Student Loan Debt

Ross1 · Oct 28, 2004

It is different in different states. Here in Tennessee they are so desperate they are taking people off the streets in certain towns and training them to be social workers.
And the remark about working as a social worker was only mean to compare the kind of job she may get with a psych degree as opposed to the kind of job she may get with an RN degree.

That may be true, but these people who are being trained as social workers are NOT professional social workers, they are paraprofessionals. None of these so called "social workers" could ever join the National Association of Social Workers, nor could they be considered professional social workers under your state's Social Work practice act, nor could they ever be issued a social work license. Unfortunately, many states do not have "Title Protection" laws for social work and sadly this allows people to call themselves "social workers" even when they are not. In states with "Title Protection" such folks are often referred to as "caseworkers" or "social work assistants" etc.

The danger in allowing people to call themselves social workers is that it leads the client and public to believe that they are receiving a professional service from an appropriate educated, trained, and licensed social worker when in reality they are not.

As a nurse, I am sure that you should understand this. Lots of health care professionals such as Medical Assistants, Nursing Assistants, Phlebotimists, companions, etc may be trained to perform specific nursing tasks, but that does not make them nurses. And we all know how many discussion threads that there have been on this topic!

anc33 · Oct 29, 2004

I don't think an extra 20K will hurt so bad in the long run. After all student loan debt does not affect your credit score negatively and the interest is tax deductable. Plus you will get a two year reprive from paying your previous loans. I am not sure if you will qualify for loan forgiveness on the Perkins loan you have already. However, I do know that they will forgive up to 4K in loans if you work in a hospital, LTC, or other "critical need" facility for four years. You might want to look into getting a job as a CNA/PCA at a local hospital as many will pay for their employees to get a nursing degree. The hospital I work at will allow a PCA to work half time, get paid for full time as well as have all of their books and tuition paid for in exchange for a certain time commitment. You have alot of options. I would seriously consider an accelerated program if you have to take out loans anyway. Many don't require all of the prerecs you need for a two-year BSN or ASN program.

mona b RN, BSN, RN · Oct 29, 2004

OK...I graduated this past May with a pretty much worthless degree in Psych...I have since decided to complete a second B.S. in Nursing starting Spring 05....the thing is I already have 39,000 student loan debt (10,000 Federal Perkins Loan which hopefully can be forgiven once I'm a Nurse) and will have to take out probably 20,000 more to complete 2 more years of Nursing School...Am I crazy for going this deep in debt...all my friends seem to think so...they don't even want to take a loan to go to school period. I consider myself having pretty good credit...I have never been late on my car payment or credit card payment etc....But my friends who are so scared of student loan debit have horrible credit and can't get anything in their name. My point is why are these people who have already ruined their credit by not paying off credit cards...so scared of taking out loans to pay for an education... I don't understand it...So I be worried like them or worry about the student loan payments when I graduate.

Go for it. You will be making a decent salary and should be able to handle student loan payments. You may also seek out tuition reimbursement with your employer. Invest in yourself, your worth it :)

General E. Speaking, RN, RN · Oct 29, 2004

OK...I graduated this past May with a pretty much worthless degree in Psych...I have since decided to complete a second B.S. in Nursing starting Spring 05....the thing is I already have 39,000 student loan debt (10,000 Federal Perkins Loan which hopefully can be forgiven once I'm a Nurse) and will have to take out probably 20,000 more to complete 2 more years of Nursing School...Am I crazy for going this deep in debt...all my friends seem to think so...they don't even want to take a loan to go to school period. I consider myself having pretty good credit...I have never been late on my car payment or credit card payment etc....But my friends who are so scared of student loan debit have horrible credit and can't get anything in their name. My point is why are these people who have already ruined their credit by not paying off credit cards...so scared of taking out loans to pay for an education... I don't understand it...So I be worried like them or worry about the student loan payments when I graduate.

Here's how I look at it: when else are you going to be able to borrow money at 3% interest? It's not like you are taking a trip around the world- you are getting an education. I am in school and the student loans have been a blessing. One less thing for me to stress about. Don't go overboard with the loans. Worry about repayment when the time comes.

tonicareer · Oct 29, 2004

First of all you just graduated last May with a degree in Psychology and you already think it is worthless? It can take a long time to find a job in our economy right now. What about Grad School for more studies on Psychology or relocating? Doable without a family perhaps? Also will you be allowed to take out more student loans with the large amount you already owe for another BS or BSN degree? I think there is an undergrad limit on how much you can borrow. Sounds like your first BS loan is now coming up due and you are panicing because you don't have a good job yet. I think you can get loan deferments while you look for work.

P_RN, ADN, RN · Oct 29, 2004

Closing threads for moderation Personal attacks are not within the TOS.