$100,000 in student loan debt?

TexasPediRN · May 13, 2009

The school I attended was 25k a year, 100k total for my BSN.

That was without student loans, scholarships, and financial aid.

I owed about 30k in loans when i graduated, I think thats pretty good.

Most people fail to realize that the vast majority do NOT pay the full tuition amount. There is always fin. aid offered from the college and scholarships.

But to not get anything, and have 100k in loans, I dont think so!!

LaneyB · May 13, 2009

http://www.finaid.org/loans/

This is a good link to average debt for student loans. Looks like average for a four year is $19,237. Only a tenth of student borrow more than $35,213 for undergraduate degrees.

oramar · May 13, 2009

My daughter had about $24,000 education related debt when she finished school. It was worth it because she has a very nice career going. But that doesn't mean that paying it off hasn't been a burden at times. I try to imagine 4 times that amount and the mind boggles.

rambleandwrite · May 13, 2009

Unfortunetly I am one of the individuals who will owe close to 90,000 when I get done with my BSN in Nevada. To pay it off, I have applied to go active duty with the Army for three years. I am just waiting to hear back from them at this point. I would have to say for my money I didn't get what I paid for....

Cindy-san · May 13, 2009

Depends where you go. People attend those fancy-pants-pay-for-the-name schools and get $40K tuition bills a year as undergrads.

Me? That'll be grad school. :eek:

ParkerBC,MSN,RN, PhD, RN · May 13, 2009

My total student loan debt is about $75,000. The debt amount is not hard to accumulate when there isn't any financial aid extended and the only way of paying for the expenses is with student loans. My parents both have excellent paying jobs. They chose not to save up for us kids to go to school because they had no one to pay for them to go. I am glad it happened that way. We learned quickly of how to be responsible. My debt includes my Bachelors and Masters degrees. Having two degrees from an Ivy League university isn't a free pass to a corner office and it doesn't protect you from economic downturns. I considered nursing when I first went to school, but decided on the business route instead (should have went with my gut instinct). Now I am returning to school to do what I truly want to do, nursing.

Student loan debt is like any other debt: a person must decide on how much they can afford. Here is where people get into trouble. When I incurred my debt, I made a conscious decision to make certain I had no other debt leaving school (credit cards and auto loans), which I did. I also decided that my first home wasn't going to be a 250K home. I also knew student loans were tax deductible. I spoke with a tax accountant who told me based upon my mortgage interest and student loan interest how much my tax liability would be for the end of the year. I was then able to determine how many dependents I could claim in order to bring more into my household. Before attending nursing school, I was able to bring home about $500.00 more per month. I used that as extra principle payments on my student loans. So, I don't see the loans as bad thing especially since my tax write off's are enough to make the monthly payments.

nerdtonurse?, BSN, RN · May 13, 2009

I'm paying as I go. I'm also not taking my hospital up on it's tuition plan, since they require that you work for them for 2 years after any semester they pay for. The first time I asked about the paperwork for the tuition reimbursement, my NM made some comment about "buying another RN." Honey, nobody's "buying" me. I'd rather starve and do without things than let them feel like they can treat me anyway they want to because I couldn't afford the 2x the reimbursed amount to leave. My NM noticed she hasn't seen any tuition paperwork and asked me if I was planning on leaving after I rec'd my RN. I told her it depended on the jobs and money I was offered.

ParkerBC,MSN,RN, PhD, RN · May 13, 2009

The school I attended was 25k a year, 100k total for my BSN.
That was without student loans, scholarships, and financial aid.
I owed about 30k in loans when i graduated, I think thats pretty good.
Most people fail to realize that the vast majority do NOT pay the full tuition amount. There is always fin. aid offered from the college and scholarships.
But to not get anything, and have 100k in loans, I dont think so!!

This is not true. I would encourage you to visit different school's financial aid websites and see what percentage of students receive financial assistance. The percentages are not at 100. Also, take into account how much a person pay per credit hour for tuition. For example, I paid $425.00/hour for my undergraduate degree (124 credits), then I paid 776.00/hour for my masters (39 hours) AND I had no financial aid available. Now can see how someone can incur that level of debt?

JMRrahk · May 13, 2009

I would remind a lot of the posters here that the cost of education has increased dramatically within the past few years. I graduated from my first degree (non-nursing) in 2006 and my yearly tuition almost tripled between my freshman and senior years and I went to an in-state school! Don't be so quick to judge students who have had to take out large amounts of money in loans in order to pay their way. One has to take into consideration that many students have to leave home in order to attend school which creates the need for having to pay rent or dorm-costs which, esp if you live on the east coast, would not be possible to cover with even the best-paying part-time student job.

Long gone are the days when a student can pay their way through college and avoid having any debt. Unless you are very rich or very poor, there is really no way to avoid it.

Consider that for in-state tuition you can figure on paying between 10K and 20K per year. Add on to that if you need a meal plan, dorm-expenses, rent, utility bills etc... even if you're able to scratch out about $200/week waiting tables, you're still going to have to take out extra for books, living expenses, cell phone, transportation etc. All that adds up very very quickly.

:o:o

**NickiLaughs, ADN, BSN, RN** · May 13, 2009

When I started college, I applied for TONS of financial aid, and got nothing. I was accepted to a competitive state school and ultimately decided not to go because I just didn't have the money. Four years of community colleges and endless applying to nursing programs. I paid 17k for an LVN program. Then I returned to a University to complete my BSN. That was going to be about 30k total for 3 years.

Hard times hit, and I got accepted to a accelerated 9 month program that cost 35k. Considering I would finish my RN two years sooner for approximately the same amount of money, I did this.

So now I have about 50k in debt. It's possible to incur. Unfortunately many students view things that are "extras" as necessities now. I'll admit I've been guilty of that, but my loans only went to the programs.

I wish everyone luck in paying off their debt! I know I need it.

melmarie23, MSN, RN · May 13, 2009

I will have a total debt of about $70ishk when its all said and done. $25k of it was from undergrad, and the rest will be from my graduate program

ksrose1 · May 13, 2009

I am currently going through the motions to get my ADN.....we have not borrowed one dime for it. If we can't pay for a class, I don't take it until I can. This fall it will get harder, but are doing our best to get by.....