Student Loans

KeShaeLPN · Oct 13, 2014

Your welcome, good luck to you as well.

UnaNayeli · Oct 13, 2014

Hi,

I did my AAS (Associate/2-year degree) while working full time, with 3 kids and going through a divorce. We were told not to work, but I was forced to tell them if I didn't work, I couldn't continue in school. With a 4.0, they let me slide. In fairness, I didn't go to work full-time until my second semester, but I proceeded to bust my tail for the next 2 years.

That was 25 years ago, but I was still a Mom and there were still only 24 hours a day back then. Yes, it's been done....and you can do it too. For what it's worth, a previous poster said something I always found to be true: If I planned the best I could (and I was always an uneducated high-school dropout with 3 kids under 5 y/o, so that was a low bar), I always found a way past the obstacles.

I know that's vague and didn't help much. What I did once the kids were in school (yours is 6 y/o) was work nights and sleep while they were in school. When mine rode the bus, they were gone from 7:30 to 4. That left me time to sleep and get them off the bus. We were poor so we did things like study for school side-by-side, feed ducks day-old bread at a local pond for fun; there are so many fun, free activities you can find on the internet today. Just print out your local library and bookstore activity schedules. Lowes and Home Depot have great free building workshops for kids every month. I used that study time to make index cards and later, picture schematics that helped me visualize concepts. Anytime I was waiting on a pt. or co-worker at work.... or on break.... I was studying. As long as you pull your weight at work, most people - in my experience - are encouraging about you attempting to better your life and your knowledge base.

I would also make a quick meal for the kids. They went to bed around 9. I got ready for work and prepared lunches/whatever for the next day. The sitter came in at 10:30, I worked 11-7, and was home to see kids before they left.

I wrote all that to maybe help you spin off ideas of your own and help you see you can do this too. Have you explored scholarships? Are they available at your school? Do you keep your grades up, or are you completely new to secondary education (post-high school)? Have you had a face-to-face meeting with a financial aid counselor? Are you looking at a private, for-profit, or state school? The tuition difference matters. My point is: There are so many variables here that it's hard to provide perfect advice. Only YOU know what your life will allow and that makes YOU your own expert.

guest769224 · Oct 14, 2014

Most employees pay back student loans... you should definitely look into that. Starting January I will be taking out loans and doing work study.

This is true if you are employed in a approved facility, qualifying for the HRSA loan repayment.

Outside of that, I haven't heard of loan repayment by employers.

I do know some hospitals are beginning to offer sign on bonuses again! I've seen some up to 10k with a 3 year work agreement.

dreamon · Oct 14, 2014

I too, am divorced mom of one with no family help in my area. I have a night job waitressing. The money is up and down but it barely covers the bills. I will try to keep this job as I go through my LPN program. If I can't for some reason, the only being that if affects my grades, then I'll take out a loan.

im hoping that I won't have to at this point, because I wanted to save the loan option for a private college when I go to get my BSN. I'm going to calculate my expenses, and get what I need to cover them. I'll ask my Mom to keep me in check and I plan to run everything by her to 'keep me honest'. Lol

I'm going to cut back on as much as I can. Thankfully, in living a slightly meager life as is. 14 year old car, the cheapest rent I could find in a decent school district for my child. I'm thankful that she is old enough to understand the process, and things will be tight before they get better.

I dont one watch cable, but she does so I keep that so she doesn't have to sacrifice everything in her childhood. Good luck to us all.

krista.yakes · Oct 14, 2014

It's so much harder when you have kids. I have two myself and between going to school 9 hours a day, I had to choose between work part time or seeing my kids. I chose seeing my kids. I luckily got into an income based apartment that will basically pay me to live here and that covers my bills. I also have a fiancé who helps a ton financially but not everyone has that. I only got a big enough loan to cover my tuition. I applied for others but I didn't get approved because I'm only 19 years old and I didn't have anyone to co-sign for me. I'm struggling big time but I know it will be worth it in the end. Good luck to you!

Beautiful Mind RN · Oct 14, 2014

Hello OP,

I just graduated from a BSN program 2 months ago. The general answer to your question is: Each student's case is different - one student can be completely independent and pay for everything(including their kids, etc), so they may or may not need to borrow and continue to work while they are others who have family support and can afford not to go to work and borrow or not borrow as well.

I know, that's very vague, so I will share my personal story for you and let you take away what you need from it.

2 1/2 years ago I did some extensive research on a bunch of local schools, both non-profit and for-profit, I ended up settling on a private, for-profit school. At that time, the school was in the process of becoming nationally accredited and they put out an incentive for students. The incentive was: If a student comes to our school, the costs of the master's degree in nursing will be waived. That was just one portion as to why I chose the school, the school also boasted high NCLEX passing rates, most graduates found jobs right away, and small classes. I also made sure their financial department was adequate and educated about Pell Grants, government Loans, and private loans.

My situation, financially: I was working two jobs as a pharmacy tech and living on my own. I was 27 years at the time too, so I am hardly new blood when it comes to the college experience and not really a good age to be a dependent student. HOWEVER! My immediate family knew how much I wanted to go back to school, so they invited me to come stay with them so I did not have to worry about rent at least (all my other bills, I was still responsible for). I accepted and I was able to quit one of my jobs and work part time. For me, I could only handle working every other weekend considering the workload from school. (Like I said, each student is different. Some students can do the full load and full time gig, I could not.)

My school expenses total was about $60,000, however, after Pell Grants and paying off what I could on my own, I ended up only with $42,000 with the government loans, which have fairly low interest rates. So my monthly payment will be about $400 (but I plan on paying more than that when I can to get the amount paid off faster.)

Again, this is something I know I can financially do, because when I did my extensive research on schools, I also made sure to plan out the financial portion of it and whether or not I could handle the costs after I graduate. That and having family to help me save money (rent, etc) helped me pay off other bills (like my car).

My final piece of advice: RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH! Make sure you think about your future too and ask yourself, if you were to borrow money, will you be able to handle the payments? Is there anyway you can pay on your own? Scholarships are big, big, big. Some are highly competitive such as: NHSC Scholarship Program - NHSC (They have both a scholarship and loan repayment program) while they are others are that people did not even know that exist and people never apply for. I found one that gave scholarships away for having brown hair. Some scholarships go unclaimed because no one knows about them. One of them was from Subaru. Even though it was an engineering scholarship, I had a fellow student get awarded the money because there was no other applicants.

I hope that helps, sorry for the length! Good luck to you.

JoseQuinones · Oct 15, 2014

Thankfully I was able to make it through my first year without borrowing anything, between the Pell grant, a couple school scholarships (who knew?), and using all my savings. My wife works and I am still managing to hold down my full-time job, so that helps. This second year we'll end up borrowing about $3000 when all is said and done.

Please, please, please borrow as little as you can, and only use it for the actual tuition. Being a student is tough, and you will probably have to accept a significant lowering in your standard of living to keep from borrowing oodles of money. Some students borrow for living expenses, but this should be as little as possible - and NEVER for luxuries, spring break, etc. It is not free money. Economize, economize, economize. As impossible as it sounds, hang onto least that part-time job. Every penny you borrow today will be an albatross around your neck when you graduate, and many new graduates take jobs in a panic when their loans start coming due, only to be trapped in jobs they are not a good fit for. The ship of life takes a long time to right when you take a bad turn, so don't make snap decisions. I might add I have been able to keep a 4.0 average while working full time (and it's not work study), so it is possible.

Also, look into prepaying your loans. Every penny that is not earmarked for tuition or basic living expenses should go merrily back to your loan - NOT to a spring break trip or a triple venti at Starbucks. It may not seem like much, but every penny you pay back now will be multiple pennies in saved interest over the course of your loan.

babyreed07 · Oct 15, 2014

Great advice! Thanks so much! ? My classes are Monday thru Friday and they told me to leave 8am till 5pm open. It's hard to find a full time job with school hours like that. I could work 3rd shift but I would never sleep or see my daughter. It's going to be tough but hopefully it will all work somehow.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Oct 15, 2014

Most employees pay back student loans... you should definitely look into that. Starting January I will be taking out loans and doing work study.

This is not true anymore. In this day and age of oversaturated employment markets, most employers no longer need to pay anyone's student loans because there are enough job-seeking nurses who are desperate for work.

Employer-sponsored perks such as sign-on bonuses, tuition reimbursement, and fully paid relocation expenses are disappearing as time passes.

WookieeRN, BSN, MSN, RN · Oct 15, 2014

i am trying to take the least amount of loans as possible for school. It is more important for me to graduate will little debt than to live a comfortable life while in school. I have a lot of support from my parents and I will be moving into private student housing (rent includes my own bathroom, bedroom, cable, internet and utilities for significantly less than I would pay living alone) to offset the cost. I will only be taking out federal loans and NO private loans because I cannot justify it. I have been working my BUTT off at work to get some extra cash as savings and will most likely work during school. You have to do what you have to do. I don't have a husband, or kids, so I don't have those expenses to incur.

CatladyRN- · Oct 16, 2014

Depends where you are going to school Community college or University BSN? I qualified for pell grants which covered all my courses at the community college I am attending. I start clinicals in the fall (2015), I did however still have to take out loans to cover my car payments and some rent money as well. I worked 25 hours a week last year while I was taking pre recs anatomy I + II, dosage, pych, ect.. So I borrowed 2,000$ to cover bills, it was very tough working and still maintaining good grades buttt i did not want to borrow a ton of money since at that point I was still trying to get into the nursing program and didnt want to put myself in the hole if I didnt end up getting in. This year I worked a bit less around 15 hours a week and borrowed more to cover bills (5,000), while in clinicals I plan on borrowing whatever I need to get by. But being in community college its ok I will end up with 20,000 in school loans at the end Plus the 20,000 I borrowed for my first degree, so 40,000. Not to bad I mean paying it back over the next ten years probably around 500 a month. Could be alot worse and at least ill be making a better wage as an RN than if I didn't go back to school.

DarcyLee · Oct 17, 2014

It is a very difficult decision to make. Apply for as much financial aid as you can and to look for scholarships for working parents. Google nursing scholarships. The key thing is if you have not completed your ADN by December 31, 2014 , you will be required to get a BSN or at least show progress towards it. I am not sure of the actual ruling. You will need to check the rule for renewing your RN license on the National League of Nursing Website.

I am completing the ARNP program now and the study requirements are very intense. I gave up working FT and only work prn now. One of the boards I am on this topic came up several times. Most of the time people focus on the age that they are currently when determining if they can afford to continue their degree and pay it off before retirement. Most nurses agree that they will take the loans and apply for tuition forgiveness programs. The shortage of nurses is huge and there are facilities and programs that will help with tuition reimbursement or forgiveness. Plus you can look into working for the VA or an Indian reservation as they have programs that help with tuition also.