NP school, did you pull a loan or paid in cash?

[Sam. W]

I am debating myself. I could work some shifts and pay the tuition in cash, or I could just pull a loan because I see job posts saying tuition reimbursement, is it really reliable? The loan interest rate is like 6.8%, for $650 x 48 credits, and some books and other service fee, it could be a lot. How hard is it to find a NP job that would reimburse my tuition? I would not mind relocating to a small place. But where should I go as a new NP would be a better choice? Thanks!

[thinbluelineRN, MSN, NP]

Pay cash if you can- student loans are the worst- take it from someone who is currently paying it off!

[jensfbay, BSN, DNP]

I maybe a minority here. I have two kids, work part time, with a spouse who is supporting us, and I'm in my last year of 3 year DNP program. I took a loan to pay 50% of my tuition. The other 50% was through scholarship and my own money. In between breaks, I'd work extra to pay to save up for tuition. I still will owe a lot of student loan. It's gonna suck to pay for this, but I'm thankful for the advancement opportunity, knowledge, and skills that I'm gaining.

[anchorRN, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN]

On 5/13/2020 at 4:53 PM, OllieW said:

The military is an option. Enter as an RN and either attending NP school while active duty or use the post 911 GI bill after separation. AD nursing is an experience you cannot get anywhere else.

This is the route I took. Did 6 years active duty Navy as an RN in their Nurse Corps. Was one of the best experiences of my life. Don't count on the military paying for your NP, they just dont use them as much as PAs. They want nurses to get MSN's in Clinical Nurse Leadership or CNS. The Navy used to allow the Officers to do the CNS/NP dual track program as "duty under instruction (DUINS), but now they only allow CNS/CNL degrees, at least in the Navy. When I was in they really pushed RN's to do CRNA after a few years of ICU experience as a junior officer, and occasionally 1 or 2 spots for an FNP program would pop up but they are absolutely not the norm.

I knew I wanted to be an NP and since that wasn't an option while I was Active Duty, I ended up separating when my commitment was over and used my GI Bill to pay for 100% of my tuition, books, fees. I have zero college debt, just graduated from Eastern Kentucky University's Rural Health Family Nurse Practitioner program and passed my boards on May 28th (ANCC)! I'm still looking for a job with all the COVID stuff it is a bit rough right now but something will open up I know it ? Good luck with you journey and if you can at all avoid it, dont use student loans (and dont rely on student loan reimbursement as a possibility after graduation as those jobs seem to be few and far between nowadays).

[FullGlass, BSN, MSN, NP]

While it would be best to not have any student loans, that is not feasible for most people. The only NPs I know who did not get any student loans are NPs who were foreign students and had to pay cash. All the other NPs I know took out student loans.

Of course, one should not take excessive loans. Figure out what is reasonable given what you will be making as NP where you plan to work. For example, I live in California. My first year as an NP, I made $125K. I had $500 per month in student loan payments. That was no hardship, as my only other bills at the time were $750 per month for rent, plus normal expenses like utilities, etc. My car was paid off.

I don't know where are all these paragons of fiscal virtue are, because I sure don't know many. Most of us have to take out a loan to buy a new car or to buy a house. It is easy enough to figure out a monthly budget and then calculate how much in student loans you can afford - what monthly payment.

There are ways to reduce the amount of loans, such as scholarships or the military. There are loan repayment programs at the federal and state level, and some employers such as the Veterans Administration and some large hospital chains also offer this as a benefit. Yes, it is competitive to get loan repayment, but it is hardly impossible. There is loan forgiveness as well, but that can be tricky to get, but hardly impossible.

Another option to consider is to get a job with a teaching hospital. If you can get admitted to their NP program, and you will get preference, your employer will pay part, plus you would get a large discount. At least this was the case at Hopkins.

Many hospitals offer RNs tuition reimbursement, which also helps.

Scholarships are available through private entities, the federal government, and many state and even local governments. Some of these are full ride. For example, the Nurse Corps scholarship pays all tuition plus a small living stipend, in return for working in an underserved area for a certain period of time. I won a Nurse Corps scholarship and everyone from my school who applied got one. Many states have an equivalent program. The internet is your friend here - use it to search out scholarships.

I would also talk to school faculty. When I was in my first year at Hopkins in the NP program, one of the professors had received a grant for over a dozen $25,000 scholarships. The Financial Aid office didn't know about this - I found out through my faculty advisor. Anyone who went and talked to the professor got a scholarship, and $25K is hardly chump change.

[FullGlass, BSN, MSN, NP]

I just saw a primary care NP job listing in a Northern California town. This is a decent-size town and it considered an outdoor sports mecca - it is an international vacation destination for outdoor enthusiasts. The job offers $100K in student loan repayment! It's for an FQHC.

[Sam. W, MSN, APRN]

21 hours ago, anchorRN said:

I knew I wanted to be an NP and since that wasn't an option while I was Active Duty, I ended up separating when my commitment was over and used my GI Bill to pay for 100% of my tuition, books, fees. I have zero college debt, just graduated from Eastern Kentucky University's Rural Health Family Nurse Practitioner program and passed my boards on May 28th (ANCC)!

Congratulations!

But I don't think I am be able to do Active Duty under current circumstance. The Army recruiter contacted me through email yesterday, and asked me to join the Reserve because I have BSN, he said I could get tuition assistance. But I don't have any outstanding student loan, I paid off my BSN loans 2 years ago, I am wondering if I get tuition assistance for serving in the Reserve, can I use that money to cover my NP tuition? I have been accepted to a NP program at a local college starting this fall.