If you are hoping to work in graphic design, you WILL have to know how to use Photoshop.
You're getting it for a great price. The latest version is CS2; list price is $649.
Photoshop has more features, and does have a steeper learning curve than Paint Shop Pro. I use PSP all the time in my job as a technical writer.
You can download a 30-day free trial version of Photoshop CS2:
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/tryout.html
My degree is Paralegal (post retirement thing) but I am creative and have always done graphic design type "stuff"