Tuition Forgiveness

[JenABSN]

Hello Everyone!

I am an ABSN student at UNC-Chapel Hill and I am trying to figure out financial aid and am looking for hospitals that offer tuition repayment or forgiveness and how exactly this would work?

Thank you!!!

Jennifer

[MagnesiuM]

well, there's two things that hospitals can/may do for you:

one is tuition reimbursement: while you are in school, the hospital you work for reimburses you for each passing semester, as long as you show them proof of certain grades. usually, this comes with some kind of caveat, where you have to work for the hospital for x amount of time (usually 1 year) after you graduate, or else you have to pay back the money. there are hospitals out there, like in madison WI where i used to live, that don't make you pay it back if you leave, as long as you don't quit mid-semester or anything....god i loved that hospital.....

tuition forgiveness: this is when the FIRST hospital you work for after you graduate from nursing school repays your student loans that you accrued for your nursing degree only, up to a certain maximum amount, distributed to you over a certain period of time....usually a few years.....during which you of course work for said hospital.... i have not heard of hospitals that do this for anyone who is coming to work for them as a second, third, fourth, twentieth nursing job.....usually it's only if you're coming to them as a new grad....

o, with tuition reimbursement: there's usually a maximum amount per year based of FT or PT status, and usually it doesn't kick in until you've worked at the hospital for x months....usually 6 months.

'm planning on moving out of state the minute i graduate, so i'm not able to take advantage of tuition reimbursement at my hospital, unfortunately....but if you work at a hospital now, and don't plan on moving out of city/state after you graduate, it would be good to stay on at that hospital and get your stuff paid off.....

or cast about for a hospital that will pay off your loans post-grad as your first job....call the human resources departments of the hospitals in your area and ask for the nurse recruiter. they'll be more than happy to explain the benefits of working there :-)

good luck!

[missjennmb]

Fingers crossed that my hospital has something like this. I assume they would go over this kind of thing during orientation right?

[justme1972]

Fingers crossed that my hospital has something like this. I assume they would go over this kind of thing during orientation right?

There is usually a limit to it, and you have to sign a contract, but here is the catch:

Most hospitals don't allow you to choose which department you work in if you have one of these agreements....so, if you are ok with that, then by all means sign, but if there are a couple of departments that you would rather die than go to, especially if those departments are having trouble staying staffed, then you need to think long and hard about it.

[MagnesiuM]

Fingers crossed that my hospital has something like this. I assume they would go over this kind of thing during orientation right?

yes, they would go over it....you can always ask about it, too....

i would assume that you're already hired for a specific unit, so i wouldn't worry that much about working anywhere in the hospital.....as a brand new nurse, they won't float you right away, and after orientation, well....you'll float as much as anyone else! if they're going to move you around a lot, that would be understood before you got on the floor, too....just ask your orientation person.

good luck!

[missjennmb]

I'll have to see what areas they have staffing issues with. I think I"m ok with pretty much anything other than labor/delivery and hopefully enough people want to get into that area that it wouldn't be a high candidate. My hospital has a 100+ bed children's hospital and I'm hoping to go that route eventually, so maybe I'll get lucky.

I guess what I'm willing to put up with just depends on how long I have to put up with it. :) I can do a couple of years somewhere unpleasant, as long as its not a department I hate for 10 yrs or something crazy. But then, once I've been there awhile I'm sure i'll know more about the good/bad units to be on.

[tothepointeLVN, LVN]

I wonder if other than lack of choice fo unit if you also loose something in the negotiation process. i.e your starting pay is less. Things that will add up to a loss long term.

[missjennmb]

good point. I'll definitely do my research before going forward with anything. Really if it helps me after I've graduated, it wont be much of a benefit, but if it helps me get through school when I would otherwise be struggling, it will be much more tempting.

[tothepointeLVN, LVN]

Just be aware of what your giving up in return