Nervous About Paying for School

Nurses General Nursing

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Hi Everyone!!! I'm sure some where on here there is a thread that could answer my question but I surely have not found it yet. I am currently getting my BS in Psychology and then I'm either doing the accelerated BSN program or the AS program (because of the cost difference). My only dilemma is that I'm almost pretty much maxed on my Direct loans at the $31,000 because unfortunately my mom is a single mother and doesn't make enough to help me with tuition. I had to move to go to school and I'm now living on my own and going to school full time while working a part time (with full time hours) job. I've done the research and I've read that since I'm at the maximum borrowing limit that I won't be able to borrow any more money. Has anyone else encountered this and if so, please tell me how to deal with it!!! I know this sounds like another sob story but I'm actually telling the truth. I've pretty much worked since I was 15 and never thought I'd be graduating with a BS in anything! But my ultimate goal is to become a Psychiatric Nursing so after a couple years in the nursing field, I was going to back and get my Master's probably in Counseling Psychology or even Nursing. But right now, the cost and having no money is really discouring me of becoming a nurse, period.! Hope you ALL can help and give me words of wisdom because I could surely use it!

Specializes in Hospice.

I agree, Ive maxed out in federal loans here in GA at $65000+, and Sallie mae has always kicked in to loan money when I had no other options.

Specializes in Med-Surg, Geriatrics, Wound Care.

I got student loans through a PNC loan for Medical and Health Professionals. I quit work to begin nursing school, so was unable to qualify for the loans after the first year (no cosigners could qualify). But, the year I was financed, I had an excellent interest rate (I believe FIXED, under 3%).

While a BSN is preferred to an ADN, you may want to call around at the locations you are interested in and ask if they hire ADNs (or ADNs with a psych working/educational background). While many hospitals seeking (or possessing) Magnet status will be much less likely to hire an ADN, other places may. You can also talk to the people at the nursing schools you are interested in (especially the ADN programs) and find out which locations regularly (and currently) hire their graduates (as well as information regarding how many of their graduates have nursing jobs withing x time frame). It may not be easy to get a straight answer, though.

If you are living away from your parents, you are considered independant and the cap on federal loan limits is way higher than $31,000. I want to say it's closer to $57,000. The federal government sets the cap limit, not the state you live in. You won't be able to get any grants because you will have obtained a Bachelors degree already, but you should still be able to get federal student loans.

Your situation sounds exactly like mine. Single mom can't help pay for my college with bad credit either. Took out LOADS of loans. Got a BA in English in 2006. Went to law school for a year. Dropped out (passed all my classes, but hated every second of it...). Got a job working at Fidelity Investments in Jax. Worked there for several years. My loan balance was $79k. My monthly payments were almost $900 a month. Now, I find myself in Fort Myers with my husband. I worked for a bank for a while making less than at Fidelity. Got laid off last year. Loans in deferment while I take prereqs. Got accepted into the Associates program down here...waiting to hear from the BSN program I applied to. I am embarrassed about my loan balance. I feel like such a fool for taking out so many loans. Think long and hard before taking out more loans for another program. Go to the cheapest option for BSN or associates. I would advise against private schools as they are so much more expensive. Edison college will cost about $12k for the ENTIRE 2 year program. I can make that working a part time job. The Bachelor's program (Florida Gulf Coast) will cost about 15k for the whole program. That is including uniforms, books, tuition etc. Living down here is cheap. We live in a $500 apt. Check out Woodhollow apartments over by Hodges...I lived there for cheap for a while. I refuse to take out more loans...I worked so hard on my prereqs to make sure I could get into a public school.

SO to really answer your question. Its hard to pay back loans. Think about how much you will have to make per year to keep up with your monthly payments and not feel depressed about it. Nelnet has an AWESOME website. I like them way more than Sallie Mae. They let you make principle payments online whenever you want, whereas Sallie Mae makes that info hard to find (apparently you need to make at least double your monthly payment, so if you usually pay $200 a month, you would need to pay $401 for a $201 payment to go to principle. You can send a check, but good luck with them crediting it where it is supposed to go. NELNET 4tw.

Consider a worst case scenario...you graduate with a BSN but can only find a job making $50k a year. If you have $1000 a month in student loan payments, you could still live on that. But you will be making those payments for 20 years. Of course, all this depends on how much in loans you have now, how much you will have after your BSN program (I assume you are considering Jax U).

Sorry for the long post. This topic is close to my heart. Getting loans isn't the hard part. Its paying them back. That part really REALLY sucks. PM me if you have Q's.

Specializes in Trauma, ER, ICU, CCU, PACU, GI, Cardiology, OR.

i totally agree with all previous post. however, in my case during my nursing program i volunteered to work the baylor/shift, it allowed me to work fri,sat,and sun. and get paid for 40hrs. having said that, the baylor shift is still around in some facilities, and trust me if you go to your manager and tell her/him that you're willing to work the weekends he/she would love you for it, since it's the hardest shifts to cover. certainly, this will allow you to work or go to school and be able to pay your loans and personal spending. however, you must be ready to give up your social life, like i did for the duration of my nursing program, but it was worth it. besides if your friends are truly real friends, they will understand. wishing you the best always... aloha~

Also, private loans (sallie mae, nelnet, wells fargo, pnc, etc.) are not covered by any of the new income-based repayment programs. These programs are for federal loans only (direct loans). With the IBR and pell grant, you could possibly work 10 years in a public nursing facility, and then get your loans forgiven (taxable income in the year they get forgiven, though!). But with private loans, you pay them back no matter what (unless your job offers some assistance). Also, student loans are rarely discharged in bankruptcy proceedings. Credit card debt...mortgages...very possible to get rid of those. Student loans? Sorry. I do not agree with "student loans are good debt". Not to mention many private loan programs have fees that can add $1000 or so onto your loan balance. So your $22,500 loan is now really $24,000. What?!

Specializes in ..

I'll give a synopsis of a thread I contributed to, but I'd suggest reading the comments via this link: https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-student/need-advice-current-685282.html

Basically, a student should weigh the financial value of education to see if student loans, private schools, or less expensive state schools or community colleges make sense. It's all a very personal and individual decision.

My own philosophy is to avoid debt if at all possible. Unless you're planning to do research or teach it's unlikely your undergrad (or even grad) school matters as far as your earnings potential/ employment possibilities. Even if you do eventually want to teach or do research, you'll have to have experience as a nurse before you can apply to grad schools, so doing the less expensive schools makes sense, there, too. Then get an MSN and/ or DNP or PhD from a highly ranked, (expensive) university. But, by then, you'll have saved enough money to pay a good portion (or all) of your expenses.

It's difficult not to want a diploma from UPenn or Vanderbilt decorating your wall, but unlike an MBA or law degree from a similar school, it's not going to make you more employable, increase your opportunities, or change your salary. The reality is, (unfortunately or fortunately, depending on your situation) a nurse who has a diploma from a two year program has the same opportunites and similar salary as a BSN grad from an top tier school. It's rather like buying a car--the Kia will get you there as well as the Mercedes.

Specializes in medical surgical.

Do not plan on making 50k right out of nursing school. Not going to happen in this part of the country. Hospitals are on hiring freezes. Also if you are working right now they are doing everything possible to cut overtime. I used to depend on overtime to help with bills. It no longer exists (at least in my part of the US)

I would find it very hard to believe that you have maxed out! As long as you are pursuing a different degree you should be able to borrow more through FAFSA.

Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.

It really scares me when I see these posts from people who have substantial debt and are looking to go deeper in debt by going to nursing school. Suppose you get the loan for school. Now you've added on possibly 20K or more to the debt you already have. What will you do if you graduate and can't get a job for months, even a year or more? How will you make your payments? What if you get that job but become seriously ill or injured and cannot work for an extended period of time?

I appreciate that people have dreams. But in this economy, you can't afford to just go with your dreams. The job market is tough out there. Do you really want to be deeply indebted for 20y or more? That's a long time to go without vacations, a nice place to live, etc. Think long and hard before you decide to incur more debt. I wish Suzy Orman had a forum here.

Just wanted to say if you go to community college and do well WITHOUT A BA there is a ton of scholarship money available. I mean, you can do your nursing prereqs at community college then transfer to a four year school to finish up and the cost will be minimal. I am doing this now (but already have a degree so am not eligible for the scholarships the honor society adviser keeps emailing me about). I joined the honor society at the community college and get big name schools sending me marketing materials to my house every week. My parents are proud, but it is disheartening for me I graduated with a ton of debt when I could have just done this from the beginning.

Specializes in Critical Care.

I remember back when I first went back to college in the early 80's, the state university had a meeting for adult returning students and basically told everyone first you get your BA/BS then you will probably have to go on to get technical training to get a job. Thought it was odd back then, why get a BA/BS and then have to go on for tech training?

But I met many young grads who were working as secretaries, taxi drivers, security, etc. that didn't require a college degree. It was one of the reasons I chose nursing because you could make a living wage, secretaries not so much. Why encourage so many students and people to get a BA/BS and taking out student loans when probably the majority of them won't get a job that pays a living wage? Why not just get the tech training in the beginning (public non-profit community colleges) and skip the time and expense of going to the university.

I don't encourage people to go into nursing, it is a very difficult, stressful and yes dangerous job! From the stress of neverending alarms, people pulling at you from every direction, being the go to person when everyone else refuses to do their job ie CNA's, housekeepers, HUC's. You'll find yourself saddled with their work on top of your own and then be micromanaged if you punch in a minute late or don't get out on time, which is impossible with the workload of increasingly sick patients! Risks of contagious diseases hep c, hiv, H1N1 and the even more dangerous risks of a serious injury to your back, neck or shoulders due to the lack of lifting equipment in most hospitals! It took a federal law to get safe needles in the hospitals and it appears it will take a federal law to get adequate lift equipment in all the hospitals!

Are you sure you want to be a nurse? Consider Ultra sound tech, resp tech, not XRAY tech because they are flooded already. If you go the tech route thru a non-profit community college you could be working much sooner, bringing in money to pay off your student loans and then if you wanted to still go back for nursing you could get tuition reimbursement from your employer. But be on the lookout because on one hand they offer tuition reimbursement, but on the next they try to take it away by writing people up for petty reasons and walla they'll rescind your tuition reimbursement!

As a tech you have a particular, defined job! It's your job and no one elses. Where as a nurse you are supposed to do everything, nothing is outside your scope (other than the dr). So you have ultimate responsibility for everything and everyone but no real authority over anything. You have to beg to just get staff, for working equipment, to go home and not be mandated because they are short as usual and it is so much cheaper to mandate you than pay agency!

I would avoid private student loans at all costs, stick with govt loans, private loans are even worse than govt loans, there is no income based repayment plans. If your mom cosigned for a private loan she would be liable to pay it back, even if you died unexpectedly and the govt now garnishes up to 15% of a person's social security or disability if a person still has or has cosigned outstanding loans by the time they have retired or became disabled. Student loans have become the most dangerous loans out there so if you have to take them up, be very cautious and stick with govt loans only!

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