Rural Illinois not a right to work state so the pay should not be this low unless of course Anna is a first or second year teacher. If that is so, she should gain significant income as the number of years and earned units kick in. This is unless of course she is at at a charter school. If she is, I would strongly recommend hopping over to a unified district. New teachers in central valley, small town California start at 44,000 but at top of the pay scale ( where I am) is 118,000 with full benefits and diasbility. Now a one bed room here to rent is $1400. Still, If a teacher puts the time in a union state with a nice pension plan it is a worthwhile occupation. I love my life and I love job. How often do you hear that from people? The key to making it financially at least in California is to hit the 30 years of service and 60 years old water mark, invest in a 403b even if you start out with $100, and take extra pay for extra duty gigs as others have suggested. Summer school, enrichment programs, home/hospital, credit recovery, subbing on your prep – these all ways to help pay off that debt more quickly.

It’s true they probably wont be able to keep this aid up to her forever, and at one point she will probably need to work on taking care of them. In the meantime, I am wondering if maybe she can move back in with her parents while she obtains a higher paying job and her degree.

I work in the UAE. I am British and a teacher and in the UK we too have similar low paid wages. Me and my husband, both teachers, movdled because we were chronically house poor, could make no head way with student loans or starting a family. We intended it to be two/three years but ten years later are still in Dubai. We have paid off our student loans, paid off 90% of the house that made us poor and built a great emergency fund and retirement… Plus two awesome kids. It’s not for everyone but I would say have a good think about it before you rule it out. Good packages have housing included (1 bed apartment), higher salaries and tax free with medical insurance, gratuity and annual return flight

Also: FilmRise, Plex, and FreeVee. (FreeVee used to be IMDb TV. Now it’s basically all the free stuff from Amazon Prime.)

I helped a family member get PSLF forgiveness, so please ask Mrs. FW for my contact information and I’d be happy to connect with you! Best of luck.

In a post below I mentioned Adveti. But it may be better to first try Emirates Schools Establishment (ESE). The salaries are not quite the highest you can get, but they are looking right now. Also register on teachaway.com.

I repeated Bella´s suggestion (which I missed on my first run-through, sorry) below. I´m familiar with salaries (K-12) in the UAE and (in tertiary) in Saudi and with living expenses in the Gulf. You could realistically pay off all your debts in around two years. Perhaps give some thought to giving up on PSLF? If the promise of PSLF keeps you stuck in underpaid work, PSLF is pushing on a string. You´d have to make sure you don´t overspend while overseas, though. Teaching overseas strikes me as a pre-burnout option. Are you really going to make it 10 years?
Middle East: Years 1 and 2 debt repayment (and a lil travel), optional Year 3 for a healthy emergency fund and a small downpayment for a house or investment fund (and a lil more travel). And you may love it. Or at least like it.

What I like about Donors Choose idea is that it adds a skill, essentially grant-writing, to her skill-set. If she wants to transition from the classroom, a successful pitch might interest future employers. It´s work, but there´s an additional pay-off.