Are student loans haunting you?

[Joe V]

Do you ever have moments where you wish you didn't have any student loans? ?

Having multiple student loans can be scary. For those who have multiple loans, have you thought about consolidating?

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[redhead_NURSE98!, ADN, BSN]

I had over 65K in student loans from a piece of undergrad and law school. The 30 YEAR PAYMENT PLAN still cost about $450 a month on that amount, and after 9 years of payments and 2 years deferring them to go to nursing school (mistake #2: deferment) I paid them off, ONLY by grace of selling our home and doubling our money on it. The amount owed when I paid them off was STILL over 62K.

Please PLEASE consider these things when you're incurring such large amounts of student loans. It's like having a vacation house that you have to pay a mortgage on, but you don't know where the house is and never get to use it!!!

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

Oh wow, that is CRAZY!!! I shudder when I hear about kids taking the max b/c its like a little bonus if they don't use it all on tuition that semester.

I had over 65K in student loans from a piece of undergrad and law school. The 30 YEAR PAYMENT PLAN still cost about $450 a month on that amount, and after 9 years of payments and 2 years deferring them to go to nursing school (mistake #2: deferment) I paid them off, ONLY by grace of selling our home and doubling our money on it. The amount owed when I paid them off was STILL over 62K.

Please PLEASE consider these things when you're incurring such large amounts of student loans. It's like having a vacation house that you have to pay a mortgage on, but you don't know where the house is and never get to use it!!!

[tyvin, BSN, RN]

Don't borrow if you don't have. I look back and I really didn't need all that but I pay now. I like the vacation house analogy but mine is more like a small island.

[mariebailey, MSN, RN]

I just did direct loan consolidation with my federal loans, locking in a 6.8% interest rate & qualifying me for income-based repayment. I recommend it for anyone with federal loans. There isn't much I can do about my private loans though. My student loan ghost looks more like the attached photo. I call her "Sallie Mae".

[CPhT2RNstudent]

If you can get a Perkins, take it! You can have them forgiven for working as a nurse over a 5 year period. No payments will be due during that time. Also, look into IBR (do a search for ibrinfo to find an eligibility calculator) to reduce you payments. If you qualify for IBR and work for a non-profit (many hospitals fit this) you can have the excess of your loans forgiven after 10 years of working for the non-profit.

[NickiLaughs, ADN, BSN, RN]

I just did direct loan consolidation with my federal loans, locking in a 6.8% interest rate & qualifying me for income-based repayment. I recommend it for anyone with federal loans. There isn't much I can do about my private loans though. My student loan ghost looks more like the attached photo. I call her "Sallie Mae".

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I can relate. Sallie Mae is ...well I don't think I can say it on here. Hang in there! I'm hoping by the time I'm 60 I can get a mortgage...

[Twinkle007, LVN, RN]

I have heard that at West Coast University BSN program costs 133 k , I am wondering how do people pay this.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I have heard that at West Coast University BSN program costs 133 k , I am wondering how do people pay this.

People finance this staggering tuition with a mixture of federal and private student loans. Also, some present and former students have mentioned that their costs are somewhat reduced by transferring prerequisite courses and other credits from local community colleges.

The folks who pay the entire amount will end up with a payment of $1,500+ monthly if they finance over 10 years at a 6.8% interest rate.

[myperads]

I can honestly say that I was so foolish with the student loans. It was not so much that I needed the money to pay for tuition, it was because they offered it and I took it. Now I owe about $70k. I hate it. I wish I could go back in time and just say "heck no".

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

Meant this for student loans haunting you!

I feel for the many new grads out there looking for work and carrying student loan debt the size of a mortgage! There is such pressure to go to college from the time your young and when you don't have the money and college keeps raising tuition outrageously, just take out student loans. So many college students have student loans they can't pay and eventually default! The default rates are much higher because they only count if you default the first two years or now first three years, after that it doesn't count. Just like the unemployment rate vastly undercuts the amount of people without a job. The unemployment rates hovers around 8% but the participation rate in the economy is only around 55%, so almost half of working age people are not working! Granted some may choose not to or be disabled, but obviously the true unemployment is much higher!

To those already trapped in student loans you must pay them off no matter what, if you let them default, you will lose your ability to work as a nurse or any job that requires a license to practice! On top of that when you finally give in and get your loans out of default you will be stuck with a 25% charge on top of all the interest that has capitalized in the meantime.

You lucky ones who haven't take out student loans, be smart and take out only the absolute minimum. Jobs are not guaranteed just because you have a college degree, no matter what you get it in! It takes luck and connections to get good jobs. Hospitals and nursing homes have been raising patient ratios and using techs, PCA vs hiring more nurses! That makes it more difficult to get a job and makes the working conditions worse when you finally get one!

Deferring or forbearing loans only postpones the inevitable and in most instances the interest is capitalizing the loan is only getting larger and more difficult to pay off! You have no consumer protections, income based repayment only applies to govt loans, and you can only consolidate once if you get a bad interest rate you are stuck with it! You can't refinance like you can with a home or even a car!

Buyer beware with student loans. Do your research to protect yourself!

[MusicEMT]

People finance this staggering tuition with a mixture of federal and private student loans. Also, some present and former students have mentioned that their costs are somewhat reduced by transferring prerequisite courses and other credits from local community colleges.

The folks who pay the entire amount will end up with a payment of $1,500+ monthly if they finance over 10 years at a 6.8% interest rate.

an addendum to this.. i just recently spoke to the financial aid officer at the school and this was before i transferred my pre-reqs and they gave me a break down of everything.. i was eligible for 45k in sub/unsub federal loans.. but the rest of the 85K id have to privately finance.. with sally mae or other banks.. i applied for a sally mae loan for 45k.. they wanted 11.5 fixed interest it costs about 750 a month and the ending balance with interest would be about 140K (15yr) for a 45k loan.. Talk about loan sharking right there.. thats straight up ridiculous (mafia style interest)

anyways i did the calculations if i can get most of my pre-reqs transferred i can knock the 133k tuition down to 70k or so..

which then would cost me about 40K in private loans (maybe more) and I plan on shopping around.. I hope i dont have to go with the price gouging sallie mae..