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.
Did you go to a public or private university?
If you chose a private university what advantages did you expect over a public university?
Did cost play any role in selecting what university you went to?
What was the cost of tuition per year?
Did you use the student loan money for anything other than tuition, books or school fees?
When you signed for the loans, did you have any idea how much the payments per month would be?
If you are a working RN, what percentage of your monthly take home pay goes to servicing your school loans?
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?
I am curious what does a "prestigious" school offer that your average school does not? I am asking this in all sincerity. What do they provide to justify the added cost?
Alumni networks. Honestly, though, it seems to me like the only alumni networks worth attending a school for are the Ivys. If this person is getting her MSN at Harvard or Yale it might be worth going to a prestigious school. Maybe.
I see a lot of people defending the students who take out 100k or greater in loans, but I find it ridiculous - unless, as above, the person is attending an Ivy, which might just be worth it for the connections. My BSN cost me about $6k/year. At the same university, the out of state tuition is $20k/year. So, to attend my nursing school, for two years you might pay $20k, then when you've been a state resident for those two years, you can switch to in state tuition and pay $6k/year. That's $52k total for an out of state degree, literally half of what the ridiculous private colleges charge.
Nobody has to go to a school that charges $100k. Also, nobody has to live on campus and take out a ridiculous campus meal plan. It's cheaper to live in an apartment off campus and get your food at the grocery store. The problem with 99% of the US, if not the rest of the world, is that we borrow huge amounts of unnecessary money just because we can and we think that's acceptable behavior. I don't see a huge student loan as being any different from buying more house than you can afford or running up tens of thousands of dollars in debt on a credit card. Of course you have the freedom to do that stuff if you want to. This is a free country. It's just important to remember that something being possible does not equal it being the wisest course of action.
17k for my private LVN program (paid off, parents gave me a year to learn a skill i could survive on and support myself)
35k for my LVN to RN associates program. I was on an LVN to BSN program (which I had a grant for) but my husband became very ill and could no longer work so I needed to earn more money ASAP. The payments ballooned when I went back for my BSN resulting in another 10k in interest. My gramma was awesome and gave me a personal lpan and now I make her payments. 8 yesrs left and I'm not allowed to pay back extra early per her. I pay her 350$ a month
Then I accumulated another 20k or so completing my BSN to make me more marketable. Unfortunately I deferred it for a while and it upped to close to 30k. Its my only loan left in my name. Id love to work a ton of OT and pay off quickly, but I'm pregnant. They payments are 300$ a month.
The reason I went back for my BSN while still in debt was because i wanted to be more marketable in the northern California market and it paid off because I went from jobs paying 40$ /hr to now almost making 70$ hr.
My situation was far from ideal but personal circumstances required this method. Thankfully my husband is doing much better, but I would have much rather done the lvn to bsn program that was practically free. However it would have taken me 2 1/2 years longer to be a working RN and that wasn't a good option at the time. I never recommend it as a first option.
I am curious what does a "prestigious" school offer that your average school does not? I am asking this in all sincerity. What do they provide to justify the added cost?
There is certainly no guarantee that a school that is prestigious overall will have a good nursing program -- but some nursing programs actually are better than others -- and some of those better programs are at prestigious universities. What each school has to offer varies depending upon the individual institution. Here is a list of some possibilities off the top of my head.
1. The selectivity of the student population -- which may lead to a high level of academic rigor and sophistication being the norm on that campus. The opportunity to live and work among the brightest students of your generation is appealing to many people.
2. Cream-of-the-crop faculty engaged in the research that will have significant impact - or actively engaged in leading the discipline/profession of nursing. Having the opportunity to learn from them and perhaps work as their assistant can be beneficial to anyone planning an academic career or planning to be a future leader. Having their connections and recommendations can also be a real help in opening doors for future possibilities.
3. State of the art libraries, labs, etc. Having the best tools readily available for your education is nice.
4. Opportunities to participate in special programs or projects offering unique learning experiences. In some schools, participation in such programs is the norm -- not the exception.
5. The social connections and culture of the environment that establishes an expectation of high achievement. (E.g. I graduated from a "prestigious" school back in 1977, during a time when most nurses did not go to graduate school. And yet, all of my friends except 1 went to graduate school within while still in the 20's. That would not be true of most schools. My school very blatantly stated that they expected us to go to graduate school -- and sooner rather than later. Even they said that a basic bedside nursing career did not require such an expensive degree. We were being prepared for grad school and leadership positions from Day 1.)
6. Dating pool includes more people destined for higher income brackets. -- a little humor there -- but it does go along with #5 on the list. When a young person hangs out with people whose ambitions are to be "average," they tend to develop norms/standards that say that "average" is OK. When those same young people hang out with high achievers, with higher expectations of life ... some of those expectations can "rub off" and produce higher levels of performance.
I have a 17-year old niece in the process of choosing a college. 1 of her top 3 choices is very prestigious, 1 is not, 1 is in the middle. I'm not sure which I hope she chooses. I see the benefits and potential downfalls of each.
I did not take out loans for school, it's just not right for me, I do not want to work hard just so I can pay interest to a bank. The interest on 100,000 is more than I paid for a diploma program, RN- BScN program and speciality certificates combined.
I can't answer any of your questions since I'm 21 and pre-nursing, but I've just stumbled onto your YouTube channel yesterday. I like it!! More RN related videos.
I will graduate with my ASN in May with zero debt and then will be obtaining my BSN with zero debt.
My ASN is coming from a community college. Total of about $11k. My ex was ordered in the divorce decree to pay for it but I'm also getting Pell Grants to pay for most of it.
My BSN all told will be under $10k. I should get some tuition assistance from the place I am going to work, use my Pell Grants, and use the rest of what my ex will owe me.
I woukd have have never of gone back if I had to take out any loans.
Your plan is my goal. Currently I'm at MDC finishing up my prerequisites; after this Spring semester I'll have five more classes left that I will split three for Summer and the remaining two for next Fall. MDC still has an community college model: get in, get out. This is my third and last year before nursing school so I'm happy.
MDC medical or Kendall campus is so inexpensive and affordable that I can imagine someone being able to pay their tuition and books. I'm not trying to go into debt for an undergraduate degree, both ASN or BSN. No thank you!!
You got to be the world's biggest sucker to willingly pay 100k+ for a BSN or any bachelor's degree for that matter.
In some fields that might be true. In others, not so much. In certain fields, where you went to school is very important.
Also, if you have a lot of money, paying 100K is no more of a drain than a person of lesser means paying 25K. It's all relative.
My older daughter's tuition at a highly ranked out of state flagship was 25K per year. It was no hardship to pay it. Going to that school gave her some great experiences, and was instrumental in helping her get into a very highly ranked, fully funded PhD program. She might have been able to do the same if she had gone to our state flagship, but she wanted a smaller environment (16,000 students vs. 48,000 students) and wanted the experience of living somewhere not in her own back yard. We were fine with that. We didn't need to take out loans to do this, and she is graduating debt free. We would definitely say that it was "worth it."
Now, going into 100K debt for a nursing degree? A totally different thing in my book.
I never called you a fool or stupid. I simply was stating a fact that the payment on a 100k loan is about $1,000/month which is close to what an average new grad takes home every two weeks. I was simply stating a fact. No judgement here.
It would probably be more including the interest.
The average new grad where I am from takes home roughly 3k-3.5k/month after taxes. Not a salary that commands 100k debt.
UT campus life is absolutely incredible. Very lively and vibrant. Pair that with joining Greek life and your college experience is about to be LIT!
If you have rich parents or a rich benefactor paying for it that's great.
All of that is not worth going into hawk to the tune of hundreds of thousands for a Nursing degree. It may feel like it is at the time but sooner or later one has to pay the piper.
I can't answer any of your questions since I'm 21 and pre-nursing, but I've just stumbled onto your YouTube channel yesterday. I like it!! More RN related videos.
If anyone ever questions your path have them watch this video
calivianya, BSN, RN
2,418 Posts
Alumni networks. Honestly, though, it seems to me like the only alumni networks worth attending a school for are the Ivys. If this person is getting her MSN at Harvard or Yale it might be worth going to a prestigious school. Maybe.
I see a lot of people defending the students who take out 100k or greater in loans, but I find it ridiculous - unless, as above, the person is attending an Ivy, which might just be worth it for the connections. My BSN cost me about $6k/year. At the same university, the out of state tuition is $20k/year. So, to attend my nursing school, for two years you might pay $20k, then when you've been a state resident for those two years, you can switch to in state tuition and pay $6k/year. That's $52k total for an out of state degree, literally half of what the ridiculous private colleges charge.
Nobody has to go to a school that charges $100k. Also, nobody has to live on campus and take out a ridiculous campus meal plan. It's cheaper to live in an apartment off campus and get your food at the grocery store. The problem with 99% of the US, if not the rest of the world, is that we borrow huge amounts of unnecessary money just because we can and we think that's acceptable behavior. I don't see a huge student loan as being any different from buying more house than you can afford or running up tens of thousands of dollars in debt on a credit card. Of course you have the freedom to do that stuff if you want to. This is a free country. It's just important to remember that something being possible does not equal it being the wisest course of action.