Anyone out there with student loan issues?

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I posted this first over at the male nursing section, but I figure there's a bigger audience here.

Anyway, I wondered if anyone else here had student loans worries. I'm about to start a direct-entry MSN program and will end up owing about 100K. I don't regret my choice and I'm sure I will find a way to pay it all back.

But I have to admit, it does freak me out when I think about it :eek:

I suspect many student borrowers might be a tad less angry with lenders if executives at the student loan companies (www.loansuggest.com) weren't making so much money. Sallie Mae Chairman Al Lord, you might recall, was part of a group that was in the running to buy the Nationals. EduCap chairwoman and co-founder Catherine B. Reynolds tried to donate $38 million to the Smithsonian in 2001, then withdrew it after curators balked at some of the requirements. Her foundation ended up giving $100 million to the Kennedy Center.

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Specializes in ICU, CM, Geriatrics, Management.

$100 grand in student loans?

Would absolutely freak me out!

Good luck.

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I have over $120,000 in student loans. I just graduated from an accelerated BSN program in May. My repayment is more than my mortgage and I can't see anyway to pay it off faster than 30 years unless we hit the lottery. Nursing will pay less than my previous career and I wasn't comfortable with the repayment then either, so what the hell - I just tell myself it's something I'll pay until I die. I just keep reconsolidating for better rates.

120k?!!! dang

now i dont feel so bad. do you mind telling how much your monthly bill is for the loan? did you take out alternative (private lender) loans too?

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Makes me feel the advanced degree is not worth the money you will be paying for it. OK that is me and my current values. I am not young anymore but that seems just too out of proportion to what pay increase you are likely to enjoy as a result.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

Here's my personal addage: Never borrow more money than you'll likely earn during your first year of working.

With that being said, I freaked out when I borrowed $20,000 from Sallie Mae for a career training loan in 2004. Since then, this loan has been paid off. In addition, the training has paid for itself several times over again.

No matter how much you borrow to attain it, education is a human investment that reaps many rewards. You can choose to borrow $100,000 for a Mercedes Benz E-Class sedan, which will lose value over the years. Or you can opt to borrow $100,000 for an education, which tends to multiply in value as the years pass.

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Specializes in oncology, trauma, home health.

Yep, right there with you. I was a single mom, traumatized family from abuse, pulled up the old boot straps and called my good friend Sallie Mae. Now, with my RN (associates degree) I owe about 50K... She helped me through all of my pre-reqs and the actual program and gave me the time to be home, I worked 24 hrs a week.

Now I owe $500 per month. It hurts really really bad. BUT we're here. The kids had their mom and I have a career. I HATE MONEY PROBLEMS!!!!

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Thanks everyone. I guess I shouldnt' complain---other people have mortgages and children and such. I just have an apartment, 2 cats, and a decrepit Honda.

And, this career really is an investment that will eventually pay off, in both tangible and intagible ways.

That's they way to look at it.

I just started paying my loans even though I'm still in school. I don't want a huge bill when I graduate. I'm looking at law schools now and I'm looking at no less than $240,000 in loans.

Ok, I think I need a xanax. That figure scares the crap out of me. And most new lawyers do not make what the general public thinks they do. You have to graduate at the top of your class and get a job in a large firm to make $100,000/year. Most starting out make what nurses do.

Oy.

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Specializes in acute care.

wow. I'm looking at $100,000+ when I graduate. I am at $60,000 right now with 2 more year to go at an expensive University (I have about $25k from my previous degree). I believe starting salary in NY is at least $65,000 at the big hospitals, but I still don't feel better about it. I'm hoping to get a job with a union or at a hospital willing to help pay for the next few semesters.

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Here's my personal addage: Never borrow more money than you'll likely earn during your first year of working.

With that being said, I freaked out when I borrowed $20,000 from Sallie Mae for a career training loan in 2004. Since then, this loan has been paid off. In addition, the training has paid for itself several times over again.

No matter how much you borrow to attain it, education is a human investment that reaps many rewards. You can choose to borrow $100,000 for a Mercedes Benz E-Class sedan, which will lose value over the years. Or you can opt to borrow $100,000 for an education, which tends to multiply in value as the years pass.

true that boo!

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I'm going to have about 30k when I graduate. I just think about doctors. Most of them have no less than 100k in loans when they start their residency. And residents don't make much. Ouch!:no:

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