Did I get TOO much in loans?

[thyme39]

Hi everyone,

I start an accelerated BSN pgm in May. Like most Acc BSN people, I have been working so only qualified for subsidized Stafford Loan which of course is not enough to live on and go to school full time. I applied for another Loan today for 40,000 through SallieMae and was approved. I'm worried now that it is too much and I should have applied for less. I am married and we don't have any charge card debt, just a mortgage and home equity. I will be in school for 12 months and then out into the workforce. I was very worried about not having enough to live on but I guess I thought they would come back with a lesser amt. I haven't done the final steps of sending in the ok for the loan so I can still redo it. Is it better to go with less now or take the whole amount, spend as little as I can for the next year and when I make the first payment, add whatever is left of the 40,000. I know I will be paying interest right away but it will be for 1 yr as opposed to 4yrs. I'm thinking I should maybe cut 10,000 off or at least 5,000. Has anyone been in the same spot?:uhoh21:

[jo272wv]

I dont know if that is to much because I do not know your financial needs. But I will give you my situation and you may be able to compare. I started in a 4yr BSN program when I was 43, I made 24,000 a yr prior to school. I had to quit work and take a part time 48 hr a month extern job. I received about 9,000 dollars a yr in grants and loans to live on. I graduated last May with debt at 42,000 which once consolidated is 250.00 a month for the next 25yrs.. even at this amount I struggled some but made it through. I am now 48, and thought about paying extra on the loans to get them paid off but one nurse at work told me not to worry that I would probably die before I paid it off so spend the money now.. lol.. he was joking.

That was 4 yrs, yours is one... only you can know the amount you need to get through that yr.

[momma&nurse2B]

My husband I both took out Sallie Mae Tuition Answer loans before we both went back to school for nursing (we have a mortgage and child). We ended up not needing the smaller of the two loans and paid it back as soon as soon as possible...but that money was lent at a high price (fees and an outrageous interest rate), so while it was nice security to have that money, it stinks that we had to pay back more than we actually owed. So definitely try to gauge what you'll need over the next year. One factor to consider is if you have a safety net to draw from if a financial crisis occurred that you were not prepared for.

One thing we have done with the remaining loan money is keep it in the highest interest-earning savings account we could find (ingdirect.com is good). That way, we were earning about 4.5% on the borrowed money so it lessened the impact of how much interest we were paying on the loan. I'm not sure how wise this financial advice is, but it seemed to be the wisest thing we knew to do at the time. Good luck!