How much debt is too much for an RN with her bachelor's?

[Cbrown0520]

Nursing school is hard, I've already figured out. I am struggling to study enough, but working 22 hrs a week at a job that offers tuition assistance has kept me out of debt. Is it worth going into 30K of debt to not have to work? If that amount of debt is doable, that's all I need to know. I have always been a hard worker and a saver, and as long as it's not impossible to pay off that amount on a nurse's salary, I'll get it done. However, I don't want to be in debt for 20 years. How much did you take out, how quickly did you pay it off, and were you single or not?

[llg, PhD, RN]

Obviously, it depends on your lifestyle and other expenses. But the standard recommendation for student debt is to never take out more debt than what your yearly salary will be in your first year or two after graduation. That's assuming of course, that you will be working full time for several years after you graduate and not taking time off to travel, have babies, etc. That's also assuming that you don't have other debts to pay off -- such as a car loan, credit card debt, etc.

Add up all your debts/obligations ... and compare that to what you will earn in the first few years after graduation. Assuming you are not going to be taking time significant time off in the soon after graduation, the $30,000 figure seems OK. But that depends on the rest of your financial situation.

[FerRN]

I have 15k from an adn, but I only worked 20hrs a week at $7/hr so most of that was living expenses. My program was around 6k. Its not hard to live with.

[Stacy67CP]

You do have to concider is your area over saturated with Nurses if it is, then yes 30.000 is way to much. If the area you live is desperate for nurses then it is acceptable.