Student loan debt

Buyer beware, BSN · Aug 4, 2016

~$37, 000 last time I looked as per N.Y. FED.

But this as you can imagine is an avg. There are hoards more with much, much more debt and a few luckie ones with less.

This issue would be a great article topic. Don't you think?

So there are even many with tons of debt and nothing to show for it. College as a means to financial success, even nursing education, has been over-sold for years. And it is now a cash cow for many fly-by-night hucksters. But the chickens are quickly coming home to roost.

Right now there is ~1.3 trillion in outstanding student debt from a variety of sources. This is not good. Especially with a lot in default for a variety of valid reasons.

This issue needs to be seriously addressed by those candidates who understand the pain. But who are those candidates?

The pain goes on and many are oblivious to it.

queenanneslace, ADN, MSN, APRN, CNM · Aug 6, 2016

Not that it does any good, but I encourage nurses seeking advanced degrees to consider *not* taking the full amount of financial assistance for continuing their education.

[Cue endless excuses here: Car payment, underwater mortgage, already have $80K in debt that I'll never pay off, why not add more, lessons, clothes, fees, groceries, etc etc etc etc.]

Going into debt for school is often a choice, not a requirement.

Here are some ways to minimize student debt:

- pay off your car, don't buy a brand new car

- restructure your debt, refinance your mortgage

- attend school part-time and pay for as much of it as you can as you go

- consider 'saving up' for tuition prior to starting your program, pick up extra shifts, work like crazy for 6 mos to a year, see how much you can stash away

- find out what your employer's reimbursement is for nurses continuing their education, and use those funds.

- apply for scholarships

Many of my colleagues and classmates are positively addled by their student-loan debt. They describe being painted into a corner and without any option but to borrow more money and to keep working in their terrible jobs or maybe to file for bankruptcy.

There are ways to minimize student loan debt with some careful and thoughtful planning. A $37,000 loan is going to cost much more after it starts compounding interest.