NWR: Question about unemployment and tuition waivers

peaches85

As many of you know I'm currently unemployed after having lost my job as a teacher at the end of this past school year.  Before being laid off I had already been accepted into grad school and am currently taking classes and paying out of pocket (along with some loans) for those classes. 

I recently heard that there is a chance I could receive some help with tuition (a partial or even full tuition waiver) through unemployment.  Tomorrow morning I'm going to one of the requisite seminars at a local unemployment office to learn about the options that are available to me, but I was wondering if anyone has any experience with tuition assistance through unemployment or knows anything about it.

Thanks in advance!

mariaNryan

My best friends fiancee did this through unemployment! He went to HVAC school and unemployment paid for it all! A week after graduation he got a job and the best part was he didnt have to pay anything out of pocket and is making so much money right now! I would def find out how to fill out the appropiate paper work and get the money you deserve!

peaches85

Maria - Do you happen to know how long he was in school for?

mariaNryan

1 year exactly! He just graduated 2 weeks ago!

mbcdefg

Where are you going to school?

Look into NJCU ... they do a graduate assistant program, where you work on campus and they not only pay your tuition, but they pay you a stipend on top of that. MH did that and didn't pay a penny to get his Master's (he worked as a student manager at the athletic center - very easy job). NJCU offers a ton of education courses.

Or if you don't want to transfer (assuming you don't go to NJCU), see if your school offers something similar.

peaches85

Right now I'm at FDU - Teaneck.  I have no problem transferring (in fact, I think I may have to in order to be eligible for the unemployment assistance because I believe it only applies to public universities).

I'm looking to get my master's degree in Teaching ESL and, eventually, I'd also like to be certified to teach Special Education.

eleven29

Peaches - Not sure where you live, but I had been in the Ed.M. program at Rutgers' Grad School of Education (New Brunswick) for ESL & Foreign Language Education.  I really loved the program, the classes, the faculty...but ultimately decided not to go into teaching and am now in another program in the Grad School of Ed.  I think you actually have the option to just do ESL.  Since you said you may have to go to a public institution, thought it might be worth looking into.  Here's the link to their program on the Grad School of Education's website:

http://gse.rutgers.edu/academics/genProgramsDetail~cguid~%7B1721B96F-AB0A-4A3E-A777-375A9939DF43%7D~ciid~dce_1097.asp

vjt730

honestly i wouldnt get your hopes up about getting it. I just tried to do this myself, i am unemployed as well.. i graduated with a business degree and i am going back for my teacher cert.. apparently this wavier is really only for people who are pursuing a career that is in demand.. plus if you already have a bachelors they pretty much deny you.. unless you have an associates and want your bachelors.. they told me i could put my name on a waiting list but it was over 2,000 people for new brunswick area alone.. i jumped through hoops all summer trying to get it and it was such a waste of time..

they really prefer to give it to people doing trade school thats a short period of time, like HVAC or CDL stuff thats easy to get the wavier...


I dont mean to disappoint you, but i was so upset wasting so much time..

mbcdefg

Come to think of it, a colleague of my dad's got some kind of education payment through unemployment. I don't know exactly what his situation was, but I *think* he already had a bachelor's degree in art, lost his job in the art field, and so he went back to school through unemployment to get a teaching certificate and now he's an art teacher.

Anyway, I know that NJCU offers a Master's in both Special Education and also in ESL (ESL is listed under the Multicultural Education degree hyperlink): http://www.njcu.edu/graduate/grad/programs.asp

They're having a graduate open house on October 7, and the $55 grad school application fee will be waived if you attend the open house: http://www.njcu.edu/i2e/news/news_details2.asp?CID=343 (I got the flyer in the mail about it because I'm an undergrad alumna of NJCU, and I'm thinking of going to grad school myself since I just got laid off).