RN's, how much did you borrow for school?

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Apr 28, 2011

I borrowed $12,700 to attend a private associates degree program. My monthly payments are about $170. My debt is manageable and I plan to pay it off in five years instead of stretching it out to 10 years.

Let's crunch some numbers with some assumptions. A $60,000 student loan balance will result in a monthly repayment rate of $690.48 if the following conditions are met:

1. A Stafford government student loan with an interest rate of 6.8%

2. Financed over 10 years

3. No prepayments being made

Of course, your payments will likely be higher if you have taken out some private student loans, or they might be less if you finance for 15 or 20 years instead 10.

jaznia15 · Apr 28, 2011

I'm about to graduate Next Saturday from a BSN program. I had $25,000 worth of scholarships and grants and borrowed a little over $25,000 in loans. The hospital I am going to work for is going to pay back a one time fee of $5,000 for a 12 month committment and I have a service cancellable loan of $4,000 so I owe a little over $14,000 but I plan to get the minimum payment but pay more because that was the advice we were given during loan exit counseling to get the balance paid back sooner. I would suggest you look for a hospital that does loan repayment where you get a certain amount paid back for years of service.

SimonJester · Apr 28, 2011

we were able to cash flow my wife’s schooling, so we came out the other end with no student loans.

it took a lot longer because she only went one or two classes a semester until she got into the nursing program.

we are very grateful we could do this, now her income goes entirely into the mortgage, we should have our mortgage paid off in another year or two.

i would be cautious with a 60k load a $690 payment will be tough to manage along with other expenses.

FrogKissingNurse · Apr 28, 2011

i just finished my adn. thankfully it was cheap and i've been paying mostly out of pocket. i am about $2,500 in debt, but i will be going for my bsn in the next year. i'm really hoping to have a well paying job at the very least and maybe work for a company that will help me out. if not, i'm still young and only have myself to worry about so i should be able to manage being around $30,000 in debt...

soxgirl2008 · Apr 28, 2011

I won't have any debt when I finish my ADN program...I'll only need 4 classes to have my BSN because I spent a year and a half doing pre-reqs for a BSN program but didn't get in, and all the other BSN programs around here would cost me 60,000 or more. I'm hoping I won't have to spend too much to do my RN-BSN as I plan I doing it through a state university.

bsyrn, ASN, RN · Apr 28, 2011

I was able to work full time and pay my way through school so I was debt free at the end. It was hard but worth it.

Jules A, MSN · Apr 28, 2011

I was able to work full time and pay my way through school so I was debt free at the end. It was hard but worth it.

Me too. :up:

ckh23, BSN, RN · Apr 28, 2011

$0 Went to community college for my ADN and paid out of pocket and then a very cheap RN-BSN which I also paid out of pocket.

honeykrown, MSN, NP · Apr 28, 2011

$0, worked part time at wendys for my ADN and worked part time in home health for BSN

boushie87 · Apr 28, 2011

Well. I already had a bachelor's degree previously which sent me up to 40k in loans.. then I went to grad school for a year which doubled that. Now I'm going for a BSN for 2.5 yrs.. so I would suspect around 140k by the time all is said and done. This is through the govt and private loans. Plus my husband has loans as well from undergrad so total it may reach around 200k, maybe 180.

Jules A, MSN · Apr 28, 2011

It is really cool to read about all the people posting here that worked and were able to graduate with little or no debt. I cringe whenever I read that someone is living off loans to "focus on school". :rolleyes: I actually went to school with a girl that did that, was $40,000 in debt after 3 years, failed out of the RN program in the last semester and was not re-admitted the following year. I just can't imagine.