paying for CRNA school

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Hi all,

I am planning to start CRNA school in Sept 2011. I feel I am a good candidate with good GPA BSN and some MSN courses. I am also preparing for CCRN certification. Here is my issue...how to pay for it. I am planning to work agency for the next year in a busy hospital where they have lots of needs and save up and rent my condo and live in a room. But I still think I am going to need more money. So the other option is to take the stafford loans, which would only give me 20,500/year. The school i am planning to go to is about 35000 for the whole program...that is if i get in. if not the other schools are about 50000 in tuition. I have a bad credit in 600 wheere i doubt i would get a private loan. So what other options are there? Is it true some hospitals pay for your tution in return for work? If so what are the pros and cons?

thanks,

jalelle

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Apply for the grad plus loan.. its federal although is based off your credit. Otherwise, if you can prove you need more money some of my friends have been able to get more stafford loan money than the usual 20,500...but not always a guarantee.. otherwise- beg family. Or you could get married and hope your significant other has great credit-that worked for me :)

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thanks...how about the ansthesia group or hospital paying for you in exchange of work for a couple of years..

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Yep, you can definitely try that route too.. I know they still exist, but they are harder to find related to the current state of our economy. Not that you would want to think of this possibility, but just make sure before you sign one of those contracts that you would have some way of paying back whatever money they have given you if you were unfortunate enough to not make it through a program, and look over the contract very carefully before signing- good luck

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Specializes in CVPACU, CCU, ICU.

I am currently an SRNA with 7 months left to go and I can tell you the job market has changed DRASTICALLY since I started school. I personally know 2 people who had their contracts dropped while they have been in school due to the facilities deciding they didnt have the money to continue paying for the students tuition/stipend/etc. One of them is suing because that put them repaying the money to the hospital and the other student didnt have to re-pay the money according to their contract. So guy number two got 2 semesters (almost) of free money - however he no longer has a job waiting for him upon graduation and he is struggling to pay his way thru the remainder of school. I dont know how I would have made it this far without my savings. I certainly dont want to sound negative because I am LOVING anesthesia. But make sure the money/job is on the other end because you are going to be in a lot of debt.

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CCRN-CMC-CSC,

Where are you going to school? Thanks

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I am currently an SRNA with 7 months left to go and I can tell you the job market has changed DRASTICALLY since I started school. I personally know 2 people who had their contracts dropped while they have been in school due to the facilities deciding they didnt have the money to continue paying for the students tuition/stipend/etc. One of them is suing because that put them repaying the money to the hospital and the other student didnt have to re-pay the money according to their contract. So guy number two got 2 semesters (almost) of free money - however he no longer has a job waiting for him upon graduation and he is struggling to pay his way thru the remainder of school. I dont know how I would have made it this far without my savings. I certainly dont want to sound negative because I am LOVING anesthesia. But make sure the money/job is on the other end because you are going to be in a lot of debt.

In what was do you feel the market has drastically changed? (aside from the example you mentioned-which is great info) Example: Difficulty finding jobs? Competitive market? Salary changes? Less than expected working conditions etc.???

Thanks!

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I can tell you that the incomes are declining. I believe the most recent report shows a drop in pay of 6.3%. I have 1.5 years left of school but have been keeping track of the job market all along because as the previous poster has said, I'm gonna be in a lot of debt and need to have some way to pay it all back. In the last month, I have watched most of the employers I have been watching drop their pay by 10,000/year, and I have seen the number of jobs on a popular anesthesia job site in my preferred state of employment drop from 20 available jobs to 7. In the long run, I'm sure for me it will all be worth it no matter what happens, but for some of my friends that have more debt than me- they think they will pretty much still take home RN salary with the amount of loans they are going to have. Savings are crucial these days I believe.

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Specializes in neuro/med/surg ICU / student anesthetist.

In some areas of the US the market is saturated with CRNA grads...like Minneapolis for example, it has 3 schools and produces about 70 grads a year plus Mayo is just south and has their own school. So the point is the job market has tightened up in certain areas, but the jobs are still around, they just happen to be more rural or small city gigs. In general, where there are a lot of anesthesia programs, the jobs are in shorter supply...just common sense. But go to gaswork.com and you'll see a lot of jobs, and those are just the ones that are posted on that particular site.

Anyway, back to the original question. You will find enough loans if you get into school. Someone will be willing to loan you the money because it is a good investment on there part. Don't forget about grants/scholarships as well. And never underestimate living simply/austerely so that you can pay for school. One thing that really helped me was using the tuition reimbursement benny at my job to pay for some classes and then I transfered those credits into my program. That saved me tuition and I didn't have to have such a heavy class load.

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Specializes in Cardiac, ICU.

premaseeker-Do you have any more information on the job market in the Twin Cities? I have been accepted to MSA, start in August, and I'm hoping to be able to work in the area for a couple years after graduation. Are students getting job offers from clinical sites? Are graduates who want to stay in the area able to?

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Specializes in neuro/med/surg ICU / student anesthetist.

I chose not to attend school in Mpls because I didn't feel like the job market would be favorable when I finished. I've seen a few postings for work in the cities but they have been few and far between. It seems that you might have better luck in Duluth or a rural locality. I have no idea about the current practice of clinical sites hiring students but I know that it was popular about 5 years ago. They even would sign you up with a stipend and sign on bonus while you still had a year left before graduation. I'm at a program in another state so I can't speak to the recent scenario. If I were you I would ask the current seniors at MSA (some of old my coworkers) and see how their job searches are going. Since you are starting your program this August, you might want to put employment concerns on the back burner because the market can change a lot in 2+ years and you have to finish the program first (no offense, just saying it is not easy). All the best.

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