Nursing and college debt

Anne36, LPN · Jul 19, 2012

Good Lord, why would anyone go that far into debt to be a nurse? Think about it this way, its the equivilant of a mortgage for some people. Yes, you can get a house for that. Student loan interest rates are going up soon. It was supposed to start this summer, no telling how long that would take to pay off, depends on so many factors. What type of nursing degree are you looking at? Dont take out more money than you can make in 1 year of a starting salary. Living in MI LPNs have the potential to start off around $20 an hour. I am about 10,000 in debt for my LPN and just graduated.

k_girl153 · Jul 19, 2012

Wow....100K in debt? I dont see how anyone could rack up that much unless its medical or law school. If you think you will be that much in debt just for nursing, you may want to rethink your decision.

Honestly the time it takes depends on how much you make. Around here nurses start around 22/hr before any differentials.

How much is your interest rate? If the interest rate is around 6%, you can expect to spend a little over 1100/mo for 10 years. You can count out buying a house or having any other major expenses for a long time.

good luck.

willowita, ADN, RN · Jul 19, 2012

100K is insane but not unheard of. My dad, who is an RN, says the students he works with are racking that much at private schools. People used to go to MIT for that kind of money. Now, it's to go into nursing.

But anyway...

You're supposed to pay back federal student loans within 10 years if you don't defer. So they will calculate how much you're supposed to pay back on a 10 year plan. Though they also have income based plans, which are lower payments but are supposed to be temporary.

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Jul 19, 2012

Whoa!!! Nothing like mortgaging your future, right?

Jennie.K · Jul 19, 2012

It depends on how big of payment you are planning on making. I will be in about 45-50K in debt when all is said and done. I plan to put my entire check towards student loans and hopefully have in paid within 2 years. However, I plan to continue to live off my husbands income while repaying loans.

lovedijah · Jul 20, 2012

Combined my husband and I owe 80,000 and we pay $800 a month. I think if we really buckled down and with two incomes we could pay it off in 5 years. But only if we buckle down and only with two incomes.You are definately going to need to pay more than the minimum due each month or it may very well take you 20 years.

pixiestudent2 · Jul 20, 2012

I think the question would be why would someone want to put their self in 100k in debt for a nursing degree? On the ten year plan you will be making payments of 1150.80 monthly, and you will rack up 38096.39 in interest.