Student Loan Debt

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Is it common nowadays for nursing students to graduate with >100K in student loan debt? I am trying to wrap my head around how this is happening so let me throw a few questions out there.

  1. Did you go to a public or private university?
  2. If you chose a private university what advantages did you expect over a public university?
  3. Did cost play any role in selecting what university you went to?
  4. What was the cost of tuition per year?
  5. Did you use the student loan money for anything other than tuition, books or school fees?
  6. When you signed for the loans, did you have any idea how much the payments per month would be?
  7. If you are a working RN, what percentage of your monthly take home pay goes to servicing your school loans?
  8. If you are a working RN, knowing what you know now what if anything would you have done differently to keep the debt to a minimum?

Specializes in CVICU.
Here's my educational trajectory...

1. Private nonprofit LVN program, $19,995...graduated in 2005 and paid the student loan debt off in 2007.

2. Private for-profit LPN-to-ASN transition program, $19,000...graduated in 2010 with $12,700 in student loan debt and paid it off in 2013.

3. Private nonprofit online RN-to-BSN program, $5,800...graduated in 2015 and paid the tuition with cash along the way, thereby avoiding debt.

4. Public regional state university online MSN program...still attending. The cost is $230 per credit and I am paying as I go.

The smartet thing you did was pay off each loan before taking out another and once you got established did the pay as you go plan.

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Specializes in Emergency Medicine.

I am 100 grand in debt- well I've paid it down a bit.

I went to a private, not for profit, catholic university, division 1 school, in a large city. I entered a BSN program directly out of high school. The school is competitive to get into and has a very all rated nursing program. I truly believe the school I attended has opened doors for me. I also thing I was extremely well prepared entering my career, and have excelled as a nurse. I am currently applying to school to get my AGACNP- both at private schools and expensive. I personally feel like as well prepared as I was, this is again a good decision. On a professional level, I feel others look to me as knowledgeable- I cannot conclude if that is due to my education or experience though. I pay $800 a month in loans, but work OT and pay more- they will get paid off eventually and is not something I stress out about- my husband and I live comfortably.

Would I do it again? Absolutely- I'm very happy about where my life is professionally, and think that has a lot to do with my undergraduate education.

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Specializes in 4.

Let's see....I am in California and I am one that will have a high accumulative student loan debt. I owe $19,000 for my LVN (I did pay $8,000 cash to start). I lost everything when I started LVN school so my debt has helped me get back on my feet. Do I regret it? Not one bit. I am 43 years old, so my parents income is not a consideration and I for one have had to support myself while getting back on my feet. No 2nd income or spouse and I did it by myself. Others have questioned my student loan debt but after waiting as long as I have to go back to school to follow my passion, I do not regret my scholastic focus for one bit. I am almost done with my LVN to RN pre-req's and no, I do not have tuition reimbursement nor do I qualify for grants. I apply every year and every year I am sent a nice letter saying they found students with a higher financial need than mine. For me, school is my priority and I simply do not care what anyone says. Everyone has an opinion but at the end of the day, I am the only one paying my bills. So, my advice would be...what is your goal? what is your priority? If I can walk away with an MSN Degree and keep myself under my maximum, then I have indeed surpassed my own expectations and followed my dreams. To me, what matters is that I accomplish my dreams and set out to finish what I started at a young age.

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Here's my educational trajectory...

1. Private nonprofit LVN program, $19,995...graduated in 2005 and paid the student loan debt off in 2007.

2. Private for-profit LPN-to-ASN transition program, $19,000...graduated in 2010 with $12,700 in student loan debt and paid it off in 2013.

3. Private nonprofit online RN-to-BSN program, $5,800...graduated in 2015 and paid the tuition with cash along the way, thereby avoiding debt.

4. Public regional state university online MSN program...still attending. The cost is $230 per credit and I am paying as I go.

What online rn-bsn program did you do?

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I recently graduated from a private lpn program, my tuition was $18,500 which i paid mostly out of pocket with the help of my church i didnt need any loans so i have zero debt from there.

I plan on going to a community college to do my lpn-asn which pell will pay for most of it and i will pay the rest out of pocket, i plan om graduating with zero debt then too

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Specializes in CVICU.
I truly believe the school I attended has opened doors for me.

Can you give me a specific example of a door that was opened because of the school you attended?

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Specializes in CVICU.
I recently graduated from a private lpn program, my tuition was $18,500 which i paid mostly out of pocket with the help of my church i didnt need any loans so i have zero debt from there.

I plan on going to a community college to do my lpn-asn which pell will pay for most of it and i will pay the rest out of pocket, i plan om graduating with zero debt then too

A hearty round of applause for you. You will be happy with that choice.

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I did my ASN at a well respected community college. I paid as I went with a stipend from my parents.

My daughter is now enrolled in a private non-profit Christian college nursing program. I wish non-profit meant affordable but it's anything but. She received some scholarship funds and is taking out the max loans that she qualifies for. Because we the parents make a good income we are "responsible" for a little over 1/3 of the tuition. Because we have younger children in private school we are taking out the parent plus loans for the college student. The agreement is that she will pay them. Our agreement is that we will provide car & insurance, health insurance and healthcare while she is in school, she works summers to pay for food and incidentals during the year. And she can live at home for as long as she needs to pay off her loans after graduation. By the time she graduates college her younger sibs will just be entering college. As so it goes. We figure there will be approx 60k in nursing school debt.

She had her pick of colleges...but REALLY wanted to attend a faith based college so we're supporting that. I don't know if it will make a difference career wise for her (the bsn will of course) and she values the environment she is in for school.

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Specializes in Emergency Medicine.
Can you give me a specific example of a door that was opened because of the school you attended?

Yes, the United States Air Force nurse corps- I was specifically told the school I attended made my application stand out- and when only 68 of 300 applicants are accepted into the AF as a new nurse, I'd say my school helped me get there.

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Specializes in Labor and Delivery.

A BSN will never ever be worth 100k. Ever. A MSN neither. I graduated with a BSN & 22k in student loans. It will be paid off before I turn 26, God willing.

You got to be the world's biggest sucker to willingly pay 100k+ for a BSN or any bachelor's degree for that matter.

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Specializes in 4.
A BSN will never ever be worth 100k. Ever. A MSN neither. I graduated with a BSN & 22k in student loans. It will be paid off before I turn 26, God willing.

You got to be the world's biggest sucker to willingly pay 100k+ for a BSN or any bachelor's degree for that matter.

Really? Not everyone is so lucky and your comments are simply rude. Possibly try to look at it in a positive light rather than come across so negative. That may help you some. I personally do not believe in ever telling someone, that obtaining an education and a degree somehow make you stupid or as you say a "sucker".

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Specializes in Labor and Delivery.
Really? Not everyone is so lucky and your comments are simply rude. Possibly try to look at it in a positive light rather than come across so negative. That may help you some. I personally do not believe in ever telling someone, that obtaining an education and a degree somehow make you stupid or as you say a "sucker".

You must have paid 100k+ for a degree and now you're mad at a stranger over the internet for writing a comment that would naturally come to anyones mind when they find out a person paid that much money and will likely live a life crippled by student loans behind a nursing degree. It's absolutely ridiculous and extremely ill-advised to take out that much money for a career that will never allow you to see that type of take home pay OR even before taxes pay for that matter. Get out of your feelings.

ETA: Nevermind. There is no way possible you have paid 100k for a LVN degree.

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