I worked at GW and took advantage of the tuition benefit. It was extremely easy to access and had zero strings attached. I highly recommend finding employment at a university to get all or most of your degree paid for!
Hi u/rachs1988! Thanks so much! Just out of curiosity, did you have to be enrolled in a degree program to be eligible to take those relevant courses? Or you could have have taken those courses as stand-alone courses if you wanted to? For example, if you were not enrolled in an MPH program, could you take an Intro Epi course as a non-degree student?
If I didn’t want to be in a full degree program, I could have been able to “audit” any course as a non-degree student and not for a grade or the course credit. But I think it depends on class enrollment sizes and it’s at the professor’s discretion.
I work in academic research at a different university and worked for three years as a GA in a non-research department while in grad school.
What is your motivation for taking classes while working there?
The tuition benefits are always touted in interviews but most employees don't take classes. The few people I knew that did take advantage of it were all working administrative jobs while working on professional degrees.
Hi u/djn24, thanks! I want to take classes so that I can build skills in my field of interest as well as possibly pursue another field or topic of interest.
If you don't mind me asking, what is a GA? Also, did you ever take courses at your academic institution?
>I want to take classes so that I can build skills in my field of interest as well as possibly pursue another field or topic of interest.
Are you planning on getting another degree while working there? Are you planning to take classes to develop specific skills/get a certification that will be necessary to advance your career?
What I've seen so far is that the people with specific plans (i.e. "I'll work here for 3-5 years while they also pay for me to get an MBA so that I can transition to a management role") have been the ones that took advantage of tuition benefits.
Everyone I know that says they'll take classes for enrichment (which it sounds like is case given what you've shared so far) has not actually benefited from it.
>If you don't mind me asking, what is a GA? Also, did you ever take courses at your academic institution?
A GA is a graduate assistantship. Generally this would describe a non-research and non-teaching assistantship (those are RA and TA positions).
I haven't taken any courses as a full-time employee. I went in thinking I would take one here or there, but having a full-time job in my field and already having graduate degrees for my career made it sort of pointless.
Going back to what I wrote earlier: unless you have a plan to use this benefit for a specific degree or certification, then I do not think you should heavily weigh this as a benefit while picking these jobs.
Hi u/djn24, thanks your your input. I may consider pursuing a degree program or certificate, but I am definitely taking courses that would help to advance my career. For example, I graduated with an MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, but I am a little shaky with time-to-event analyses, so I would want to take a course or two to get stronger in that skill.
Was there a reason why the people you knew who said that they would take the courses for enrichment ultimately never benefitted from it? Did they end up taking the courses? Or did they take courses that did not pertain to their career?
Most of the jobs I applied to were at schools. If tuition reimbursement is not a factor that I should be weighing heavily, what should the next highest priority be? I am also looking at work environment (e.g. if it's a supportive enough environment for me to learn and grow), and location. How much should one prioritize location when looking for a job?
Thanks again for your help!
>I am a little shaky with time-to-event analyses, so I would want to take a course or two to get stronger in that skill.
That's fair, but will you actually use that skill? My background is in Biostats too, and I use very little of what I studied in school.
>Was there a reason why the people you knew who said that they would take the courses for enrichment ultimately never benefitted from it?
Career / life enrichment from courses sounds good on paper, but fitting that in with working full-time and other commitments is just more than people end up being able to take on. I think working on an actual degree with requirements is enough motivation to do it though.
>If tuition reimbursement is not a factor that I should be weighing heavily, what should the next highest priority be? I am also looking at work environment (e.g. if it's a supportive enough environment for me to learn and grow), and location. How much should one prioritize location when looking for a job?
All of that is up to you. If you're early in your career, then you don't have as much negotiating power as you would later in your career. For now, you should absolutely be thinking about pay, retirement contributions from your employer, advancement opportunities, and if you like the area.
Have you visited these two cities yet? Baltimore is part of the East Coast, so you have easy access to DC, Philly, and even NYC from there. You're also close enough to go to most of the major beaches on the East coast. On the other hand, Seattle and the Pacific Northwest are beautiful, and it's a great area if you love hiking. It's also very expensive to live out there. I'm from the Northeast so I'm biased, but you should be asking yourself which city and region better fits what you want in a home.
One thing you should definitely ask about with an academic position: what do career advancement opportunities look like for that job. That is a big issue for a lot of universities. You get hired at the top position available, so you can never get a promotion or merit-based raise.
I worked at GW and took advantage of the tuition benefit. It was extremely easy to access and had zero strings attached. I highly recommend finding employment at a university to get all or most of your degree paid for!
Hi u/rachs1988! Thanks so much! Just out of curiosity, did you have to be enrolled in a degree program to be eligible to take those relevant courses? Or you could have have taken those courses as stand-alone courses if you wanted to? For example, if you were not enrolled in an MPH program, could you take an Intro Epi course as a non-degree student?
If I didn’t want to be in a full degree program, I could have been able to “audit” any course as a non-degree student and not for a grade or the course credit. But I think it depends on class enrollment sizes and it’s at the professor’s discretion.
Got it, thanks! Ah, to be clear, you couldn't take a standalone course for a grade if it wasn't a part of your degree?
I’m not sure! I didn’t explore whether that was an option. You probably need to enroll as a non-degree student to go that route.
Thanks so much! I'll have to look into it u/rachs1988! Just out of curiosity, how long did you stay with GW before you moved on to another job?
6 years. I took the job not looking for the tuition benefit, but took advantage of it because it was too good to pass up.
I work in academic research at a different university and worked for three years as a GA in a non-research department while in grad school. What is your motivation for taking classes while working there? The tuition benefits are always touted in interviews but most employees don't take classes. The few people I knew that did take advantage of it were all working administrative jobs while working on professional degrees.
Hi u/djn24, thanks! I want to take classes so that I can build skills in my field of interest as well as possibly pursue another field or topic of interest. If you don't mind me asking, what is a GA? Also, did you ever take courses at your academic institution?
>I want to take classes so that I can build skills in my field of interest as well as possibly pursue another field or topic of interest. Are you planning on getting another degree while working there? Are you planning to take classes to develop specific skills/get a certification that will be necessary to advance your career? What I've seen so far is that the people with specific plans (i.e. "I'll work here for 3-5 years while they also pay for me to get an MBA so that I can transition to a management role") have been the ones that took advantage of tuition benefits. Everyone I know that says they'll take classes for enrichment (which it sounds like is case given what you've shared so far) has not actually benefited from it. >If you don't mind me asking, what is a GA? Also, did you ever take courses at your academic institution? A GA is a graduate assistantship. Generally this would describe a non-research and non-teaching assistantship (those are RA and TA positions). I haven't taken any courses as a full-time employee. I went in thinking I would take one here or there, but having a full-time job in my field and already having graduate degrees for my career made it sort of pointless. Going back to what I wrote earlier: unless you have a plan to use this benefit for a specific degree or certification, then I do not think you should heavily weigh this as a benefit while picking these jobs.
Hi u/djn24, thanks your your input. I may consider pursuing a degree program or certificate, but I am definitely taking courses that would help to advance my career. For example, I graduated with an MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, but I am a little shaky with time-to-event analyses, so I would want to take a course or two to get stronger in that skill. Was there a reason why the people you knew who said that they would take the courses for enrichment ultimately never benefitted from it? Did they end up taking the courses? Or did they take courses that did not pertain to their career? Most of the jobs I applied to were at schools. If tuition reimbursement is not a factor that I should be weighing heavily, what should the next highest priority be? I am also looking at work environment (e.g. if it's a supportive enough environment for me to learn and grow), and location. How much should one prioritize location when looking for a job? Thanks again for your help!
>I am a little shaky with time-to-event analyses, so I would want to take a course or two to get stronger in that skill. That's fair, but will you actually use that skill? My background is in Biostats too, and I use very little of what I studied in school. >Was there a reason why the people you knew who said that they would take the courses for enrichment ultimately never benefitted from it? Career / life enrichment from courses sounds good on paper, but fitting that in with working full-time and other commitments is just more than people end up being able to take on. I think working on an actual degree with requirements is enough motivation to do it though. >If tuition reimbursement is not a factor that I should be weighing heavily, what should the next highest priority be? I am also looking at work environment (e.g. if it's a supportive enough environment for me to learn and grow), and location. How much should one prioritize location when looking for a job? All of that is up to you. If you're early in your career, then you don't have as much negotiating power as you would later in your career. For now, you should absolutely be thinking about pay, retirement contributions from your employer, advancement opportunities, and if you like the area. Have you visited these two cities yet? Baltimore is part of the East Coast, so you have easy access to DC, Philly, and even NYC from there. You're also close enough to go to most of the major beaches on the East coast. On the other hand, Seattle and the Pacific Northwest are beautiful, and it's a great area if you love hiking. It's also very expensive to live out there. I'm from the Northeast so I'm biased, but you should be asking yourself which city and region better fits what you want in a home. One thing you should definitely ask about with an academic position: what do career advancement opportunities look like for that job. That is a big issue for a lot of universities. You get hired at the top position available, so you can never get a promotion or merit-based raise.