Student Loan Debt

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I am entering to get my ADN starting in two months. at 40 years old i feel i got a late start but the overall cost of my school (private school) is $25,000 about. after school my loans will be about 40K. is this pretty standard. I have no idea if this is outrageous or not. Public schools were insane to get accepted into and i just want to get it over and done with.

Specializes in ER, Trauma, Med-Surg/Tele, LTC.
I wouldn't go that deeply into debt for an ADN, particularly at your age. Maybe for a BSN and you were younger, but not at middle-age and not for an ADN. Find a better way -- or don't do it at all.

:yes:

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Specializes in CRNA.

40K is crazy for an ADN. I have a few friends that went to ITT and it was outrageous the price they paid. I think my ADN was around 12-15K and luckily I was able to pay it out of pocket also with help from a hospital scholarship and BIA grants. I worked full time during school too.

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ADN programs where I am are about 10k, so yes, definitely outrageous. The BSN program I'll be entering is 20k for tuition and fees (State public university).

Unless you have a plan to pay it off easily that I'm not thinking of?

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You're getting ripped off. Sorry to be that blunt, but that's an outrageous amount of money for an ADN.

I'm guessing this is a private, for-profit school with minimal entrance requirements. Reputable schools do not charge that much.

I'm nearly 40 myself, so I certainly understand the desire to just go ahead and do it, even if it costs a little bit more. This is why I just did an ABSN rather than taking my time doing my ADN at a CC and then finishing up the BSN at my leisure. But in your case, it's not costing just a little bit more. It's costing a lot more. More than it's worth. More than you have. More than you're going to get out of it.

Here's why it won't pay off with a better job the way you hope it will:

1) It's an ADN, not a BSN. Yes, we're all RNs, but it's getting harder and harder for ADN nurses to get jobs. It sucks because there are many excellent ADN prepared RNs out there, but that's not what employers are looking for right now.

2) It's an ADN from a non-selective school. Like it or not, your school's reputation matters. After you get some experience under your belt, you will be judged for your work, but until then, your school's reputation can be a big determinant of whether or not you even get a call to come interview. My state has a well-regarded competitive community college program that turns out excellent nurses. And lately, those grads have been having a really hard time finding jobs, solely due to employer preference for BSN. Imagine how much harder it is for nurses coming out of the less competitive ADN programs.

3) Your age. I'm in the same boat. We need to be saving money for retirement, not taking on tens of thousands of dollars in debt. It might be worth it, if you knew your degree were definitely going to lead to a job that would allow you to pay off the loans easily. But the market is too uncertain for an ADN right now. It also might be worth it if you were younger and had more time to weather the stormy job market and eventually pay it off. But a 40-year-old can't afford to take the same financial risks that a 20-year-old can.

Education can be a great investment, but you need to make sure you're getting a decent return on your investment. No way will you in this case.

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Is you're 40k amount including tuition and living expenses? I noticed the tuition cost you listed was 25k. Is it possible for you to work to offset the additional 15k? I'm looking at nursing as a 2nd career. I have a ton of debt from my previous degrees, so I'm not thrilled about taking out any more than necessary. I'm hoping to work, get scholarships, and use tuition assistance. If you can get a hospital job while in school they may pay part of your tuition and then many places offer tuition payback in return for a number of years of work in return.

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that is crazy for an associates. I went to CC for free thanks to federal and state financial aid as well as a scholarship. No loans whatsoever. Even if I did't have the scholarship, I would only pay less than 1K per semester. I'd wait it out and get into the CC program.

If you're waiting to be accepted, use the time you have to get prereqs out of the way and you might even be able to knock out a few classes that you are supposed to take concurrently with nursing classes. For example, sociology, lifespan psych, english, and micro were classes that I took DURING nursing school in my particular program. Not as pre reqs. use your downtime to get a few of those out of the way while you wait to lighten your load.

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I have two friends that attended a private school for an lpn diploma and a BSN degree. One friend paid 32,000 for her lpn diploma and the other friend paid 52,000 for her nursing degree. They both asked me if I would consider paying that amount of money for a nursing degree. Even if I could afford to do so, I would never pay that amount of money for my nursing degree. I attend a CC and pay cash for my classes. My intentions are to continue to pay cash for my classes. I am 48 years old and the last thing I want to do with my income is to give it to the federal government. I know how hard it is to wait, however, in the long run, you will be greatful that you did wait.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg, Psych, Geri, LTC, Tele,.

I offer a different opinion than many PPs. I would research the job market, new Grad hiring practices in your locale and typical starting pay. Then calculate the loan payment. Determine if what's left after paying taxes, insurance, student loans, makes the debt reasonable.

As for me, I already had ~20k prior to Lvn school. I determined that I was comfortable with walking away with twice that debt and paying $500 per mo on student loans, because, according to my research of my market (gained by talking to facilities in person) would be worth it.

However, my area market may not be like yours.

In the end, my plan worked out. I made ~ $3.5 - 4k after taxes and insurance per month as an Lvn. I secured a job the same month I graduated and was able to easily afford my loans and other living expenses with money left over.

Do your research first!!

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Specializes in Neuro/ ENT.

The 40K is because if interest. Making small payments along the way will significantly reduce this amount. And a motivated person even on minimum wage (as long as they are living below their means rather than at or above it), can knock out $35K in debt within less than 5 years.

Before anyone jumps on this and says that isn't possible, it absolutely is. The problem is most of us are born and raised in a culture where credit card debt is the norm, it's even taught that there is no way to live in this country without credit. When a person decides to exit this mind thought so much more is possible than we initially think.

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Specializes in Occ. Hlth, Education, ICU, Med-Surg.

Don't forget that you'll most likely need to get your BSN in the future as well....even with tuition reimbursement you'll still incur additional debt.

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Specializes in Neuro/ ENT.

I will add that after significant scholarships at a Private not for profit college, I am initially paying $26K for my BSN... I'm not sure I would want to get my ADN for just $6K less. And my sister in law got her BSN with no scholarships at another Hospital based college for exactly 20K...

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