Did Anyone Live Off of Student Loans While in School?

Nursing Students General Students

Published

My husband is currently the breadwinner in the family, i stay at home with our 4 kids. I am going back to school in a couple weeks for nursing (doing my pre reqs).

My husbands company may be closing and he is thinking of going back to school as well, something in the health field.

Is it possible to have us both in school with no outside income? We have about 4500 a month in expenses.

What do you think?

Thank you

Cheryl

Specializes in OR Internship starting in Jan!!.

As I've been doing research on student loans, I've found out that it is really hard to get them unless you have perfect credit AND a full time job that you plan to keep the whole time you are in school. It's really disappointing.

Specializes in CWOCN.

There are a few things to keep in mind:

The maximum undergraduate borrowing is approximately $6,600 for the first year and then $7,500 for the next year. The first $2,500 is subsidized and the next $4,000 is unsubsidized. You pay the interest for the subsidized while you are in school. Any other student loans are private loans with significantly higher interest rates and are based on your credit. The maximum amount you can borrow is for the entirety of your undergraduate education is less than $25,000 from Federal resources. Each loan (calculated per semester) has its own monthly payment when you come out of school. The consolidation rules have changed this year, so you will be looking at a very large monthly payment.

With the amounts you are considering, you are potentially looking at monthly payments of $2,000 per month, which will be in addition to your monthly living expenses. Remember, the school will deduct the tuition first and you still have to buy books.

I know a couple where one worked full time while the other went to school full time, and then they switched off when the first spouse got the degree.

Be careful because the debt burden will be compounding a minimum of 8% in interest. You will not be able to deduct the interest from your taxes if your household income is above a certain amount of money when you do go back to work.

Specializes in Geriatrics, Cardiac, ICU.
As I've been doing research on student loans, I've found out that it is really hard to get them unless you have perfect credit AND a full time job that you plan to keep the whole time you are in school. It's really disappointing.

Well, you can always get a co-signer and you can always get the loan and thenjust quit your job. Read some of the threads on CRNA side.

Specializes in OR Internship starting in Jan!!.
you can always get a co-signer

Ahh, if it were only that easy! I'm probably the most credit worthy in my circle of friends.

I will check out the CRNA forum though. Thanks.

Have you looked at Sallie Mae? They have the Tuition Answer Loan and I believe it allows you to take out up to I think 30K a year for school. The money goes straight to you and not to the school. I have had to use this alternative as my husband is the only one supporting us and I need the extra money to pull in what I used to make before going back to school. There are also federal loans, too. I agree with the others though that both of you not working and taking loans out for school could get you in a mountain of debt you may not want to take on. It just depends on what salaries you expect to make when you finish. Based on that, you can determine whether it is worth it or not. Good luck!

My hospital is paying for all of my nursing school. Ill work PT for them while in school+ i have a 25 grand "living loan" from my bank at 2% int.

Hi just wondered what bank financed your "living loan" at 2%:idea:

Specializes in Psych, Geriatrics.

I just wanted to say, be careful with those "alternative" loans. My DH borrowed a bunch from Sallie Mae to get through college in California--I know it's $$$ out there--and we so wish he never had. Now that he has graduated, the loans can NOT be consolidated, can NOT be merged with his federal Stafford loans, and carry an adjustable rate which has just gone up & up in the past 2 years. His payment has almost doubled. It's like a huge credit card that just uses any interest they want to.

I would recommend "tag-team" approach--you go to school first, then while you work let your hubby return to school. Unfortunately, when you have a mortgage & obligations, you don't always get to do what you want exactly when you want. There's some sacrifice involved, especially in such an expensive area.

Personally I can't even imagine $4500 of expenses on dual income, let alone one nurse salary...I mean you'd have to gross like $6500+! Yikes! Maybe nurses make more out there. More likely your DH may always have to work some to make those ends meet.

+ Add a Comment