I have 60 grand of student loan when I finished BSN

Nurses General Nursing

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I had my ADN in 2014, then I went back to school two months later for BSN, now I just graduated from BSN, and the student loan I owe is little over 60 grand..Oh load. I had to pay over 600 a month for 10 payment. That seems a lot to me. Any suggestions? any programs that can reduce or forgive my loan? Thank you very much!

Specializes in MH, ED, ICU.

Why are you paying so much? I've never heard of anyone paying that much monthly for only $60,000.

You could work in a rural area, go into mental health, join the military, etc, to reduce your repayment. It depends on where you live and what's available to you there.

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Specializes in OB, Case Management, Nurse Navigator.
Why are you paying so much? I've never heard of anyone paying that much monthly for only $60,000.

I have 50k and I pay $528/month to pay it off in 10 years, so $600/month is not unrealistic. Also, 60k is no form of chump change. That could be used as a down payment for a house or you could buy a car with that. I am fortunate, because I can afford to pay more after paying off my husband's loans next year and pay it off sooner. As stated in my last post, you can reduce the amount owed a month by doing income-driven repayment and would qualify for loan forgiveness after 10 years, but you have to apply through your service lender each year. You can pay it off, just stay focused.

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Specializes in MH, ED, ICU.

I graduate in December, and I've maxed out my loans pretty much the entire time too. It wasn't for school, but to help pay the bills also since we lost my income when I went back. I think I'm ending with around $40,000-ish. I haven't checked lately.

Anyway, it's completely doable. I know many people who have graduated with around the same, or more, and paid them off within a few years. You just have to work as much as you can and not blow money where it doesn't need to go.

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Why are you paying so much? I've never heard of anyone paying that much monthly for only $60,000.

You could work in a rural area, go into mental health, join the military, etc, to reduce your repayment. It depends on where you live and what's available to you there.

In regards to the military comment. Military won't take you if you have large amount of debt. Several people I know in debt couldn't join until they payed it off.

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Specializes in MH, ED, ICU.

She already had student loans from her ADN most likely. She probably deferred them and then went back, accumulating more in the process.

My university no longer has a bridge program so we have ADNs in our BSN program. They essentially started from scratch to get their degrees. I suppose she also could've went to a school like that.

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Specializes in MH, ED, ICU.

It depends on the type of debt. Personally, they paid my student loans off for me (from a previous degree).

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Specializes in MH, ED, ICU.

I wasn't insinuating that it was chump change. I just know people who pay less. Granted, we live in a rural area so I am sure there is probably some type of forgiveness going on there. I don't know because I've honestly never asked.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.
She already had student loans from her ADN most likely. She probably deferred them and then went back, accumulating more in the process.

My university no longer has a bridge program so we have ADNs in our BSN program. They essentially started from scratch to get their degrees. I suppose she also could've went to a school like that.

It depends on the type of debt. Personally, they paid my student loans off for me (from a previous degree).

I wasn't insinuating that it was chump change. I just know people who pay less. Granted, we live in a rural area so I am sure there is probably some type of forgiveness going on there. I don't know because I've honestly never asked.

If you would use the Quote function (lower right) we would know to which posts you are replying.

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Specializes in OB, Case Management, Nurse Navigator.
The Income-Driven plan you are talking about limits your payments to a certain percentage of your salary but it is for 20-25 years that you are making those payments, never late, and if you still qualify at the end your loan balance is forgiven. And as you might have figured out after 20-25 years you've probably already paid it off too!

Actually, it isn't just for government agencies, but is also for people who work at non-profits too. This is why a lot of nursing jobs qualify for this form of forgiveness anf I personally know a nurse using this payment method under this forgiveness loan. Yes, income-driven can be over 20-25 years, but for the Public Service Loan, it is only 10 years at 10% of your income.

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Specializes in Med Surg/ Pedi, OR.

Tell us what you know???

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I know about this plan and it might not be exactly what you think. First you have to work for a qualifying government agency, not all government work qualifies. If you are not using the Income-Driven Plan, the standard plan requires you to make 120 regular monthly payments, never late, which is 10 years of prompt payments in full each month. After ten years of those payments and if you are still employed at the same government agency the balance is forgiven. Most people find that they have already paid off their loans by that time!

The Income-Driven plan you are talking about limits your payments to a certain percentage of your salary but it is for 20-25 years that you are making those payments, never late, and if you still qualify at the end your loan balance is forgiven. And as you might have figured out after 20-25 years you've probably already paid it off too!

I have so many different opinions on what I'm reading but at this point, the water is so muddied... I'll just go ahead and say: First off, I think 600$ per month for a 60k loan based off of the income based plan is very high. I could be wrong but my fiancée who is a physician and has way more in loan debt.. Well let's just say that his income and his payments for the IBR plan is not really adding up to what you're doing.

And to this poster... You may be misinformed. First off, after the 10 years being employed with a NON PROFIT Organization and making your payments on time, then you can be up for forgiveness. It does not have to be with the same organization or the 10 years does not have to be consecutive. Also it doesn't have to be Govt funded, a 501c3 status is what is important.

Also make sure your loan is consolidated properly through Direct Loans. That's the only one who handles the public service forgiveness loans. My best advice is to make sure your not on some weird payment plan and get on IBR as quick as possible. If you do work for a hospital with a 501c3 status, than get it moved to Direct because the time spent with a non profit company isn't backdated.

Best of luck and you will be fine!

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No more pay for a bsn which seems absurd. I haven't found any loan forgiveness either. I have found nursing pay has gone down over the last 10 years. Must be too many nurses instead of the predicted shortage.

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