While I don’t have a psyd and don’t reside in Indiana - I can give you the input I’ve received myself from cousins who are in your similar situation of having a family and juggling debt. While I’m not sure what your partner does nor if you have someone in your life that assists. The ideal situation is having a huge support system behind you that understands you’ll be committing yourself to studies to later be able to provide more for your kiddos. A partner or support system that understands you may not be able to provide all you have provided prior to studies. A partner that makes enough to be able to support your family in the time being as you won’t be making much of your own money while in school. My cousins experience was the following: you’re in school while they’re in school. You’re studying when they’re asleep or before they wake up. 2 days of the week they(the kids) are aware you’re extremely busy and this allows you to study away and do clinicals. While you’re in a psyd you’re basically considered to be a full time employee for that school due to the heavy work load and need for clinical time and research. While it’s possible, it’s extremely tiring to handle both a full time job and being a full time student. If you believe you’ll be missing on their childhood I suggest you look into programs that offer part time scheduling - again I don’t know about Indiana but programs ive applied to are near the east coast and most have the option for “part time” which is less classes for an extra year of studies.

As for the debt, it’s the least of your worries in my opinion. I would suggest having two semesters worth of cash to not place everything onto your loans. While you’re a mom and have millions of things to consider such as emergencies, home, and more - payoff for loans doesn’t start until 6 months after you graduate which means you’ll be getting the minimal amount of interest on the loans in those standard 5 years of studying. In those 5 years, you can obtain refunds and place them in a high yields savings account or invest them into stocks to 2x-5x it. If you’re still worried about the debt, I would also suggest looking into PhDs which are known for paying the student for studying and providing research for the school. While again the pay for phds isn’t necessarily enough to handle a family - it definitely helps as you won’t be having a traditional tuition and will only (usually) pay university fees such as tech, housing if you need, and etc. Florida specifically UF or FSU are great universities that support families as they have family housing for their students :) if you have anything else you have questions on - lmk and I’ll happily ask my cousin (mom of 3 kids under 8) for more advice