Should I go back to school?

Deciding if you want to go back to school but have no idea what you’d do? Or maybe you have never been to school and you’re thinking of going for the first time. If you have been through school for any length of time and are thinking of returning, then read on.

In this post, I will give you some practical tips to help you determine if the investment of further education is worth it for your life journey.

Many of my clients wonder about the value of returning to school for a second or even third career, and so I think it's worth taking some time to answer this question here. Like so many answers, "it depends" will likely be a part of this post.

Before we get started on some of the details, I want you to ask yourself the following question:

Do I know what career I want to pursue next?

If you answered "No" to this question, then hold off on returning to school. Contrary to what higher ed may tell you, the time to discover your career path is not in the classroom. Statistics will show that 80% of students change their major at least once. And with this, changing your major doesn’t lengthen your time in college. So while there is wiggle room for making a decision while in school, once you know what you want to do, you can move forward with purpose.

So if you are unsure about your career goals, start by talking with a career counselor or explore some of the resources provided in this previous post.

If you do have a clear career goal in mind, and higher education is a part of that path. How do you decide if it's worth it?

In this case, we want to talk about the numbers. Start by researching following:

• How much is the education going to cost?

• What is the average yearly pay for the new career?

• How many years will I plan to work in this career?

After you answer these three questions, it's time for a short math equation:

Education cost < Average yearly pay x Years working

If it will cost you more to get the degree than you will make, then it may not be worth it for you to go back to school.

There are ways to reduce education cost and increase yearly pay though so I recommend seeing what resources you may have in your area to help fund your education or increase your worth to the company.

However, many of us may to consider more than just the financial costs/benefits of returning to school. We also want to pursue careers that give us purpose. There is value in jobs that give us meaning and energize us.

Sometimes, there is more to a "return on investment" with school beyond the money. If your goals are to pursue a deeper purpose and give back, then it weighs into the overall value of going to school. While the finances and time to complete school are important, it can be equally important to determine if this is something you want to do.

When we are content in a job, our overall health can improve as well leading to lower "life costs" that we would have otherwise paid-extra doctors bills, mental health counseling, or other medical services needed to get us through the week.

And now, we’ve reached my final tip in helping you make this decision:

Instead of asking yourself, "Should I go back to school?" Change it to, "Would returning to school be helpful for me in pursuing my career goals?"

When we ask ourselves "should" questions, we lead ourselves out of the land of choice and into a place of obligation.

Should thoughts often leave us feeling more guilty about not doing things. But, when we change our thoughts into the best choice for ourselves in the moment, we allow ourselves a little more room to explore.

So consider the information above. When you put together the cost, the goals, the satisfaction, etc. do you believe you are making the best choice for you? At the end of the day, thinking in terms of right/wrong doesn’t help. We can have doubts about right/wrong choices, but best choice thinking allows for doubt while we also make a decision.

Sometimes answering these questions alone can be difficult. If you would like help exploring your career goals, identifying the cost and benefit of returning to school, or help in identifying resources for further exploration, I would love to talk with you.