Paying for ABSN

[esunada]

So some of the programs seem to be in the $25,000 range for 16months. I know he max for stafford loans is around 12,500 for a year, so i'm curious how people cover the rest of it on top of personal expenses since supposedly we are not supposed to work during accelerated programs, or at least it's not recommended. How did you pay for yours? Private loans? I'm hoping not to get into immense debt. Do a lot of hospitals do signing bonuses anymore to cover some of the debt taken out?

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Esunada,

You are very wise to be concerned about student loan debt. If you have hung around AN very long, undoubtedly you have read many posts about new grads dealing with loan repayment problems.

In my part of the country, hiring bonuses for staff nurses stopped last year with rare exceptions for hard-to-fill highly experienced specialty positions. There are plenty of applicants showing up without any inducements at all, so I would imagine that this situation will continue for some time to come.

Your school financial aid folks should help you explore options, including some that are not widely known. There are still Federal loan-repayment programs for graduates who practice in (Federally designated) underserved areas. There may also be loan repayment schemes still left for nurses who work in the Indian Health Service hospitals. Rural hospitals sometimes have local scholarships for student nurses who agree to sign a work commitment for post-graduation. Of course, all of these sorts of schemes do require relocation for a while and this may not be an option for you.

Please be careful with incurring student loan debt. It is an obligation you cannot escape - not even with bankruptcy. In Tx, if you are in student loan arrears, you can't even renew your professional license.

[elkpark]

I agree that your school's financial aid office should be a great source of info and direction. Also, have you checked with your state? Many states have state-funded scholarship programs to encourage/assist state residents to go into nursing (my state has three different nursing scholarship programs). In some cases, you are able to "work off" the money after graduation instead of paying it back, which is a nice deal.