I have 60 grand of student loan when I finished BSN

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Aug 31, 2016

How long ago? The military is tightening up on enlistments lately, and I have seen in several military forums - Air Force, Navy, Army, which are the only ones to have Nurse Corps - that they are not paying off nursing student loan debts now because of it. And, as you also mentioned, high amounts of debt (of any kind, not just Student Loans) are a bar to enlistment. High levels of personal debt make for unfocused, less than optimally performing Soldiers, Airmen, and Sailors, prone more to risky financial behavior in the future. It's a trend they have seen for decades, and have had to devote significant resources to, in order to help them get out of it. I don't mean by making loans or paying off debt, but by getting counseling and guidance resources established to help show folks with less than stellar money management skills the way out and to STAY out of serious problems. I've seen some get the axe for writing bad checks repeatedly. It WILL get you in deep trouble very quickly, and their best way to avoid dealing with the situation in the beginning is not to enlist them at all.

I am a nurse in the US Air Force. I have over 15 years of active duty - both as an officer and a prior enlisted member.

We are NOT enlisted. No officer is enlisted; we do not serve under an enlistment contract. We are commissioned - appointed - by Congress and the President of the United States. We do not have contracts. We have no date under "Expiration Term of Service" on our pay statements - because we don't enlist. I incur active duty service commitments, which are NOT the same thing.

Your figuring on high debt being a barring to a commission is completely incorrect if that debt is incurred as student loans. For a security clearance, they look at aggregate debt: do you have tons of credit cards, bad debt, poor payment history? They KNOW you're coming in to pay off student loans. And they are in desperate need of direct commission nurses! We are currently manned at less than 87%!

JAG officers commission every day with six figures of debt. Medical officers - in other words, doctors - come in with six figures of student loan debt - in all three branches that have a medical division (the Marine Corps, as a division of the Department of the Navy, use Naval personnel). ROTC officers on the line side (non-med, non-Jag, non-chaplain) come in with debt. Regular officers come in with debt. They went to college! The military knows this.

I came back in with $37K in student loan debt - which they paid off in exchange for an extended service commitment. (I also had a six figure mortgage, a five figure car loan, and a couple of credit cards - so on paper my debt looked outrageous.) Student loan debts and the "debts of life" - car, house, etc. - as far as the military is concerned (unless you habitually don't pay the bill!) do NOT show poor financial management if the bills are current.

Writing bad checks and managing high debt are NOT the same thing, and they're not counted the same on an ENTNAC (security clearance). I should know - I've been through four of them, two of them with two cars and two houses on my credit report. It's fine.

I have Airmen (big "A" airmen - junior enlisteds) who have come in with twenty, thirty grand in college debt. Happens every day. The military knows the difference. It's not the debt - it's what it's for and how you manage it that they care about.

(Wanted to add that I had the debt because I came in after an extended break in service - over six years - and the GI Bill did not entirely pay for the school I chose to attend. I came back on active duty because I missed it and had always wanted a commission, not because I was drowning. To put it simply, being a civilian bored me.) :)

And loan repayment is indeed still being offered in exchange for longer service terms.

raha78 · Aug 31, 2016

My advice to aspiring nurses is to get the ADN at the local community college, get a job, take the boards, and then do an online RN to BSN. You can do it in 3 semesters and the cost at many of the schools is reasonable. Most are accredited by CCNE. There's more than one way to skin a cat and why pay ridiculous tuition fees at prestigious 4 year schools when you don't have to?

You can't even get a job in California with an adn, unless you have experience as an lvn or cna

buffyh1924 · Aug 31, 2016

If you took out the maximum student loan amount each semester I could see how that adds up. I am near my BSN degree and the program itself is 17,000, not including prerequisites. It is online though so idk how it compares to other programs. Check with your employer on eduction reimbursement as someone has already mentioned. My employer pays a little over 5,000 a year in tuition reimbursement but that's if you're currently enrolled. Student loans are a pain in the butt. Everybody has to deal with it sadly.

klone, MSN, RN · Aug 31, 2016

Where did you complete a MSN for $9,000.00?

Western Governors University. Mine was $12,000, though.

pookashellz · Aug 31, 2016

OP, I have about the same amount of debt as you (slightly more actually). I applied and was approved for the pay as you earn program. It's only available for federal/government-issued student loans, but if you qualify for the program, it limits your payment amount to 10% of your income and can make the difference between drowning in debt and actually being able to have a life. after 20 years of income-adjusted payments, the remaining balance is forgiven (you do have to file an Offer In Compromise with the IRS to avoid paying taxes on the forgiven amount).

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Aug 31, 2016

Everyone's assumptions that the OP was too stupid to look into the educational options is just ridiculous and infuriating. Is everyone else completely ignoring the fact that the cost of an education varies greatly across our country and the impaction of the various nursing schools in each given area is greatly different!

Considering this is a nursing forum, that incorrect use of terms is pretty funny. And I guess one could argue that figuratively speaking, the term is appropriate.

Extra Pickles · Aug 31, 2016

I think I wasn't very clear. My student loan for ADN and BSN are 62,000. I did not get any grant because I had a bachelor's degree in another field 10 years ago.

yes that does make a difference I didn't understand that from what you wrote. still so much money! hope it works out for you.

Kooky Korky, BSN, RN · Aug 31, 2016

Another idea is this: If you can take out a personal loan or home equity line of credit if you own a house, you can probably get it at a lower interest rate than what the student loan is. Take out a personal loan/equity line of credit to pay off the student loan, then pay off the personal loan/equity line of credit at the lower interest rate. When I worked out the numbers, your student loan interest rate is extremely high---about 16%. You can definitely get a lower interest rate on a personal loan/home equity line of credit.

I think borrowing against the home that shelters you and your loved ones from the elements is risky. You could lose that which stands between you and the wolf at the door.

I guess I'd rather not risk our home. I know a lot of people borrow against the equity in their home for things like vacations, furniture, a car, maybe school loans, and a lot more, but I have always felt ill-at-ease about putting our home on the Pass line.

What if you lose your job? If you can't pay your taxes, house can be taken by IRS and maybe by your state and local taxing departments.

The mortgage lender can foreclose. There are likely others who can take your house.

To each his own, just my 2 cents = don't risk your home. Do you really want to have to go live with your relatives or friends under their roof?

Kooky Korky, BSN, RN · Aug 31, 2016

I'm so sorry. What a scam. Back in the 90s when I went to college it cost $991 a semester for full time credits at my state university. Today's costs are atrocious with all of that inflation factored in! I am very in favor of creating more labor training programs in the trades so that high school students have options. I'm sorry but not everyone needs and is even a good candidate for earning a college degree. Very overrated. And the nursing push to BSN is quite the scam, seeing that the pay does not increase (a mere $1/hr could be had by changing jobs and asking for more money) and that floor nursing is learn-on-the-job training. Not everyone can be a manager or become an ARNP.
I have a son who began apprenticing as an electrician at 16 and now at 26 has his own contracting company and has FAR more earning potential than his lowly nurse mother. There are options. Encourage youth to really think through other options before they sign up for the "needed" college degree (and advanced degrees!), paying off debt for years. That's the real answer to all of this talk about "loan forgiveness." Higher education is NOT A RIGHT.

And, as you said so well, it is also not necessarily necessary.

Kooky Korky, BSN, RN · Sep 1, 2016

I don't know why people are getting mad. I'm actually about a start a program that costs 65K for a BSN. Living in LA it's pretty normal. Actually the West Coast University costs $160K for a BSN so maybe you're even lucky? Just get a job ASAP after graduation and slowly pay it off, it's America, everybody is in debt for something. Good luck!

Why would you spend so much when you can go through State Universities and Community Colleges at far less cost?

Not everyone in America is in debt. I owe no one a dime. I have current expenses, but no debt - car, house, school, charge cards, nothing. I live quietly and not in a great area, but am debt-free. I even save something every paycheck. I had scholarships, family have always lived together (2 or 3 generations together), we don't drive fancy cars or wear the finest garments. But we have no debt and do OK.

And even if everyone were in debt, why is that a license for you to rack up so very much debt?

Try for scholarships and grants. Spend a lot of time hunting for sources of funding that do not have to be paid back. Look for employers to pay some of your expenses as you go through school, look for ways to avoid debt. Live on what you earn.

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Sep 1, 2016

I think borrowing against the home that shelters you and your loved ones from the elements is risky. You could lose that which stands between you and the wolf at the door.
I guess I'd rather not risk our home. I know a lot of people borrow against the equity in their home for things like vacations, furniture, a car, maybe school loans, and a lot more, but I have always felt ill-at-ease about putting our home on the Pass line.
What if you lose your job? If you can't pay your taxes, house can be taken by IRS and maybe by your state and local taxing departments.
The mortgage lender can foreclose. There are likely others who can take your house.
To each his own, just my 2 cents = don't risk your home. Do you really want to have to go live with your relatives or friends under their roof?

If you have $60K of equity and aren't planning on moving, rolling $60K at a 4% or potentially LESS interest rate over thirty years with tax-deductible interest saves you a bundle. The payment on $60K over thirty years at 4% is $287. That's almost a third less than what the OP is paying. AND the interest is tax-deductible on top of that. Roll that into a refi in two years and your payment combined could actually DROP.

You're at far greater risk of losing a home paying a $600 payment on top of a mortgage in that scenario. This is of course assuming your equity and home value lines up.

The only way the IRS takes your house is if you owe them that much money in Federal taxes. I doubt any of us are in that situation. Local property taxes are rolled in your mortgage payment and you really don't even miss them.

I would never cash out equity for a vacation or a car (well, maybe for a car if it was needed and not a want). But education is another matter entirely.

Squad51KMG365 · Sep 1, 2016

I am a nurse in the US Air Force. I have over 15 years of active duty - both as an officer and a prior enlisted member.
Thank you for your service!