Worried about paying off student loan debt

Madras · Nov 16, 2013

Ok hiiii fellow long islander here I can relate. Not in student loan debt relate but I understand where you fall.

SUNY schools are outnumbered by private schools here on Long Island. So truth be told there's not many choices and fierce competition. You really end up going wherever you are accepted whether it be ADN, BSN, 20k/year, 10k/year. Really if you want to be a nurse on LI you take what you can get. Or if you can put up the fight you try for a CUNY school in the city where the tuition is cheaper BUT the competition is EVEN WORSE, and you incur tons of commuting costs. :dead: it's a double edged sword. And honestly even in Long Island the commute isn't too pleasant unless you live in the same town as your school.

Now that that's said. I can guess in less than three tries what school you go to. These private schools are severely inflated with tuition costs.

The question really is. What's kinds of loans do you have? Private bank? Federal Sallie Mae? Perkins from the school? Because all of this matters. I encourage EVERYONE to read their master promissory notes on their loans. You'll find quite a nice surprise. Nurses qualify for loan cancellation of up to 100%. Their are conditions but at least you know there are options. And also look into state facility jobs when you graduate. There are programs where if you work x amount of years in "under served" communities (pretty much any where in the five boroughs) or community based nursing will qualify you for reductions in loans per year. This is all usually for federal loans, private loans your on your own mostly.

So yes 100k is a crazy amount. Do you feel that it's worth it? Average nursing salary on Long Island runs 65-70k, could you manage? I think so. It might not be ideal but its a choice you make.

And honestly I don't think you should feed everyone the "long island is expensive bit". I fare much better out here than in the city and I'm definitely not rich. People automatically assume that long islanders have money just because we have some well known areas out here that are known for THEIR money.

So you have two years left. My suggestions? Start applying for scholarships ASAP!! Anything you can get. Apply for the HRSA/Nurse Corps scholarship (google that). If your working try to put some obey towards your tuition every semester. Ask for textbooks for school for Xmas and birthdays or whatever. But you need to start cutting costs NOW!

applesxoranges, BSN, RN · Nov 16, 2013

I'm at 50,000 right now but I went to another school and almost graduated with a psych degree before changing my mind and going for nursing. However, I am going to use my tuition reimbursement for my BSN and it'll cover all but about 5,000. Then I plan on using private loans and maybe joining the reserves for my education to help pay for my MSN. I also plan on working out the three years contract and switching hospital systems.

LPN709 · Nov 16, 2013

Wow $100,000 for a 4 year degree?! Do they buy gold toilet paper or something?

Madras · Nov 16, 2013

Yikes, Scary Monsters!!! Must be an IVY League school? IF not run for the hills. I went the route of LPN diploma, LPN to ADN, now I'm going for my BSN online, in total, I'll have spent about 50K. What makes this worse is that jobs are getting harder and harder to find for new graduates! You're better off going to a NP program, there will be a huge demand for them with the new ACA in place, and a better salary as well. As an RN, you will be paying that off forever!!

Nope no Ivy Leagues out here on Long Island. All a bunch of private schools inflating tuition costs and taking advantage of the fact that everybody's mothers uncles cousins are in college. Especially after 2008 when the unemployment rate here skyrocketed rather quickly as long islanders working in manhattan and such with high paying jobs landed on the unemployment line and subsequently back in school for 1) tech certificates or 2) second or third degrees.

I humbly disagree about the OP going right away to NP school. The general consensus here is that RN's have much higher earning potential than NP's. they aren't making big bucks like everyone thinks. If any NY NP's want to chime in on this your comments are definitely welcomed. There also aren't many solo practitioners running around any more. It is tough to be a solo practitioner. Most are practicing in multi physician/specialty offices where there is safety in numbers. Many Drs that were riding solo are now joining forces with the only places they can insure steady flow of patients and reimbursement.

Their joining on/selling their practices to the two "wannabe monopolies" out here. These two conglomerate healthcare corporations are taking over Long Island at a steady rate. You can run but you can't hide, one way or another your going to end up under them. :uhoh3:

Plus for every RN student I know, there is an NP student. We are completely saturated no matter what.

I think financially NP school is not on the radar for this student until they can get some of this debt off their shoulders.

SE_BSN_RN, BSN · Nov 16, 2013

Hi all,
I thank you in advanced for any replies to my post.
As I further into my BSN degree, I find myself collecting more and more student loan debt. By the time I am finished with my degree, I will accrue approximately $100,000, and this worries me- a lot. My question is:
Would anyone be able to give me some faith that I won't be killing myself paying off this huge sum? I hate to go through all of this, only to find a job that will just allow me to get by in life when trying to pay down this debt.
Is anyone going through/went through the same sitaution?
Any comments would be appreciated!
Thanks
Some background information: I live on Long Island which isnt known to be particularly cheap!

Do you have your ADN right now? Have you looked into CLEP if you still have pre-req's? How in the world can you have almost 100K in student loans? I did a LPN-BSN program in 2.5 years at a for profit college, and my loans are no where near 100K....time to take the Dave Ramsey FPU course!

Can you consolidate some loans?

CPhT2RNstudent · Nov 16, 2013

Move to an area with cheaper schools and a lower cost of living. My nurse anesthesia program is only $30K in tuition. I would never pay $100K for a BSN.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Nov 16, 2013

A hundred thousand dollars is a a lot of student debt and nursing positions are hard to come by these days.

Estimate your student loan payment (repayment calculator)
Estimate your student loan payments under a standard repayment plan (equal payments) using the calculator below.
This is only an estimate! Your actual payment amount is determined by your loan holder based on the amount that you borrowed. However, most student loan programs require at least a $50 payment each month, no matter how small your loan amount.
Your interest rate depends on your loan type and when you received the loan.
The calculator is preset to 120 months and an interest rate of 6.8 percent. You may adjust these.
It is recommended that your student loan payment be less than 8 percent of your gross income. The minimum salary field is based on this recommendation.
If you have not made payments while in school or during your grace period, you may have capitalized interest that will be added to the principal amount of your loan. This amount should be included in the principal amount in the calculator below in order to give a more accurate estimate of the loan repayment information.

http://mappingyourfuture.org/paying/standardcalculator.htm

Enter your Number of Monthly Payments, Simple Interest Rate, and Principal Amount of Loan.

[TABLE=class: dkBlue]

[TR=class: ltBlue]

[TD]Number of Monthly Payments[/TD]

[TD=align: right]120[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR=class: ltBlue]

[TD]Sample Interest Rate[/TD]

[TD=align: right]6.8[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR=class: ltBlue]

[TD]Principal Amount of Loan[/TD]

[TD=align: right]$100000[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Your Monthly Payment Will Be[/TD]

[TD=align: right]$1150.80[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Your Total Interest Cost Will Be[/TD]

[TD=align: right]$38096.39[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=colspan: 2, align: center]Minimum annual salary to handle these payments: $ 172620.00

Wow..........[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=colspan: 2, align: center][/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

bankssarn · Nov 16, 2013

Ah, I guess no one has attended a private school on long island lol.. At 25,000 a year for four years...you end up with something like this unfortunately

I attended a private university (it didn't have a 2-4 year waiting list like the community colleges). It was 11k per semester, but with grants and scholarships, I 'only' ended up owing 27k, which I've been paying on for 2 years now and the amount hasn't changed at all. *Sigh*. I have my ASN, though. I'm currently enrolled in a RN-BSN program, which is going to cost another 10-12k (sans grants and scholarships, of course). You're paying too much.

bankssarn · Nov 16, 2013

I have two years left after the upcoming semester,and I know, but it was either do that, or don't go to school, and stay at my current job making 24k a year. And as far as finding a job- I assume it has a lot to do with location? I hear so many differing opinions on the matter.

If it makes you feel any better, I'm a RN, and after taxes and insurance, I only bring home about 24k/year.

springchick1, ADN, RN · Nov 16, 2013

It would almost have been better to move someone here that has a cheaper school. Once you factor in interest and fees, it will be more than $100,000.

metallicaman1031 · Nov 16, 2013

Ok hiiii fellow long islander here I can relate. Not in student loan debt relate but I understand where you fall.
SUNY schools are outnumbered by private schools here on Long Island. So truth be told there's not many choices and fierce competition. You really end up going wherever you are accepted whether it be ADN, BSN, 20k/year, 10k/year. Really if you want to be a nurse on LI you take what you can get. Or if you can put up the fight you try for a CUNY school in the city where the tuition is cheaper BUT the competition is EVEN WORSE, and you incur tons of commuting costs. it's a double edged sword. And honestly even in Long Island the commute isn't too pleasant unless you live in the same town as your school.
Now that that's said. I can guess in less than three tries what school you go to. These private schools are severely inflated with tuition costs.
The question really is. What's kinds of loans do you have? Private bank? Federal Sallie Mae? Perkins from the school? Because all of this matters. I encourage EVERYONE to read their master promissory notes on their loans. You'll find quite a nice surprise. Nurses qualify for loan cancellation of up to 100%. Their are conditions but at least you know there are options. And also look into state facility jobs when you graduate. There are programs where if you work x amount of years in "under served" communities (pretty much any where in the five boroughs) or community based nursing will qualify you for reductions in loans per year. This is all usually for federal loans, private loans your on your own mostly.
So yes 100k is a crazy amount. Do you feel that it's worth it? Average nursing salary on Long Island runs 65-70k, could you manage? I think so. It might not be ideal but its a choice you make.
And honestly I don't think you should feed everyone the "long island is expensive bit". I fare much better out here than in the city and I'm definitely not rich. People automatically assume that long islanders have money just because we have some well known areas out here that are known for THEIR money.
So you have two years left. My suggestions? Start applying for scholarships ASAP!! Anything you can get. Apply for the HRSA/Nurse Corps scholarship (google that). If your working try to put some obey towards your tuition every semester. Ask for textbooks for school for Xmas and birthdays or whatever. But you need to start cutting costs NOW!

Hello fellow Long Islander! Well put! and I appreciate your response, as I do with all of these! My loans are mostly federal loans (serviced by nelnet), and the rest that federal loans did not cover are private loans through discover. And yes, I'm sure you can only assume which of three Nassau county schools I go to-which is a hike I might add, I live pretty far out east!

As far as these scholarships you speak of, I appreciate the info. I wasn't aware of them, and any little bit of money counts!

and sure I work full-time, but none of that money is able to go towards school, as most people do, I have bills! Lol

I think the fact of the matter is I am where I'm at, and there's no changing that (apparently I am a poet because that just rhymed). But, I chose to make this decision because in the long run, I believe it will be a good decision. I'm actually quite surprised to see noone but one person that posted on this thread went through the same situation that I did. I thought for sure with tuition hikes there would be a few more to be in the same boat as me!

Kuriin, BSN, RN · Nov 16, 2013

Ah, I guess no one has attended a private school on long island lol.. At 25,000 a year for four years...you end up with something like this unfortunately

Don't feel bad. My school it's 19k/SEMESTER.