Student loan repayment programs

[ndRNCA]

My husband and I currently have $160,000 in student loan debt. We have consolidated the loans down to the lowest interest rate and are on track to pay them off in 6 years.

Have any nurses had recent luck with student loan repayment and assistance? When I went to nursing school a decade ago, there were signing bonuses, loan assistance from employers, and in general lots of programs to help nurses with student loans. Now, most of this seems to have dried up, unless you want to join the military, live on an Indian Reservation or are lucky enough to work for a facility approved for the HHS program.

Has anyone had luck in the last 2-3 years with an employer, state program, grant, anything to help supplement their loan debt?

I did get approved for the California Nursing assistance program, with pays $8K over two years. We make too much money for student loan forgiveness, so we each have a private, consolidated loan of about 80K, and each payment is $1200/month.

[Atl-Murse]

If you went nursing school about 10 years ago, why do you still have 80k in loans ?

[HermioneG, BSN, RN]

I, also, feel like I'm going to drown in student loans... :( i'm sorry!

The hospital where I was just hired will pay up to $70,000 over 10 years (about $500 a month, after taxes). They also offer something like $20,000-$30,000 with 2-3 years relevant experience.

Are there hospitals in your area that offer recruitment incentives?

[Purple_roses]

If you went nursing school about 10 years ago, why do you still have 80k in loans ?

That wasn't the question.

[ndRNCA]

I graduated 6 years ago and didn't start repayment for almost a year after. I graduated with over 100K in debt; never expecting it to be that high.

Now I am familiar with a lot of the refinancing programs, and we are on track to have our debt paid off by 2023. Like the 2nd response, I remember a lot of organizations offering bonuses and loan repayment incentives as recently as 07/08. I live in southern California and in my area, I haven't seen anything like that. I know there are some rural areas that offer incentives, but not enough to warrant a relocation.

[Fed_RN14]

Consider Indian Health Service if you are willing to relocate. $40k for a 2 year committment and that can be extended for an additional 20k for another year. Plus, IHS is just a rewarding place to work.

[Orion81RN]

If you went nursing school about 10 years ago, why do you still have 80k in loans ?

I don't see how that is any of our business. Ive had only 9k of debt for 13 years. And its nobody's business as to why I couldn't pay a pretty low debt over the course of 13 years.