Three-part strategy should ease nurse's student-loan debt

advice given to one grad with $99,000 in nursing school loans! karen

from boston globe money makeover:

by [color=#2851a2]lynn asinof

globe correspondent / april 25, 2010

three-part strategy should ease nurse’s student-loan debt

recommendations from financial planner deborah levenson:

■ make sure to make all loan payments on time. then use surplus income, tax refunds, and any financial windfalls to pay off loan principal, starting with the highest-interest loans first.

■ build up a $10,000 emergency fund by automatically depositing $500 a month into an online interest-bearing account.

■ contribute 5 percent of annual salary to her retirement plan in order to take advantage of a generous employer match.

■ use a personal finance program such as [color=#2851a2]mint.com or quicken to create a budget and start tracking spending.

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

a single income with no dependants or other financial obligations plus a new grad take-home income of $51,000/year? ok... however many new grads make less then that per year and have other financial obligations. thus, my advice to anyone going to nursing school is to think realistically!!

$99,000 of student loan debt is not worth the risk! we are not in demand like the article reports and most new grads have a take home income less then the new grad in the article. there is no way most new grads would survive with that kind of debt. thank you for posting, but the article is another fluff piece that is providing unrealistic terrible advice to lay people who are thinking of nursing as a career choice. nurses do not make what doctor's make per year. that debt is too much to carry and survive a normal middle class life style post graduation with a bsn.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

A PA State University 4 yr degree will cost minimum of $70,000 without room and board..... from reading the nursing bb seems to be average debt for BSN degree on East Coast if coming from middle income family.

You are correct in warning those considering nursing career to be warry of gi debt with dismal job market. In Philly most hospitals are only hiring those with BSN ...catch 22 situation for those who graduated with ADN or diploma.

Advice given to get out of this debt is 100% correct.

[ClumsyRN]

I just graduated in December from a private university and my loans amount to 80,000!!! I feel like a heavy burden is on my shoulders at all times. I'm one of the few who got lucky and was hired right out of school. But the New-grad income after taxes, 401k, insurance i only take home only about 50% of my paycheck. After rent, credit card bills, and expenses of daily living i dunno how i'd ever pay off my loans. The end of my grace period is June and i would have to b paying alittle over 700 a month for all of my loans!! I feel so cheated because I was told that nurses salary where more than enough to pay back the loans that i've acquired!! I'm already looking for a PRN job even though i'm still in orientation on a MICCU. I dunno if its a wise decision because its already stressful enough to b a new grad in the ICU but thats what i have to do to cover my bills.

[Anne36, LPN]

Do Nurses who graduate with a BSN make that much more than an ADN from a community college? They both are just past the RN boards right? The cost of ADN program at my school is $3400 not including the misc expenses (books, etc.) that would probably add up to 1-2 thousand more.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Associiates degree in Philadelphia will cost you minimum of $12,000.

http://www.ccp.edu/site/prospective/financial_aid/tuition.php

Scant hospitals hiring grads with this degree though, per my conversaion with Professor from this program this week.

[LETRN]

Do Nurses who graduate with a BSN make that much more than an ADN from a community college? They both are just past the RN boards right? The cost of ADN program at my school is $3400 not including the misc expenses (books, etc.) that would probably add up to 1-2 thousand more.

There are a lot of threads about the pay difference, but in my area they pay BSN prepared nurses $0.50 more an hour. The final cost of my BSN program was $45K