Very Important question about NP loans! Please help!

reznurse · Oct 31, 2007

i am in the same boat. i probably even sit next to you in pathology.

VivaRN · Oct 31, 2007

If your job is starting to jeopardize school or make you feel like you're just getting by, IMHO something's got to give. Your job is not worth you dropping out of the program. We were advised that after graduating we could continue "living poor" for a year or two and use the money from an NP salary to pay back loans. But then, I am a single, economical (ie, cheap) 24yo. Your situation may be different. You could go part time at work or school, or prn at work. That way you can keep your foot in the door if you want to work over breaks, or find yourself in a situation where you need money. Or you could find an area more prn and less stressful. Some of us make extra cash giving flu shots or training med students. It's not a bad way to live. You have to be willing to cut back on some of the niceties, but I'd rather be a great NP than so exhausted I can hardly learn. Sit down and budget. You can make it work if you have to.

Good luck!

BrandiannRN · Nov 1, 2007

You are in my pathology class? It's hard and I think if I had more time I could have an A instead of a B! So is 50,000 going to be that hard to pay back? Should I use the new grad plus loans? I have so many questions!!! Next semester I have policy and ethics, pharm, and health promotion.....

caldje · Nov 1, 2007

50,000 wont be hard to pay back. Be a good NP and dedicate yourself to studies. You won't be rich but you'll be a good NP and your patients will appreciate the sacrifice and hard work you put in, even if they never find out you did it, you will know you did everything you could to keep them healthier.

also look into the national health service corps and oklahoma state primary care clinician loan repayment.

Best of luck to you, and I feel your pain. :uhoh21:

prairienp · Nov 1, 2007

i'm currently in the fnp program at ouhsc in oklahoma. i have three years (with summers off) till i finish. i'm currently working full time in a level one trauma icu, and i'm thinking about quiting. the stress of the job and school is wearing on me, but i'm concerned about being in debt. if all goes well, i'll end up oweing about $50,000- $60,000 (keep in mind in oklahoma thats a lot of money). has anyone done this and been able to repay the loans? i graduated with my bsn with only $5000, so this in new territory for me. i appreciate any help or advice, and i realize that you have to do what you have to do, but should i just suck it up and continue to work? i know i could make straight a's in the program if i had more time....
brandi:o

you have already received some great advice on national health service, check out other potential loans such as ihs. you have summers off, i am thinking you can work as much as you want in the summer just filling in? take a locum job in northern cal for the summer, if family situation allows. look at being a ta or ra and having tuition waived, some students do one clinical with undergraduates every week for tuition waivers. my priorities have always been 1. family 2. school 3. work. success in the first two result in success in work.

Dixiecup · Nov 3, 2007

I'm going to end up oweing about $90,000! Because I took all the extra I could get, and I also work full time! To quote Scarlet O'hara "I won't think about that today, I'll think about that tomorow". I'll just cross that bridge when I come to it.

I'm hoping to work in a rural clinic when I graduate, the government will pay off a good portion of my loan if I do that for a a set amount of years.

amberfnp · Nov 3, 2007

Dixiecup~~

$90,000??? Wow! That figure makes me wonder if I have done some errors in my calculations for how much grad school will cost! That seems really high. Where do you go to school?

Dixiecup · Nov 3, 2007

St. Louis University (SLU) in St. Louis, Mo. I think it's one of the most expensive schools in Mo but it's totally online so I can cont. to work full time.

It's $768 a credit hour. The $90,000 number includes my 2 years of BSN schooling also. If I would only have taken what the actual cost of school is I would probably only owe about $60,000 but I took the unsubsidized portion also, that was just money to play with. It was there for the taking so I took it!

amberfnp · Nov 3, 2007

I never thought to add up the total for all of the classes I have taken to get through nursing school(s). That would be an interesting #, between pre-reqs for 3 different nursing programs at a community college (classes too numerous to count!), RN diploma school (estimated $9500), then RN-BSN (roughly $5000 plus books/supplies)...and now MSN. I'd have to get back to ya on that and it would only be an estimate...but the MSN, tuition and fees only, no books, potential trips to the school (Virginia to Alabama) and other extras, I have figured to be around $11,000 at this years rates.

The loan thing...I took the max amount of loans I could get in my diploma program and BSN. I found in the diploma program I didn't need all of it due to all of the financial aid I didn't realize I would get. While I used some for help with living expenses, I spent more than I needed to and REGRET it now. I wish I had just paid it back in, or not taken that much out. My undergrad loans could probably be paid off, or almost paid off by now. Be careful!

Mahage, LPN · Nov 3, 2007

Ohh Loans, whew boy! I have taken out private in addition to stafford. I will probably be dead by the time they are all paid off! I considered cRNA school but am affraid that I would perish while not working for two and a half years, plus the clinical hours required would probably overwhelm this old gal! Well I gotta get off these darn boards and finish a paper or two.

Mahage

I never thought to add up the total for all of the classes I have taken to get through nursing school(s). That would be an interesting #, between pre-reqs for 3 different nursing programs at a community college (classes too numerous to count!), RN diploma school (estimated $9500), then RN-BSN (roughly $5000 plus books/supplies)...and now MSN. I'd have to get back to ya on that and it would only be an estimate...but the MSN, tuition and fees only, no books, potential trips to the school (Virginia to Alabama) and other extras, I have figured to be around $11,000 at this years rates.
The loan thing...I took the max amount of loans I could get in my diploma program and BSN. I found in the diploma program I didn't need all of it due to all of the financial aid I didn't realize I would get. While I used some for help with living expenses, I spent more than I needed to and REGRET it now. I wish I had just paid it back in, or not taken that much out. My undergrad loans could probably be paid off, or almost paid off by now. Be careful!