Income Based Repayment

[jnniemeyer]

Hi Nurses!

I was recently accepted into an accelerated nursing degree - however it will put me in a large amount of debt.

I have been researching options for nursing loan repayment - and it seems like many of the repayment and forgiveness programs are unreliable.

I am wondering if anyone has experience with Income Based Repayment plans? If so, how does it work?

Thanks!

[BSNbound21, BSN, RN]

I don't have experience with it, but from what I understand you repay the loan based on the income you are receiving once you're working- I think it's 10% of your income for a federal loan. I don't think there's a break on interest, however. The current subsidized/unsubsidized loan interest rate is 4.53%, which is pretty good. That's slightly higher than mortgage loan rates, so federal student loans are somewhat affordable now. There are limits to the amount of $$ you can receive at this rate ($12K/year for a 3rd year undergrad- $5K subsidized & $7K unsubsidized). Take any subsidized loans you can get b/c you don't pay interest while you're in school or for six months after you graduate. It's free money (that you have to pay back). Don't count on loan forgiveness, but you can look into teaching in low-income areas to forgive your loan. Ask your school's financial aid office, and use some of the resources on the FAFSA website.