How do you pay for it?

BB and Tom,

We were very careful to speak our faith words every morning when we woke up and every night before we went to bed.

Just kidding.

But seriously, it wasn't lost on me how unusally blessed we were. I only posted that to show that if it was possible for me to get a couple hundred bucks a semester in aid, then probably anyone could.

My wife already had her master's degree and a very good job when I met her. At the time, I was making about $600/month and living in a garage apartment. About the time we were married, the church bumped my salary to the $20K figure. I said it was part time. It was considered part time on the pay scale, but I logged 40+ hours weekly.

I had an hour commute to class each way and had to limit my classes to morning classes in order to get my hours in at church. It took me an extra year and the gasoline bills were ridiculous. (Suffice it to say, I wasn't overjoyed when profs would assign "group projects" or requiring reading from the reserved list.)

So yes, the income was helpful, but there were times when I wished we lived in Carrol Park, I had a volunteer internship somewhere, and my wife worked for FWISD.

 

You had me going for a moment!

Glad to hear it.

I just wish I had had the same type of experience with financial aid. After the Dilday firing, costs rose and financial assistance disappeared. The only things I ever requested were loans on partial tuition payments so that I could pay my upfront costs over the course of three months. Since I worked commission sales and sales were usually flat (or worse) during the summer months, I usually needed some help at the beginning of the Fall semester.

I don’t know if it was the same for everyone or if I got shafted because of the change in administration. I suspect that the seminary was just going through a financial crisis (that they publicly denied although it seemed evident on campus).