Student Loans and managing expenses

[futurenurse06]

Hi all-

I am soon to be starting nursing school. My situation is that I am a single mom to a 3 year old who needs full time child care during the duration of my 2 year program which costs a whopping $1500/mo. in my area. I also need loans to cover my living expenses which are $1400/mo in rent. My tuition is actually quite inexpensive (thanks to community college ADN program & financial aid) + All the "smaller stuff" groceries and a few bills I have Im going to pay out of pocket with what little money I have. So my question really is- is it a bad idea to take out students to cover 2 years of rents and 2 years of childcare?

Total childcare costs would cost= $1,500 x24months= $36,000

Total rent costs $1400 x 24 months= $33,600

Grand total comes out to $69,600.. before interest... it seems so excessive but I'm not sure what other choices I have...

I have been on the lookout and will continue to apply for grants & scholarships but as it stands I'm going to have to borrow a lot regardless.

If anyone has any finance insight for someone in my situation or similar, please share ? thank you.

[TheDudeWithTheBigDog, ADN, RN]

You can't borrow that much on federal loans, so you'd be depending on private loans. MAYBE your bank will let you borrow that much extra. You'd have to look around. But it might be really hard to find someone willing to loan that much extra as a student loan.

It's not necessarily a bad idea if you go into it understanding the costs to pay it back. You decide if it's worth it to you. You just have to be able to find those loans.

Personally, I'd look into other childcare options, because $1,500 / month is kind of insane. In a couple years, you have public school bringing that cost to almost nothing.

[Mergirlc, MSN, APRN, NP]

$70K to get an ADN is nuts. $70K - I've seen this pricetag on a lot of direct entry programs and that sounds about right, but for an ADN? And yes, I know it's not the actual degree and it's mostly living expenses, but still.

I agree w/ the above post, could you put this off for a few years until your child starts elementary school? At least this way, you'll have a good chunk of the day covered while your child is in school and may only need to pay for a few hours of childcare M-F. There are even after school programs your child might be able to engage in which may even leave you not having to pay any child care.

Do you just not have any family in the area or are they just unable to help out due to them also having to work?

Another thing to take into consideration is where is your child going to go for childcare if you have to do a clinical at night? Just because the nursing program is during the day does not mean you may not have to attend clinicals at night and/or weekends during your schooling. Clinicals can also be far away from where you live as well. Especially in these COVID-19 times, where many schools are scrambling anywhere to get their students into clinicals. This is something you also need to keep in mind.

In the end, it's up to you. I think it's a high price, but I also realize sometimes you have to take the hit to get ahead. My main worry/concern is you have a young child and you're a single mother who will have a mountain of debt after graduation. Make your child the priority and assure his/her wellbeing regardless. School isn't going anywhere and will always be there.

Good luck!