Just a general survey: About how much debt are ya'll, if any, looking at upon graduation?
I calculated what I think I might end up owing when I graduate, which ended up being somewhere around $35,500. I thought I was going to get by with $19k, but after summer school, Stafford loans, and pulling $8k out of somewhere after my 4 year scholarship ends, that's where it may very well end up. I would like to buy a house after I graduate and buy a car for myself (because I know I have gone long enough without one), but money is going to be stretched making loan repayments. On top of that, I would like to purse my Master degree in Public Health and Health Informatics, but if I'm not at a place that offer tuition reimbursement, then that's a shot plan. Ergh, what do ya have to do, sell your soul to pay off debt?!
There are always outside scholarships, but they aren't a sure thing and don't cover the full cost.
I know I'm not the only one, so feel free to share financial woes.
I had zero debt when I got my ADN: I went to the local CC for my degree. It took a lot of budget tightening but it was possible. And it was a big relief not to have debt, given how crappy the job market was (and still is) and how long it took me to find a job. I didn't have it hanging over my head.
I'll have zero debt with my BSN as well, since I'm working full-time and taking courses part-time. Still requires some budget tightening and postponing graduation until 2012, but it will be worth it.
There are ways to get through four year universities without debt. I'm outraged at the bad advice your advisor gave you and that other people weren't more help to you. I hope this post doesn't feel like dumping on you, but am risking that because I want other people who are where you were to hear a different perspective than you heard.
My husband did it by taking longer than usual to get through school so he could earn enough as he went. He also picked an affordable four year university.
My daughter has done it faster than usual at one of the better state schools primarily by maxing out the options for lowering costs, then working for the rest. She did things like took her first year of college while a high school senior through dual enrollment, maxed out what she could transfer from a community college, maxed out what she could CLEP. Being an RA paid for her room and board. She used four libraries (the community college, the university, and the public library in each town) and interlibrary loan to borrow as many books as she could instead of buying them, became an expert on the best timing for buying books on Amazon and similar websites. She made finding and applying for scholarships her second (or sometimes third) job for a few years and got some scholarships, not a whole lot but enough to be worth putting that time into it.
I plan to graduate from a community college, then from a four year university. I worked for a while to save up before I started taking classes. Then took one or two classes at a time while continuing to work. I currently have enough set aside for both the associates and the bachelors. When I start taking classes at the more expensive school I'll apply for some scholarships and hopefully that will allow me to save some of my savings for a masters. If I don't get any, I plan to either take a little longer or shift my work/volunteer balance more toward the work side until I have enough.
I did EXACTLY what your daughter did! (I almost thought you were describing me lol). But seriously, its soo good to see another young person, like me take responsibility of their finances to make things more affordable. Makes me happy! As for myself, I won an 18,000 scholarship my seinor year. So to strech it out as far as I could, I started the first 2.5 years at a community college. Then took the remaining 14,000 for the BSN program at an affordable, less known public school (my program is a 6 semester program, ugh!). And I did EVERYTHING your daughter did as well! My parents did have to pay 12,000 for whatever my scholarship couldn't cover, BUT next semester (my last semester), i got a scholarship that will pay for everything! So I will be a 23 year old graduate with ZERO DEBT! Pretty awesome! All the sacrifices made were TOTALLY worth it. Now I can buy a car, splurge a little, do some traveling and not feel guilty about it. Your daughter won't regret it!
For the ones graduating without any debt, are you coming out of 4 year universities or community colleges? I imagine if I went to a community college too I wouldn't be in this predicament.
I go to a 4 year state university, because when I started, there were no community colleges around. I feel very blessed with no debt load. Thank you scholarships, grants, my parents and my jobs.
I feel like a failure right now. I always thought I could save money, but going to this school, which isn't the most expensive by the way but seems so, makes me think I dug a hole for myself. I wish I would have done it some other way, but what is done is done. I wanted to avoid loans as I took a class about finance in high school and knew the evils. I paid the difference between tuition and financial aid myself with the little money from work study I got for my freshman year. The next year wasn't so easy as they switched to the semester system which meant more money at one time that I didn't have in my measly bank account. I took out the subsidized Stafford loans since then. No private loans. My parents do not take out their part of the loans because A) they don't need too since I'm staying at home and don't need all that money B) credit probably wouldn't be approved and C) I didn't want them to be in debt. They have contributed nothing toward my college education and everything I do I do on my own. I've always bought books cheap online (except my first year before I knew better). My family EFC is 0 (we are pretty damn poor) and I max out everything, including work-study to keep going. You would figure with that I wouldn't have as many loans. I have worked at my work-study job since my first quarter there in 2007 to pay for my books, tuition fees, nursing products, prepaid phone I skimp on using, bus fare and whatever other small items I may need. it works for me since I can go to work right after class and don't have to ride the bus for another hour to go to work somewhere else. I have missed out on having a car for 3.5 years and dutifully rode the bus on 90 min trips in rain, snow, cold, and heat, making myself get up at 5:30 (sometimes 4:30) each morning because it would save me money and help me reach my goal. I do hate it, especially when I'm late for class or work, but I have done it this long. I get home late, but still managed to keep a 3.87 GPA because I studied on the bus. Work-study is ok and is enough for what I need. Sure I could use the money in my account, which still isn't much, for tuition, but I like to keep a safety net for when I or someone in my family may fall ill, bills or for food during slow times. All I wanted is something nice for myself and I don't like asking people for things and feel strange when they do treat me. I study, work, don't party and do all the things I'm supposed to do. I feel like I'm complaining right now, but I'm just saying how its been. Still, I feel truly blessed to be in college as many people from my neighborhood aren't. But when a $8000/yr scholarship and EFC 0 doesn't leave you loan free, then it feel like a bum deal. :end of negativity:
I am not sure when you graduate but there are scholarships out there and I know exactly how you feel. I go to a school where tuition is 30,000/year! And to make a long story short I didn't have enough money from scholarships so I have 24,000 in loans but I just look at it as the amount of a car so I don't feel as bad about it. I am on my own with no help from family! But there is hope if you are not graduating soon! Because your EFC is 0 you qualify for a scholarship through HRSA. IT WILL PAY EVERY PENNY OF YOUR TUITION NO MATTER THE COST!!!!! :yeah:PLUS THEY GIVE A MONTHLY STIPEND SO YOU HAVE MONEY TO LIVE OFF OF!!!! All they want is for you to work at a "needy hospital" for at least 2 years (depending on how many years you get )
I just recieved the scholarship this year and I am very grateful for it because now I don't have to take out anymore student loans! I also don't have to work full-time (like I did up until this year) so that I can pay for living expenses on top of school. I now don't work at all and I just focus on school!
On top of that there is also loan repayment through HRSA as well. So you can get loans repayed up to a certain amount as well! Search around on the website all the information is there!
here is a link to get an email sent to you when it comes open!
I went to a community college and earned my associate RN degree. My tuition was about $1100 per semester, all paid for by federal pell grants. The federal govt gave me pell grants that were more than what I needed for tuition, so any money left over after tuition I received a check for the remaining amount. I spent it on books, grocery, gas. I bought previous used book editions from half.com. My husband, daughter, and I lived with my parents. So I didn't have to pay for a lot of expenses such as rent. I did, however, ran out of money during my last semester and had to put my expenses on my credit card. My credit card was $2000. I graduated in May and started working in September. I will pay off my credit card debt this month and I'll be debt-free!
You are not a failure; you have done remarkably well considering the dismally bad advice you got.
It is also not too late to make a few changes. With an expected family contribution of zero, you have a very good chance of getting scholarships. Especially since your gpa is so awesome. I hope applying for scholarships is not the asking for things from people that you are refering to, it is almost always (is always?) money people want to use for this purpose. It is quite sad that about half of the money available sits around unused because not enough qualified people bother to apply for it.
It takes time to search out appropriate scholarships. Start with any personal connections... any organized group that you, your parents, or grandparents are associated with might have have scholarship opporunities.
Next, check with your college financial aid office and your high school advising office. They usually have a list of scholarships available that are specific to the area. Often these were set up as memorials to alumni so they are often very specifically targeted. That is good for you when you fit into the parameters. Do not get discouraged at how many don't fit, expect that many won't and keep searching.
The next tier is local businesses. Start with any business that is related to the medical field but don't limit yourself to just those. Sometimes you will find info about scholarships on their website, sometimes posted in the office, and sometimes you will need ask if they offer any. If you have to put more effort into it, your odds of winning that scholarship go up.
Finally, go through those big scholarship books at the library. Do not pay for any scholarship search services, too many of them are scams and even if they aren't you can probably do better yourself.
It will take time to keep track of all the deadlines, sort out which will cover what, fill out all the paperwork and gather all the supporting documentation you will need. Scholarships that require essays are the best because you can write reasonably well and because many people don't want to write essays. Take your time with the essays, make sure you follow the directions about what the essay is about, make sure you don't have any spelling or grammar mistakes and find a few people to proof them for you. Preferably, at least one that is likely to catch spelling or grammar mistakes and at least two or three who are likely to honestly critique the content. You should expect to rewrite it several times.
I figure a good rule of thumb is to spend 10 to 20 hours per scholarship application sent. Some will take much less time but it could be more time for a complicated application processes or if your writing skills are rusty. Most scholarships are between $500 and $1500 dollars; you don't have to win many to make it well worth your time.
After getting my BA, I owed only about $25K. Once I finished by JD, I was in debt nearly $90K. When I'm done with Nursing School, I will owe WELL OVER $110,000!! Scary to think about it. I will be paying it back forever.
I graduated a 4 year university debt free due to my (single) mother's hard work and diligence, my own contributions, and the scholarships I earned. It's been hard enough to find a job but to God be the glory, I know it could be a lot worse.
You guys are worrying about the wrong thing! 6% interest school loans are chump change. Worry more about your (holistic) education, and the rest will follow. After the first ADN semester, grants and internships will follow.
Worry more about the other 98% of degrees who never have a chance to pay back their student loans!
Keep your head down and kick buns! My first go round in engineering, $20K (all in graduate school) paid back in about 9 years. This time, $36K to about $50K if needed. I'll take the full ten years so I can invest it the commodity market (4.5 year Sabbatical/OJT Graduate school between career changes) . This is the fun time, as hard as that may seem. Just hope your career is as fun as this is! Good luck :-)
Congratulations to those of you who have worked hard and planned well and are graduating with little debt and good plans to repay what you owe. As time goes by, you will be happy with the hard work and sacrifices you made to make that possible.
:yeah:
For those of you who either did not or could not graduate with reasonable debt loads, I urge you to make the life-style sacrifices you will need to make over the next few years to bring down the size of those loans ASAP. They can ruin your financial future in the long run if you don't get them under control. I wish you strength, self-discipline, courage, grace, and good luck in your efforts.
Some individuals are not fortunate enough to have parents pay for all of their college careers and taking out loans is inevitable. I don't think congratulating people because they have no debt is necessary.
I thought I was going to get by with $19k, but after summer school, Stafford loans, and pulling $8k out of somewhere after my 4 year scholarship ends, that's where it may very well end up. I would like to buy a house after I graduate and buy a car for myself (because I know I have gone long enough without one), but money is going to be stretched making loan repayments. On top of that, I would like to purse my Master degree in Public Health and Health Informatics, but if I'm not at a place that offer tuition reimbursement, then that's a shot plan. Ergh, what do ya have to do, sell your soul to pay off debt?! 
All they want is for you to work at a "needy hospital" for at least 2 years (depending on how many years you get )
Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN
4 Articles; 7,907 Posts
I had zero debt when I got my ADN: I went to the local CC for my degree. It took a lot of budget tightening but it was possible. And it was a big relief not to have debt, given how crappy the job market was (and still is) and how long it took me to find a job. I didn't have it hanging over my head.
I'll have zero debt with my BSN as well, since I'm working full-time and taking courses part-time. Still requires some budget tightening and postponing graduation until 2012, but it will be worth it.