Submitted by GoldFuzzy t3_11mw6e2 in personalfinance
My employer is offering me tuition reimbursement at 5200 per semester, or 15.6k per year, however it comes with the caveat of a 5 year forgiveness period. As in, if I quit as soon as I get my degree, I owe them 100% of their cost back, if I leave after 1 year, I owe them 80% back, if I leave after 2 years, I owe them 60% back, so on). Effectively, locking me to this job for 2 years to finish my degree, +5 years to not have to re-pay it.
My job is great and my benefits are even better, but I feel like my wage is stagnating. Part of me wants to take the reimbursement and go back to my state online school for 2 more years to finish my bachelor's degree (currently have an associates), but I'm scared the 5 year forgiveness period is too long. I partly feel like I'm being paid too low now, and the raises are not very good here, so I don't expect to be paid very much more between now and those next 7 years. I save enough to be comfortable (networth ~90k), but I don't really feel like I'm meeting my financial goals.
more info:
- age: 25
- job: system support specialist
- salary: 50k
- LOCL, very rural area
benefits:
- ~60 days off per year (15 vacation, 12 sick, 2 personal, 12 fridays, 17 holidays, weather days)
- great healthcare: only have to spend 1900 dollars to pay premiums and meet OOP for the year
- remote work: 2 days remote work per week
- milage reimbursement: I get paid 65c per mile on all miles I drive away from my house. I drive an old jetta, spend ~200 per month on gas, and get reimbursed ~750 per month in mileage.
- college reimbursement: 15000 per year tuition reimbursement (5 year forgiveness period)
- great working conditions
- have known my boss since I've been 15 years old
if I try to calculate the 'value' of my benefits, I come up with:
- salary: 50k
- healthcare costs compared to my state's average: +4k value (possible big underestimate)
- time off vs usa average: +10k value
- 100% of miles reimbursed: +5k value
- tuition reimbursement: +15k value
so although my wage is small, the actual 'value' of my job is much higher, 84k if you consider the numbers above to be accurate.
I'm just very conflicted, I feel like I could be setting myself behind by locking myself in here for the next 7 years. If I job-hop, I can likely earn more, but I'm scared any new jobs will be lower in value and likely will have worse working conditions.
Any input would be appreciated, is a 5 year forgiveness period on these things normal?
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edit:
To answer a few common questions from comments:
- it's a degree in cybersecurity analytics and operations from penn state
- I don't believe I have to repay tuition if they fire me, to quote the contract: "Tuition Repayment will be as follows if you voluntarily separate employment with [company]:"
- repayment timer should start as I get reimbursed for each semester, not after I get the degree. So the first reimbursement I get should be at 60% by the time I graduate.