As I mentioned here previously, I’ve been giving serious
thought to enrolling in the University of Leicester’s MA in Communications,
Media and Public Relations. The subject
matter is right up my alley, and getting a graduate degree would be huge for my
career. The University of Leicester is
located in the UK, but they do have a number of distance learning graduate
degrees. The school is considered one of
the top 200 universities in the world.
Yesterday, I took the plunge and applied for a private loan
to pay the $14,000 tuition for the two year program. I can defer payments until I graduate, and I
plan to save the money during those two years to pay off the loan once I finish
the program. My credit is not the
greatest, due to medical bills, so I’m really keeping my fingers crossed on
this one.
It might seem odd to go for a graduate degree before I have
my undergrad, but it is possible at the University of Leicester. The school has informed me that a certain
number of years of work experience will qualify a student for entry into the
program. I have more than 20 years of
journalism experience under my belt, which the school has informed me is more
than sufficient for entry into the program.
My plan at this point is to finish this semester at Penn
Foster College as quickly as possible, and get a credit evaluation done at
Excelsior College. The last time I
checked, that was about $60. If I am as
close to my BA as I think I am, I will just knock out the rest of my requirements
and get the undergraduate degree. In the
meantime, if I get the loan for the graduate program, I will enroll at the
University of Leicester after I finish the semester at PFC. I will then likely finish the BA after I
complete the requirements for the graduate degree. It would be strange to get a graduate degree
before my undergrad, but I’m sure I’m not the only student who has ever done
such a thing.
Right now, I’m just hoping for the best and waiting to see
if my loan is approved.