Great idea for a useful thread Donuel. I wish I could offer some more specific advice but I will say that going back to school right now is a good idea. For many it will be easier to get grants and loans than a decent job. In some cases you can get money to live on as well as for tuition and books and then fill in the gaps with a part time lower paying job, which might be all that's available anyway. Take advantage of the downtime to pick up a marketable skill and then hit the ground running when the economy starts to recover in a couple years.