I’d like to preface this post by saying a lot of the material in my blog is very uplifting and light! This one is a little more informative and straight forward. I don’t want this post to be taken negatively! I want it to be a learning experience for students right now! I want you to know that I don’t regret my education ONE BIT, but I just wish I had made smarter and more informed decisions about money in college! I hope you guys like this read, and thank you so much for continuing to love on Yourheartismine! It means so much to me! – Kelsey
Lets just start by me telling you this: I have about $25,000 of Student Loan debt to pay off as of this month (I started with 30 something…), and an ADN nursing to degree to show for it all. That’s a 2 year college degree. Doesn’t make sense, does it? NOPE! I was also 17 when I went off to college, and that didn’t help the situation! I was very young! Every month that I pay back my student loans, I get so frustrated about the amount that I owe. I ALSO get frustrated about the amount of interest that I am paying to the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT from my EDUCATION loans!!!! Not car loans, not home loans, EDUCATION loans! Education is something quite essential today to make a living and have a decent job. I get so upset thinking about all of this, and I wanted to write a blog post to all current and future nursing students to prevent you guys for making the mistakes that I did! Because no one teaches you these things. No one tells you to take loans out with caution. No one tells you to work hard, save, and do what you can to NOT take out loans. In becoming a nurse, we’re not rolling in the Benjamins so to speak! We’re rolling in poop and urine, trying to saves lives, and make a paycheck to take care of our families, car payments, rent, food, etc! Nurses make a decent living, it’s just super hard when you throw student loans and interest into the mix! PLEASE listen up!
According to Mark Kantrowitz of WSJ.com, not only is average student loan debt rising, but more students are taking out loans to finance secondary education. Almost 71% of bachelor’s degree recipients will graduate with a student loan, compared with less than half two decades ago and about 64% 10 years ago. Holy moly! We have a problem, Houston! My generation of students are loan happy! And you know what, the government isn’t going to educate us about it because THEY are benefitting! This makes me so upset! We are taking out loans like “that’s just what you do!” You max out the amount you can get, you pay for school, room, and books, and then what do you do with the rest? Well, duh, you pay it back towards the loan so you won’t be paying in the future, right? WRONG! You pocket the rest and go do what young, silly, college students do and go have fun! You eat out, buy booze, go shopping, and the list goes on. Because you have ALL of this money in your account that you didn’t have! And all you had to do was “click” to get it.
This is the problem today with loans. Our generation is one where things are just given to us. We don’t have to work hard the way our parents did, and we get bailed out for our wrong doings! Not all fall under this category, but many do! I’m not okay with this! It’s creating a people who don’t know how to work for what they want. It’s creating a lazy culture. It’s setting up our nation’s future for failure! And ultimately, it’s creating a student nation of ridiculous debt that none of our bachelor degree professions can afford! Education is SO expensive when you think about it! For those of us taking out loans for it, I really need you to think wisely about what you’re doing! I made the mistake of just clicking the max amount of loan, when I probably really only needed half! I now OWE that money and I am paying interest on it! At the time, it was so easy, convenient, and seemed wonderful! “Free” money in my pocket! That’s what it felt like! What I should have been doing was working a part time job on my days that I wasn’t going through my prerequisites, and putting that money aside to pay for nursing school. Instead I was frolicking through Tallahassee, FL on Tennessee Street spending money on all things college related (GO NOLES!). I wasn’t disciplined, I wasn’t informed, and I had no idea of the total amount of debt that I was accumulating from college loans. That’s scary!
If I was prepared and informed, I probably could have cut my debt in half! I truly remember only needing about half of the loan amount to pay for my tuition and books every semester! Like many other students, I pocketed the rest and did what I wanted to! Students loans DEFINITELY have their place. Seeing my parents weren’t able to put aside for college ( yes, some people don’t have money put aside for their kids), my sisters and I had no choice but to take out loans. My parents helped in every way they could, and helped by sending money for groceries and other necessities. Now listen, we could have chosen to stay local and gone to a community college FOR FREE and lived at home, but we all were ready to venture out and a little hard-headed ;). Looking back, that wasn’t such a bad idea seeing I could have acquired the same degree, but with less debt if I had made that decision. But I chose to go off to Florida State University. I ultimately ended up graduating from a community college nursing program with the debt of a student graduating from a State University. It’s a hard sip for me to swallow today!
I wish I could go back and have made smarter financial decisions. I want you guys to understand the implications of student loan debt. A lot of people will tell you it’s not viewed the same way credit card debt and other debts are viewed. That’s not completely true. My husband and I together make a decent yearly amount. He is an Engineer and I am a Nurse. Great jobs, right? Well what if I told you we could barely get approved for a decent home loan because of our combined student loan debt? We both have great credit, but we have student loans from a private and state University. A LOT of loans! We pay on them monthly and on time. As a matter of fact, we pay MORE than the minimum and we’re still not ahead! We both wished we knew a little more about student loans in college. We’re doing our best to pay them off quickly, because interest is adding up! We could be living a lot more “freely” if we didn’t have these loans, but we’re having to bite the bullet and get them out of the way! That means lot’s of PB&J and less leisurely outings! I’m at least glad we are addressing it together! I recommend anyone looking for a way to pay back loans, you check out Dave Ramsey. He has great knowledge, experience, and advice! This links to a payback plan that is magical!
This website gives you a good breakdown on the types of loans out there. It’s important to understand them before you just “click!” Some have really high interest rates and some don’t at all. There are loans for first generation college students and grants available too! Grants are good! Scholarships are out there as well! There are a TON of scholarships for student nurses! Some of them you can just get by applying! No essay required! They take time to fill out, but this is FREE money! It’s worth it! I would also encourage any nurses who are staying local to check with their hospital to see if they have a scholarship fund for nursing students! I had one that paid for my books every semester if I committed to a year of working there! It helped me out tremendously! Do your research yall! And be smart!
Nursing school was a necessity in my life. It was what I wanted to do, and I did everything in my power to get through it! I got my act together financially once I got INTO nursing school, but I blew a lot on loans prior to that. I wasn’t educated. No body told me anything about loans. I never reached out to a financial counselor. I never took out just what I needed. I just clicked the max amount. That’s all I did. And those clicks now have me paying back back interest and payments that gives me regretful emotion every time!
(Shout out to Eastern Florida State College RN program!!!)
If it weren’t for student loans, I never would have become a nurse. I never would have lived out my dream job, and I would never have gotten to take care of and met the amazing people that I have! I never would have met my best friends, endured challenges in life that have made me stronger, and received the nursing education that I did, had I not had loans as an option! Loans are a beautiful thing because when it comes to education, there are many people out there like myself, who would not be able to attend college without them. However, they are only beautiful when they are dealt with in a smart, careful, thoughtful, and mature manner! If you are in school or heading off to college soon, I want you to sit down and do your research! This decision effects your future, your spouses future, and ultimately your family’s future! I hate how expensive education is and I hate that we are paying interest on education to the government, yet they are try to create loan forgiveness after 10 plus year of paying on them. Lord help them if they don’t get that 10 years of interest! I also hate how hospitals are pushing for furthered education! It is SO expensive even when tuition reimbursement is offered! I am TO THE PENNY every month! I don’t even like the idea of taking out another credit card with 0% interest to pay it off! It all just scares me and seems pointless when the incentive for a bachelors isn’t that great! I would LOVE to go back to school, but the financial issue is there! I do not want to take out another loan! I am NOT okay with debt! Many people see it as nothing and like its just another loan payment! NO! It’s still debt, nonetheless! My parents didn’t live their life with debt over their heads, and I’m not going to either! The American way is to be in debt, like it’t no big deal! Ummm, HOLD THE PHONE! No, not cool Robert Frost! I refuse to be in that category and let it become the norm!
Anyways, I just firmly believe education isn’t something we should have to pay interest on, especially when the Government’s main focus is helping Americans get jobs and decrease unemployment rates, so they can make money and help our economy. Grrrr! All of these Presidential Candidates are nearing 70. I guess you could say they’re “peaking” in their 70’s. Maybe this is foreshadowing that my loans will be paid off and everything will be happy dandy at 70? Joking. Bad Joke…REALLY bad joke! Don’t want to be paying until 70! ANYWHO…..I hope this is helpful and encouraging to anyone reading! Prepare yourself! Educate Yourself! Be smart with your money! It affects your future in more ways than you understand! Don’t make the uneducated decisions that I did! Go be an amazing nurse without debt 😉 !!!
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I love this blog! I just have to say $25,000 debt isn’t that bad compared to many people I know. I am applying for nursing school right now and the community college I can go to for $4000, but the other accelerated bachelors programs that I am applying to cost between 35,000-50,000, for ONE year, not including living expenses!! I am strongly leaning towards doing the ADN program and then bridging to a bsn/msn program because it will likely save me from having $50,000 of loans for the BSN and an additional $30,000 for an MSN. ( am planning to become an FNP) Initially I wasn’t considering an ADN at all, but then I realized that a loan of 50,000 would equal a $600.00 loan repayment each month….which is quite a lot!
i started with 31,000! you go girl! and THANK YOU!
I owed 60, 000+, for which I’ve paid 700-800/ mo for 13 years every month on time. It’s beyond obnoxious.
I’m not one to “Monday- morning quarterback” a decision. I loved every second of my time at Marquette, and truly value the education I received there. I love my husband, whom I met there. And I love my current life, and I got here with the decisions I’ve made. Thus, I can’t say I have regrets.
That being said, hopefully young people can learn from my story or the authors to incur as little debt as possible. We don’t struggle, per se, but it’s very frustrating to watch my contemporaries buy new cars, go on yearly vacations, buy furniture etc. I often think, what are we doing wrong? Why aren’t we at that place? Why do we have to occasionally play rotate the credit card for above average expenses? Ohhhhh yea, that 700$/mo would go a long way towards those things.
But it kind of sucks sometime to think that my parents pushed hard for us to be educated so that we could have it easier than them. And here we are, a bsn and an instructional designer (with a master’s). And we don’t. Not now anyway. In 8 more years or so, we probably will.
I’m glad I started with my bsn, and probably wouldn’t have changed that, but I could’ve gone to a much less expensive program to be sure!
I feel you! The whole rotating cards and not being able to do the vacays we want and other luxury things just stinks! We’re actually selling my husbands truck to reduce gas/payment costs! Hang in there though, you’re not a alone and we’ll get through it! I normally write very uplifting content, but i needed to say this!!! ha!
I am shoked@what it costs today for nursing school…I got my LPN in 1972, then RN in 73+it cost me…are u sitting down??.. $50/1st 2 quarters, then $75 the next 4, then $150 then last 2+ that was it…I don’t recall paying for books,uniforms..all wereincluded..my parents paid all my LPN year, then I got a job+worked as LPN my 2nd year..that was the best decision..I learned soooo much from those RN’s I worked with…the last one passed away last year@age 93!!! Now, next year I will retire from many years of doing that which I love..being an RNC. in the NICU…I could retire in march as I will turn 65, but plan to work to 66 (I need a major shoulder surgery which I plan for after the 1st of the year..that is if I can manage the pain till then….) I shudder when I read stories such as yours…now it seems,@least here in AZ, that an ADN, isn’t even going to be accepted much longer…our hospital system is the only one hiring ADNs..+u need to b in school for RN or have one by 2018….this makes me glad I’m on way “out” instead of “in”
yes Ma’am! It’s so crazy! theres just a giant disconnect. They say the higher degrees are to make you a more rounded nurse and better your knowledge, but lets be real. it has everything to do with hospital reimbursement! MAGNET status is the only status these days…..just breaks my heart. My mission in this blog is to restore the heart of nursing and run away from the business its become! thanks for your comment!
I’m glad I read this! I’m about to start my nursing school soon and they want about 50,000 for my entire associates degree. It really seems pricey, but the program is only 18 months start to finish, so my husband and I came up with a plan to put every dollar I earn from my new nursing degree back into my student loans. If I get a job making $22/HR (the rate here in Utah) I’ll have my loan paid off in about 18 months. We are lucky enough that with my husband’s salary (he’s an engineer too!) we can afford to do it that way. After my loans are paid off, I will put all my earned money towards his loans.
I’m with you, though. My husband spent 7 grueling years in school to become an electrical engineer. When he graduated and the student loan payments kicked in, I thought we were going to die! I couldn’t believe how expensive they were. Completely unfair to make hard working people with bachelor’s degrees suffer at the hand of s student loan! Talk about turning people off from going to college! My husband’s twin brother works for a truck stop company and he makes the same amount of money as my husband does, yet he doesn’t have any loans to pay off and they even just bought a big beautiful house! And we’re over here putting groceries on credit cards! It’s hard not to wonder if it was worth going to school!
I hope my plan of paying off my loans is a good one. What do you think of it?
Do you have a community college nearby? You should be able to get an ADN for a lot less than 50,000! Here the ADN is around 10,000, and the accelerated bachelors are from 35,000-55,000.
Yes there is a community college nearby and I could go there but it will take me 4 years to get my ADN vs. 18 months at the accelerated college.
I wish it was a case of just trying to take as little loans as possible to help. I only took the loans I needed. I graduate in May with approximately 35,000 in debt. This is after a transfer scholarship, after the remainder of my federal grants. I managed my first Associates Degree (in another field) without a dime of debt (10 years ago) and I knew I would likely go in debt for my BSN, but I had NO idea that it would be this much debt. I worked full time the first three years, which was difficult, but this last year it was impossible. With 1 full to three part days of classes and two to three whole days in clinicals, it left me with the ability to work for pay about 12 hours a week. I started my own business to make ends meet (that profited about 5K last year). That’s what kept my family afloat, that and the loans. My husband worked up to 40 hours of overtime a month for the first three years and we still scraped by.
It’s not just the loans, it’s the education system. Prices have skyrocketed, and programs are even less forgiving of those that want to work and make their own way. Part time and even full time jobs at more than minimum wage could not possible pay for college anymore, not to mention how many people are getting their education to break away from just minimum wage.
It’s terrible to say, that while I’m very proud of my education, I don’t think it will be worth the cost in the end. Even with the jump in pay I won’t be making that much more after loan payments anyway. Disheartening.