you didn't really give us the costs or the benefits. 

[meganljohnson06]

Career options are pretty much the same either way.  Both masters are in higher education, but School #1 is more policy/administration focused and School #2 concentrates on more on student affairs (my preference).  Plus, School #2 has classes and professors that appeal to me more.  However, taking on a significant amount of debt would be difficult.  My husband is active duty military and though I could possibly get a great job and pay off the debt quickly, there is also the very real possibility of having to move (probably several times) that makes having a career difficult, especially with some of the places we could end up going.  There's just no way to know where we'll be living or how long we'll be anywhere.  It's easier to plan on only having his income.  He makes enough we could make it work, but not without quite a bit of sacrifice.

[fuzzylogician]

Well, in that case, if it were me, I can't see myself taking on debt to get something that I could get faster and for free. But my situation is very different from yours. The question you have to ask yourself is whether it's worth the extra cost to live in a better city and get to talk to people you think you'd enjoy more. Only you can know the difference in lifestyles and colleagues, it's not something we can quantify for you. Given your lifestyle and the possible moves in your future, investing in two years of doing what you want might very well be worth it, especially if you think you could pay it off quickly. I don't know if any of this helps, because I don't think we can answer this for you, but this is the question you have to ask yourself.