I am going to apply for NELRP for 2010. I am getting married in June '10. I am wondering if when I apply, will they look at my debt to income ratio or that of me and my husbands combined income once we are married, since we are getting married in the middle of the application process. If anyone knows I would love to know. My debt to income ratio by my self is 268%, but much less with my fiances income added. Right now I live with my parents and am struggling to pay my loans.
Just some info for everyone still waiting: My debt to income ratio was 138% and I work at a Pediatric DSH facility. I received the email with the contract, etc July 11th and received my confirmation in the mail today.
Part of your mistake is assuming some of us didn't work. I did- every minute I wasn't in school and then would be up until 3am most years completing assignments, etc. I went to a school in Boston- it doesn't even matter where I went, if you look up the cost of an education it has historically gone up. I only got $1500 total for the Pell Grant over my years in school.
I'm sorry you're so disappointed you feel you're not getting a contract d/t people like me 'taking up the funds,' but if it weren't for people like you taking up govt financial aid WHILE in school, maybe I wouldn't have had to borrow so much. In addition, I also come from a low income family and had 2 other siblings and a mother in college and my govt still gave me little to nothing to cover the cost of my education.
I know what it is to struggle, I've been there. I still do financially soley d/t the cost of an education. I will have to hold off having children a few years so I can get situated and pay down this debt and thanks to HRSA, I can do that.
I'm sure if you had a 483% ratio, you wouldn't bother complaining that you got the HRSA forgiveness or would you?
Part of your mistake is assuming some of us didn't work. I did- every minute I wasn't in school and then would be up until 3am most years completing assignments, etc. I went to a school in Boston- it doesn't even matter where I went, if you look up the cost of an education it has historically gone up. I only got $1500 total for the Pell Grant over my years in school.
I'm sorry you're so disappointed you feel you're not getting a contract d/t people like me 'taking up the funds,' but if it weren't for people like you taking up govt financial aid WHILE in school, maybe I wouldn't have had to borrow so much. In addition, I also come from a low income family and had 2 other siblings and a mother in college and my govt still gave me little to nothing to cover the cost of my education.
I know what it is to struggle, I've been there. I still do financially soley d/t the cost of an education. I will have to hold off having children a few years so I can get situated and pay down this debt and thanks to HRSA, I can do that.
I'm sure if you had a 483% ratio, you wouldn't bother complaining that you got the HRSA forgiveness or would you?
Seriously. 483%? And you worked every minute when you weren't in school? I honestly don't think my $2500.00/semester Pell Grant was the "cause" of you racking up such a huge debt. I copied this from another post as I don't have time to do any serious research at the moment:
"Hi, I'm researching accelerated BSN programs in the Boston area for Fall 2011. Here's what I have so far: institutions with the total cost of the program and credit hours required to graduate
UMass Boston -- $25,000 -- 68 credits
Curry -- $39,000 -- 43 credits
MGH -- $44,000 -- 54 credits
Simmons Dix -- $51,400 -- 48 credits]
Back to my point. how does this translate into $250-300,000?
If you are from a low income family and you are yourself low income, perhaps you could have finished your first two years at a community college, ( like most of us "poor" folk in my area did) and then gone on to UMass. No shame in that. Instead, you racked up an outrageous debt for the same piece of paper that we all have, no more, no less.
I never expected to get the NELRP, I thought my $27,000 debt was just about right for my comfort level and applying for the NELRP was an afterthought. Yes, I was passed over for those in greater need. I was just amazed at how far into debt you and others have gone for the same degree. I think it's foolish to go that far into debt just on the off chance that the government will bail you out of it. If the Republicans regain the majority, this program might just evaporate. It has never been a guarantee.
I am the luckiest person oin the universe, from my perspective. I have a great job, beautiful twins, I can make my $300/month loan payment easily and intend to pay it off early if possible. I am grateful the Pell Grant was available for me, and I hope it remains available for others in need.
My employer will pay for my Master's starting in January 2011 with a commitment for service. It's all good, best of luck to you.
You forgot to add the cost of living on campus so add $10,000+ and get over it. I'm sure when you filed your FAFSA that your EFC was much less b/c you had kids, I didn't so mine was $11,000 which I COULDN'T afford nor could my family with 2 other kids and a parent in school- that would be about $44,000/yr for college costs... so why don't you do the math, subtract $40,000-5,500 (for scholarships/grants) and multiply that over 6 years. Again, I went to a co-op school in Boston then transferred to a catholic university in D.C. I had to live on campus b/c the cost of living on my own would've justified me getting more loans.
And why don't you vote Republican during the next election, I'm sure if they have it their way they'll get rid of most if not all of the financial aid and you or your kids won't be able to further your education... please please vote Republican- I can only hope you did b/c when I went to school, Bush was in office and cut a lot of the education incentives so I had to borrow and screw you out of getting a lousy $27,000 picked up by the government you hate. Boo hoo!
You forgot to add the cost of living on campus so add $10,000+ and get over it. I'm sure when you filed your FAFSA that your EFC was much less b/c you had kids, I didn't so mine was $11,000 which I COULDN'T afford nor could my family with 2 other kids and a parent in school- that would be about $44,000/yr for college costs... so why don't you do the math, subtract $40,000-5,500 (for scholarships/grants) and multiply that over 6 years. Again, I went to a co-op school in Boston then transferred to a catholic university in D.C. I had to live on campus b/c the cost of living on my own would've justified me getting more loans.
And why don't you vote Republican during the next election, I'm sure if they have it their way they'll get rid of most if not all of the financial aid and you or your kids won't be able to further your education... please please vote Republican- I can only hope you did b/c when I went to school, Bush was in office and cut a lot of the education incentives so I had to borrow and screw you out of getting a lousy $27,000 picked up by the government you hate. Boo hoo!
I am over it, believe me. With shift differentials and overtime, I will clear $80,000 this year- my first year of nursing. My children will have more choices than I did, and they will want for nothing. Goal=achieved. End of Story.
Specializes in Med-Surg, ER/Trauma, ICU, Hospice, Rehab.
i just wanted to point out that those with high debt to income ratios resulting from private education are not necessarily being given priority for funding. i did get the contract with a debt to income ratio of 150%. i am employed in a small rural hospital (critical access hospital), went to a state college, (actually got the adn first, then worked as a nurse while i completed my bsn). i worked full-time throughout my entire education while supporting three children without public assistance. i consider myself frugal, and continue to pay as much as possible on my loans every month (i can't stand paying compound interest). my yearly gross income for full-time employment is less than 45k including overtime and shift differentials. (if you are looking for a high paying job do not move to south dakota!)
nursing has taught us to acknowledge and respect, if not appreciate the differences of others.... twin mommy your blatant disregard for the difference in circumstances that impact the lives of others is an embarrassment to the profession of nursing! i pray that you grow as you advance in your career.
Thanks Black Hills Nurse. I would also like to point out that no one enters college with the idea of going into debt; it's just the consequence of getting a good education and I don't think people should be discouraged from getting an education b/c of it! I hear way too many HS grads tell me they're not going to college b/c of the costs and I have to explain to them that making minimum wage anywhere will never get them ahead, especially when they have a family. Just think: if the cost of an education was the reason people didn't go to school, we wouldn't have doctors, we wouldn't have nurses, engineers, professors, lawyers, etc etc... And you can't assume all of those people start out with the silver spoon in their mouths. My husband for example, he's a professor, but had to go to school for a long time and has debt. Like me, he didn't have the parents to help him, so he borrowed. In the long run the debt sucks, but its not credit card debt so its good debt, and in a few years we'll be in a position where we have everything paid off and will start a family. We'll be able to vacation when and where we want, we'll have nice cars, we have great jobs, we love what we do, and we'll have a great home.
Again, I stress that no one enters school with the intention of running up debt. I was only lucky to hear about HRSA and am glad I got it. We shouldn't be bitter about others getting the help they need and if you are, then I suggest you find another field to work in b/c a lot of our patients get a lot of help and services we probably would all like to have extended to us. You have to think to yourself, we are nurses, we help others, not just medically, but by looking at the whole picture of what the patient needs, what the community needs, etc. We should want those who are less fortunate to get the help they need so they may add to society, not take from it.
Anyway, that's all I have to say. I'm proud of who I am and consider myself fortunate in many ways. We all are.
nursing has taught us to acknowledge and respect, if not appreciate the differences of others.... twin mommy your blatant disregard for the difference in circumstances that impact the lives of others is an embarrassment to the profession of nursing! i pray that you grow as you advance in your career.
black hills nurse,
thanks for sharing. i am new to nursing, not new to life. if you have no money, the logical thing to do is choose the public sector schools which are, by and large a more culturally diverse education, if you want to talk about what is good for nursing.
it sounds like you have a lot of common sense, black hills nurse, and i respect the choices you have made. however, with all dure respect, you have completely misinterpreted my opinion. everyone has a right to choose. this is a blog with opinions. nothing else. i chose not to go too far into debt. try not to get so worked up and sanctimonious. 3.5 years in nursing does not make you the voice of reason for all nurses.
Now, I am being passed over for the NELRP program for individuals with a ridiculous debt:income ratio.
I am very curious how a BSN degree could possibly justify a $200,000 + debt. Sounds risky to me. However, as it turns out it may have been good planning, because it looks like the government is bailing out those who took the risk.
TwinMommy, I highly doubt that anyone here was knowingly taking a gamble to have the government pay off their massive school loans, if anyone, you are the one who came out lucky in this situation. You borrowed $27,000, and don't get NELRP, but someone that borrowed, as your example, $200,000+, gets the NELRP: At the end of the day you have $20,000+ in debt to pay off, the other person, even after NELRP payments (factoring taxes), still has anywhere from $100,000-$120,000+ left in student loans. Who's better off in that situation?
There are so many factors that go into life, don't try to boil it down to one route. Somehow you made just the right moves, the smart choices to end up with such a small debt load--some of those factors were circumstantial to your life. After graduating, I wished that there had been someone telling me at the beginning "Just go to community college! Then have a hospital pay your BSN!" but there wasn't. It doesn't help that high schools and peers alike pressure you to "go to a good college, it will be worth it." And here we are, overloaded with debt that we didn't intend, all for good intentions--to care for and treat others.
Here is a quote taken directly from the NELRP website:
"The purpose of NELRP is to assist in the recruitment and retention of
professional RNs dedicated to providing health care in facilities with a critical
shortage of nurses. In addition, NELRP encourages practice in these
facilities by decreasing the economic barrier that may be associated with the
rising costs of obtaining a degree in nursing. The program offers RNs
substantial economic assistance to repay a portion of their qualifying
educational loans in exchange for full-time service at a health care facility
with a critical shortage of nurses"
I think it is important to remember that this program was created out of recognition that the cost of a nursing education is getting out of control.
I am sure that none of us entered into college with the intent to rack up thousands of dollars worth of debt just so the government can "bail us out" as you put it. Many of us began nursing school as high school graduates, only 18. We chose to go to a university, because that is what our parents, peers, school counselors told us was necessary for a bright future. For this reason I chose to follow my faith and guidance, and attend a private catholic university in my home town. The cost of my education was nearly $40,000 a year. I actually began my first year of college with the help of my parents, and did not need student loans. I had a very good scholarship and my parents were able to cover the remaining costs. However, much to my surprise things changed in my family drastically between my freshman and sophomore years of college. I was left to carry the burden of college tuition on my own. Being the rare, money conscious 19 year old that I was, I chose to live at home, commute to school, work as much as I could and borrow as little as I could. Four years and only one change in my major later, I managed to squeak by with only $62,000 in student loan debt.
Now four years into my wonderful career in nursing I am still paying over $600 a month in student loan payments as well as carrying a mortgage and a car payment. All of this while making a whopping $40,000 a year (including night shift differential, and overtime).
While my debt to income ratio is 140%, I recognize that there are many other nurses out there who are struggling even more than I am to make ends meet. While I hope and pray every day that I will be lucky enough to receive this program, I also understand that I am not in as desperate a need as some of the other people who have applied to this program. Maybe this is something you need to recognize as well TwinMommy. While it sucks to have any amount of debt, you said yourself you can easily afford your $300 a month loan payment. I don't understand why you are upset that you are going to be "passed over" this year. Put yourself in someone else's shoes for a moment and think of how you would feel if you were struggling to make, lets say, a $900 a month payment and your were "passed over" for someone like yourself with only $27,000 worth of debt. This program gets awarded to those with the greatest financial need and that is how it should be. It is not your, nor my place to speculate on how those people ended up with so much debt.
I applied to NELRP last year as well, and followed the threads on this website all year. I have to say that I am rather disappointed in the tone that this thread has taken this year. Last year's thread was full of "congratulations!" for those who were lucky to recieve the program. And "don't give up hope!" for those who were still waiting. It was a place to go when you couldn't stand waiting any longer. A place where you could see that there were many other people in exactly the same boat you were in. Now, this year, because of TwinMommys post, we are all left defending the choices we have made in our lives and pointing out why we deserve the program over the next person.
So with all of that said, I would like to say this. To all of you who have already received the program, Congratulations! As for those of us still stalking our mailmen or email in-box's Good luck!
End of August, did your packet come with a FAQ at the back? It states "The first direct deposit will be made approximately 30 days from the effective date of the contract." So around August 26th I would guess, which can't get here soon enough. :)
My acceptance letter only came with the first page of the FAQ I guess. There wasn't anything we were supposed to return to them was there? I hope I'm not missing anything else! Let me know when you get a chance. Have you recieved your first deposit yet?
SanCap
14 Posts
I just received my confirmation letter today!!!
Just some info for everyone still waiting: My debt to income ratio was 138% and I work at a Pediatric DSH facility. I received the email with the contract, etc July 11th and received my confirmation in the mail today.
Good luck to all of those still waiting!