How Did You Pay for It?

Specialties NP

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Specializes in Med-surg, Critical Care.

I am scheduled to begin classes part-time at for my ANP/GNP in a few weeks. Doing a stafford student loan & only taking part-time coursework. The cost factor from Vanderbilt was the biggest concern for me & my husband, however, it is also the nearest university to me that offers the dual certification program I want which I hope will broaden my scope of practice & help with the job possibilities. I received a small scholarship but it was only applicable for full-time students, so I am going to use tuition reimbursement through the hospital I'm at which will pay up to 6 credit hours per semester. The rest I'm praying will be covered in loan repayment for nurses. I have spent many an hour online searching on nursing loan repayment sites to find info. As of right now, the only debt my husband and I have are our mortgage, three more months to pay on one vehicle, and just our regular utility/cell bills. No other debt, plus a nice little savings account that I do not want to dip into. How did everyone else do it? Student loans? Anyone doing a loan repayment? I'd love to hear from someone else's perspective on the financial aspects of going back to school...

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Specializes in ICU, ER, HH, NICU, now FNP.

http://www.salliemae.com

- student loans. A lot of the major banks have similar student loan programs for 25k to 40k student loans with various repayment options.

http://www.lrp.nih.gov/

National Institutes of Health Loan Repayment Programs

You might also check into a part time position as a TA at the university. You usually get free or reduced tuition in exchange and they generally pay you a stipend of some sort as well.

Even if you don't think you will qualify for grants or scholarships, apply for them anyway - you never know!

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Hi there ! I start next month and I plan to work 4 shifts a month....we have designated a certain amount of $$ each month to go into savings to prepare for the tuition due the next semester. If you have a "nice little savings account" it may hinder your ability to get a student loan. They look at all of your financial assets before deciding how much you can pay.

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Specializes in ICU, ER, HH, NICU, now FNP.

Thats the nice thing about Sallie Mae loans - they don't care how much money you make or anything else. It's mostly no questions asked as long as you have a co-signer OR you own a home and/or have some decent credit history. They don't care what you have in savings.

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I guess having done the student loan thing before (extensively) we are avoiding it all costs this time around. Fortunately we are at a place where it isn't much of a strain AND tuition is *very* affordable here in Tx. at state schools. I think my tuition and all of fees (including distance learning) were less than 2K. I will work my 4 shifts until it becomes impossible.

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Specializes in ICU, ER, HH, NICU, now FNP.

4 shifts a month should be very doable all the way through - especially if you can have some liberty as to how long in advance you are scheduling and that sort of thinig. I agree - TWU *IS* very affordable - for a fulltime load my tuition and fees has not generally exceeded 3k. The books I had to buy before the first clinical though were big bucks. However, they last you through the next three semesters so be sure to keep that in mind. Between buying books, software and some other things I needed I probably spent about 2500 prior to the first clinical semester starting!!! Granted I bought a few extras, but they have been very helpful.

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That is VERY helpful information to know so I can plan for those expenses. I knew books and such would be spendy but didn't plan on the extras for when clinicals start. Thanks again for the warning !

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Specializes in Med-surg, Critical Care.

I have done just a federal stafford loan. By just going part-time it was more than enough to cover tuition and books. I'm also utilizing the tuition reimbursement program my hospital offers, which will pay up to 6 credit hours of the local university's tuition rate, and with no work contract either. The rest I am hoping to have repaid through one of the loan repayment programs for nurses & NPs. Kentucky offers a couple, and I know their is the NHSC. I have already checked to see if my area qualifies and it does. Hopefully that will take care of the majority of my student loans.

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