How Are YOU Paying For School?

allthingsbright · Jan 19, 2007

We are also pretty tight on money--I've got student loans and think NS is worth every penny.

GL!

jov · Jan 19, 2007

To the previous poster: Yes I do have a large debt and honestly I don't see it getting paid off too soon unless we have that second income which is why I intend to go back to school.
Cheryl

actually you can get a second income without incurring more debt from school loans.

Just a thought.

cdietrich404 · Jan 20, 2007

actually you can get a second income without incurring more debt from school loans.
Just a thought.

Expect for I dont have any helpfrom family therefore if i did work my entire paycheck would go to daycare. Not worth it. Thank you for the suggestion though.

caliotter3 · Jan 20, 2007

I didn't qualify for anything either when I started ns. But I had good enough credit to get some education loans at the time. Also started getting cash advances from all the credit cards I got offered and accepted. Also, got any full and part time jobs I could get my hands on. When I realized that I was overboard on my debt, I put in place a pay off and cancel plan on the credit cards. Within 6 months, I got downsized from my full time job. Just what I needed. It is more than ten yrs later, and I have never fully recovered, nor have I completed my education, and have employment problems mostly involving my since layoff serious hlth problems. I strongly advise, from experience, not to bite off more than you can chew. You do not know what will happen to your husband next week or what other tragedy (like sudden serious illness) can cut your family down. So do your best to pay down, and secure financing and schooling in small increments. I needed all my jobs when I got laid off. Now, everything is that much harder, and my credit is permanently shot.

jov · Jan 20, 2007

I didn't qualify for anything either when I started ns. But I had good enough credit to get some education loans at the time. Also started getting cash advances from all the credit cards I got offered and accepted. Also, got any full and part time jobs I could get my hands on. When I realized that I was overboard on my debt, I put in place a pay off and cancel plan on the credit cards. Within 6 months, I got downsized from my full time job. Just what I needed. It is more than ten yrs later, and I have never fully recovered, nor have I completed my education, and have employment problems mostly involving my since layoff serious hlth problems. I strongly advise, from experience, not to bite off more than you can chew. You do not know what will happen to your husband next week or what other tragedy (like sudden serious illness) can cut your family down. So do your best to pay down, and secure financing and schooling in small increments. I needed all my jobs when I got laid off. Now, everything is that much harder, and my credit is permanently shot.

THANK YOU so much for your honest and hard input. You said so much better and more eloquently what I was trying to warn against...

Lisa CCU RN, RN · Jan 20, 2007

Why is everyone so worried about school loans? Hospitals pay them off, and some can be cancelled completly.

Soup Turtle · Jan 20, 2007

I didn't qualify for anything either when I started ns. But I had good enough credit to get some education loans at the time. Also started getting cash advances from all the credit cards I got offered and accepted. Also, got any full and part time jobs I could get my hands on. When I realized that I was overboard on my debt, I put in place a pay off and cancel plan on the credit cards. Within 6 months, I got downsized from my full time job. Just what I needed. It is more than ten yrs later, and I have never fully recovered, nor have I completed my education, and have employment problems mostly involving my since layoff serious hlth problems. I strongly advise, from experience, not to bite off more than you can chew. You do not know what will happen to your husband next week or what other tragedy (like sudden serious illness) can cut your family down. So do your best to pay down, and secure financing and schooling in small increments. I needed all my jobs when I got laid off. Now, everything is that much harder, and my credit is permanently shot.

Goodness...what are you doing now? I was living comfortably through my 20's. It never occured to me to continue my education because I thought I had everything I needed. My husband became very ill, quit working and we lived off credit cards and my income. I wasn't smart enough to downgrade my home and other creature comforts that I didn't NEED. I ended up giving them up when I couldn't afford my minimum payments anymore.

My credit is very bad and I had mixed feelings about taking out loans for school, but I figured that was the only way of having any chance to get back on track. I'm just starting to sort through old debts and decide which ones to start paying back first. I'm excited that I have the rest of my life to try to right my wrongs. It's going to be a challange, but I see my future looking good! (eventually!)

mandeeh · Jan 20, 2007

$21,000 per year?! My tuition was about $1500 for one semester and that included books!! I am also in a program that pays for most of my tuition and books, uniforms, supplies, etc. This kind of program is very rare, but you might look into it and see if there is something similar in your area. (I'm in TX)

Jules A, MSN · Jan 20, 2007

Why is everyone so worried about school loans? Hospitals pay them off, and some can be cancelled completly.

You are joking, right? Even if someone is lucky enough to get a job, that they will have to stick with, that pays off school loans, the money comes from somewhere. Sort of like trading in a used car anyway you look at it you aren't making out, imo. Have no clue how they can be cancelled but would be interested in that one.

I'm with the people that are cautious and choose to live within their means. You don't know what the future will bring and I'd rather make sacrifices and work an overnight job or whatever necessary to avoid getting into huge debt for school.

PeachyERNurse, BSN, RN · Jan 20, 2007

I am just about ready to go back to school but the problem I am facing is money. We live paycheck to paycheck and when I applied for the FASA, it came back offering me nothing
We owe alot of money from our equity line loan but very little credit card debt.
Any suggestions? I am a SAHM to 4 kids, so getting a part time job is not an option since my DH works from 7am to 10pm 6 days a week.
A good amount of my pre reqs can be done online and mu hope is once my baby is in 1st grade then i will be ready to start NS.
So back to my question...how are YOU paying for school? and do you have any suggestions for my situation?
Thanks
Cheryl

Really? Not even student loans? Grants? Maybe you qualify for some scholarships.

Teacher2bCRNA · Jan 20, 2007

because this is my second career, i will be paying out of pocket because i have tons of student loans from my other degrees. i understand how you feel. i would prefer not to go the cc route, however, paying for a school like emory is out of the question.

i am just about ready to go back to school but the problem i am facing is money. we live paycheck to paycheck and when i applied for the fasa, it came back offering me nothing
we owe alot of money from our equity line loan but very little credit card debt.
any suggestions? i am a sahm to 4 kids, so getting a part time job is not an option since my dh works from 7am to 10pm 6 days a week.
a good amount of my pre reqs can be done online and mu hope is once my baby is in 1st grade then i will be ready to start ns.
so back to my question...how are you paying for school? and do you have any suggestions for my situation?
thanks
cheryl

wildmountainchild · Jan 20, 2007

One of the stickes in the student nursing forum is about this exact subject. It has a lot of ideas for private loans, government programs that will pay for nursing school (and some even living expenses during school) if you give them so many years of work in a medically underserved area after graduation. Payback can be up to $20,000 for a two year service contract.

With 7 (!) kids you should be able to qualify for some kind of assistance I would imagine. You will have to fill out the FAFSA for the aid metioned above but talk to someone in financial aid office about what you should and should not put on the FAFSA to maximize your chances of getting aid.

And...no more kiddos. You can't afford it. Having more may very well end your dreams, of being a nurse, or anything other than a mother (not that that isn't just terrific).

What else....oh, get the book "The millionaire next door" it will teach you the really interesting ways to start living a more financially rewarding life.

And once you are in nursing school don't ever buy the current edition of the books you need. I bought the previous editions of the books I needed off amazon.com and was able to get them for dollars as opposed to hundreds of dollars. You can even get ones that are a few editions out of date. The info just doesn't change that much. You will have to look in the index to find the reading instead of just going by what the teacher lists in the syllabus but usually the readings aren't even that far off in page numeration.

And type in "grants for nursing school in MI" on google. I found some good options for CA when I did that here.