<prompt> Human: Hi rpersonal finance,As the title states, I am a 24 year old female who is working as an environmental scientist. I am two years out of school and made the awful mistake of going to a private liberal arts school. My experience and overall learning benefited but now my pockets dont. I am currently working a state job making 45k a year. I have the ability to go up to 88k but that wont be for at least 15 years. If I apply for higher up promotions I can make between 95-100k. My loans are mainly private, so the public forgiveness does not really influence me... maybe a couple thousand dollars. Recently I was offered an interview for a position as a research assistant at a university in New England. I would be getting my masters of science for free working under a professor. I have wanted to go back to school but definitely could not pay out of pocket for it. My work stopped paying for further education years ago. Now in my field, a masters doesnt necessarily mean higher pay at all. But I am constantly seeing job postings that require a masters. Would deferring my loans to go to graduate school for free not pay off in the end? The entire tuition is comped 55k plus health benefits and a stipend of 25k a year. Financially, should I pursue furthering my education or stay at my job that I do not enjoy that much but suck it up because of my loans.  <response>: I would go for it. I know financially in the short-term, it doesnt make a lot of sense to add interest and cut your pay, but free graduate school is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. A science masters isnt exactly something you can do part time while working at an older age. Youre only 24! Go for it and youll have a lifetime to figure out the couple of thousand in interest that youll accumulate.Like the other post said, make sure you dont have to actually continue paying on the private loans. If they can be put on hold, even with interest accumulating, I think its the right move. 