Should I get my Master's now or wait?

I’m graduating in December with my Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology with a minor in Criminal Justice. By then, I’ll have completed two internships with the probation and parole department where I live, so I’m hoping I can get a job with them.

I’ve always said I was going to go on and get my Master’s and maybe even one day my PhD (we’ll see…). However, by the time I graduate I’ll be $25K in debt with student loans. My guess is that I’ll only be making about $30K right out of school, so $300/month in loan payments is already pushing it. I don’t want to be $100K in debt by the time I’m done and not be able to afford my payments (or be paying for my entire life).

If I do attend a Master’s program, it’ll be completely online so I can work. I’m not quite sure what my major would be, and I guess it would really depend on the school. I’d have to do some research before making that decision. Are online graduate degrees looked upon the same way by employers? I don’t want to waste my time.

I’m not sure how financial aid works in grad school, but I do know that my husband’s income alone was enough to disqualify me for any grants and I’m having to completely rely on loans. He makes decent money, yes, but not enough to pay for school on top of our mortgage and everything that goes with it. I’ll be graduating with honors (around a 3.7 overall GPA, 4.0 major GPA), but good grades haven’t helped me up to this point, so I’m not sure they would afterward either.

Then again, it’s not like I’ll be making a huge dent in my student loans within the next few years, so why put it off? In a couple of years, I could have better earning potential with a graduate degree, right? So, would it be worth it in the long run?

What are your thoughts? I’m not asking you to make my decision for me, but I’m the first person in my family (or my husband’s) to get any college degree at all, so I’d like to get the input from educated people that know a thing or two about this. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.