How are you planning to pay for nursing school?

allnurses Guide · Feb 22, 2009

Working full-time, masters part-time. Tuition assistance for a few grand/yr from my employer. Paying cash as I go.

elkpark · Feb 23, 2009

Went to school full-time (my graduate program didn't offer a part-time option), worked one or two shifts a week at the uni medical center (which covered my minimal living expenses), took out the bare minimum in student loans (and considered that a v. worthwhile investment in my future). I got two scholarships that helped quite a bit.

For my original diploma program, I had some limited funds from a divorce settlement, my parents helped out somewhat, and the school had its own student loan program (again, I borrowed only the bare minimum and paid it off within a few years of graduating).

For my BSN completion program, I was working full-time and attended school part-time -- paid cash as I went, no problem.

In my original nursing program and grad school, I enthusiastically embraced the "starving student" lifestyle :) -- esp. in grad school, I had classmates who lived a lot higher on the hog than I did, but who graduated much more heavily in debt than me (2-3 xs as much debt, in some cases I knew of ...)