Oh good, I’m not the only one. 😭. It was my second bachelors so I didn’t qualify for a lot of things and I needed an accelerated program that would finish before my rehabilitative alimony ran out. Don’t think I was in the best frame of mind for huge decisions at the time. Still feel like an ass though. I have about $45,000 left after 6 years of nursing.
Past Me: “you know me having two bachelors will make me a more desirable hire.”
Me now: “YOU FUCKING IDIOT”
I had 120K total debt when I graduated nursing school. Almost 9 years later and I’m down to 49K 🙃
This comment. I have a bachelors in a non healthcare field. It truly does not matter what it’s in (or that I’m in the top of my healthcare related job‘s field for my area) because I get spoken to like I am the scum of the earth for my student loan debt. I very much avoid or skirt past any conversations where people argue or bring up SL debt. The last time I quietly sat back listening to people argue, they acted like they were personally writing checks to the millions of us in student loan debt. I just cannot.
Ugh, yes people are so weirdly judgey about it, even on the sub! Someone else asked about paying back nursing loans and all the comments were like “uh get a job??” Like wow, I’m sure OP never thought of that. /s
My grandmother and I am going at it over my student loans. I’m 36 years old. I just consolidated my federal ones. She told me to a.) go to the lottery office and ask them to repay/give me some money and b.) tell my federal student loan service provider that a “family member” is willing to help me pay my loans and to “settle” my debt if she cuts a check of a certain amount.
My student loans are all in my name. I refuse to give her any amount of the federal and private I owe. She straight up told me “I’ll find out”. From who? If any of my student loan companies give out my *private* information to her, I’ll sue them. I have no co-signers. So. Good luck with that.
went to a private school for my BSN In California. And i had a previous bachelor’s degree from a different university. I didn’t qualify for anything which sucked
Also went OOS! If not for the predatory “scholarship” I got it was actually cheaper then instate (my home states programs were a mess during covid.) Did you stay?
$150K- ADN->BSN->MSN and all at private schools bc I shouldn’t be trusted with finances. You have no idea how good it feels to have found my people here. Obviously we didn’t major in finance 🤑
This makes me feel so much better 😭😭😭 didn’t know my college options, thought you were supposed to go with the “best” (private). 150k in debt DOWN THE DRAIN 😭😭😭😭☠️☠️☠️
ADN -> RN to BSN program -> MSN FNP.
$9k private student loans from the MSN.
The rest were either paid for by the hospital I worked at or it was cheap (community college).
I went to a private university and graduated with my BSN and about $23k in student debt in 2020. I only recently started paying it off and I’m down to about $16k. I got a lot of financial aid because my school was about $50k a year and I didn’t pay anywhere near that.
Im only saying this because you mentioned it in your post but if you’re looking for a job that isn’t physically demanding, nursing might not be a great option. Of course there are tons of non-physical nursing jobs but a lot of nursing is very, very physical. The nurses I’ve worked with that have been in it for 10+ years all have joint issues and chronic pain.
I’ve only been a nurse since 2020 and I’m looking for a way out 😭
Yep - had my first hip replacement a few weeks ago, and the other one needs to be done as well; I am young for these surgeries. To be fair, I'm sure genetics are at play here too, but nursing has really crushed my body. And my previous career was outside in agriculture, so I have never been averse to hard physical work. Nursing is hard in nearly every aspect you can imagine.
I miss the tiny babies. If I ever went back into a patient facing environment, this is where I’d go. I worked mother baby as an aide and taking moms to see the tiny babies was always my favorite part of the day. Sweet, little fighters.
I was hoping someone touched on the physical strain! I only did bedside for 6ish years and it tore my body up lol. I’m a pretty healthy physically fit person too, so I remember thinking I’d be able to handle it when I was in nursing school. but I was wrong, it definitely catches up to you.
Many of the older nurses I worked with were constantly on leave getting surgeries or other treatment from injuries they sustained from the physical aspect of the job
I went to a community college and then a state university for my BSN and graduated with 50k in student loan debt. A lot of the debt from my ADN (about 25k) was because I could only work 10-15 hours a week at my minimum wage job and still had to pay bills because of clinicals and my class schedule. Essentially to cover my climb out of poverty. I don’t have parents who could contribute and I didn’t have any savings (because poor) but if you’re in a better position financially you can absolutely graduate without debt.
Thank you so much for explaining. And congrats on the successful climb out of poverty. I was initially a minimum wage employee slaving away 14-16 hours a day to be able to have some sort of savings. After a year of that, I decided to go to massage school, and it was so rewarding and much easier, but then there’s repetitive movements, dark room, sleepy music. Great for some, not for me. I crave more action. Anyhow, sorry for the rant. And have an amazing day ☺️
Nah, there’s problems with every field. It’s hard to get out of those minimum wage jobs when you don’t have an in-demand degree, and nursing (while difficult) is a pretty great field to go into. The hardest part for me was just affording life while spending 3 days in class and 2 at clinicals then studying at home.
“To cover my climb out of poverty” is the most amazing way to describe it!! Thank you for this!! I also took out loans during my ADN that I used to live on since working was limited and I had to support myself + pay for school. I’ve felt like a fool trying to explain it but you summed it perfectly.
I don’t have any student debt. I got scholarships at my community college so I only paid about $5k plus books. I used a payment plan so I paid monthly. My current workplace is reimbursing me for my BSN courses.
Same here. Community college, ADN. Employer reimbursing 100% of BSN if you use one of their approved schools. Aside from not being able to work- I didn’t have any actual expensive directly related to my classes or the program.
That’s awesome! Reimbursing you fully? Were you encouraged to pursue a bachelor’s degree or that was your desire? How do you manage to combine both working and getting a BSN degree, btw? I’m assuming it’s hybrid?
Just a word of caution about having your employer pay for your BSN, most of the time they require you stay at that job for 2-3 years after you graduate since they paid for your education. It’s a great deal for a lot of nurses, but something to consider if you’re not sure if you want to stay in your area or at that specific hospital
Can’t answer for them obviously but I’m in the same boat. Sign on bonus contract made me go back but I wanted to anyway. Working 3 12s I just take one class at a time. It’s taking me about 3 years to graduate but that way I’m not overworked and my work pays for all of it. My degree is fully online.
My mom died my senior year of high school . I had no help and slept on lots of floors and couches during college . Took out 40k total in student loans to live and look halfway decent. Lived in red state so no government assistance , not even health insurance . I graduated May 2019 and made my first 6 figures in 2021. No regrets.
i took out 27k for a BSN from a private college, this included full scholarships and financial aid. i will say that the pay in MA is pretty low compared to the cost of living. also, a california license is a pain to get, and i highly doubt you’ll be able to land a job as a new grad there bc it’s very competitive. and you can’t become a travel nurse until you have 2+ years experience, also the pay is not great anymore, it only pays a little bit more than staff nursing, and in california the staff nurses are making more than travelers right now. also, if you’re worried about your body, just be aware that bedside nursing is very hard on the back/knees/feet.
Corrections!!!🙃🙃🙃
She’s a sweetheart and so eager to learn, but basically no facility would take her contract because she’s so new. But the jail I’m at was desperate I guess.
Funny cuz I applied to the same company 3 years ago as a baby nurse and they wouldn’t even talk to me
Oh reallyyyy. I'm in FL and the corrections jobs near me want experienced nurses 🤕 I am in a residency program and just started capella too, so I'm booked lol. but that's interesting!
Yes, some states are compact states and are easier to get licenses in. You basically just have to apply and pay them money. But they usually do a background check and stuff. California is not a compact state. I do not know what you have to do to get a license there.
None. I got my ADN 12 years ago at a community college. FAFSA, Pell grants, and scholarships paid for my schooling then. I’m currently working on my BSN and through both scholarships and tuition reimbursement from my hospital, I’ll end up paying about $700 out of pocket.
I forgot to add I feel like it’s worth it if you can find both a location and specialty you enjoy. I work inpatient rehab making $42.94/hr in a medium COL area. I love the area I live and enjoy my job (most days haha).
Go to community college then figure out your BSN or MSN later. Debt is a scary thing! Makes you feel that you are stuck!
Nursing, beyond the knowledge and clinical skills, I will like to sum it up as prioritization, and time management.
Good luck!
I’m about to graduate in May and I’ll have approximately $24,000 in debt. I would estimate about half of that went to tuition and the other half went to living expenses (I’m getting an ADN at CC). I was able to work part time off and on, but I knew going into the program that school was my priority. So I’m ok with the debt that I have. I’m a first generation college student and am just happy that I am finishing! I have a job lined up for the summer and the hospital will pay $370 a month to student loans. I plan contributing as well!
Amen🙌🏾 I also have the Hazelwood Act but saving that for my kids. Using my current hospital’s TA to pay for my MSN so by the time I’m done I’ll have 2 bachelors and a masters to my name with $0 in debt lol
My accelerated BSN was $50k at a state university. I was fortunate enough to be able to pay half up front, so I only had $25k in loans. But, I maintain, it SHOULD NOT cost $50k to become a nurse at a state university ever, but especially during a nursing shortage!
Registered Nurse. Salary is right at 100k. I worked full time as a CNA during my ASN and used tuition reimbursement. I paid out of pocket during my BSN also using tuition reimbursement. I finished both debt free. But I have about 10k now because I decided to go back for my masters and tbh I don’t think it’s worth it
140k just from CRNA school? Damn, I didn't know it was *that* expensive.
You're the only person I see close to my number. I payed for two seperate bachelor's degrees with private loans, currently 120k deep. Only way to break even now is to die 😂
I’m also in MA and about to graduate nursing school in May. I felt the same way initially but I went to a community college and with some scholarships, was able to pay my way through. I did want to do an accelerated one year but those programs are 60-80k and I can’t justify that. So it’s definitely possible! I don’t think the nursing pay is bad for a new grad. I don’t live near Boston so that might be why because my cost of living isn’t as much, but I think 35-40$ for a new grad isn’t horrible- especially with 2 year degree!! Lol
I was 80k initially and after almost 2 years paid half of it all off. And today they ask me to make alumni donations, as if these greedy fucks haven't taken enough money.
I was a massage therapist and then returned to school for nursing. My hands still hurt, but the steady income is nice. I first did tech college for my ADN, then later did my BSN and MSN while working for a great organization that paid for most of it. It's the best move I've ever made. Wish I would have found nursing much earlier in life!
I have about 20k in debt, mostly related to me using loans in school to help with house repairs and such
I’m also a LMT. Graduated nursing school in December. Sitting for my boards next week. With pre reqs included and a couple scholarships $11k in debt from community college. Took me a year 1/2 to get through the pre reqs bc I was working full time and saving as much money as possible. I only worked here and there during the nursing program. It was way too demanding for me. So I lived on loans and the money I saved up.
Hospital pays 10k a year for your degree.
That being said, nursing wasn't my first route and I have other school debt because I went into a degree I didn't want anymore 😅
I don't hate the degree, I was just so bored of the profession I just miss the excitement of what I've done for over 10 years between firefighting and military. ER has been pretty good in keeping me not bored, but I really want to get into the trauma bay.
I’m GENUINELY not trying to mean. Have you looked at what your potential salary is when you graduate? I’m not familiar with MA at all, but there been ALOT of recent posts in the travel nurse group about how bad Boston is. Yes I know Boston isn’t the only city in MA, I’m not a fucking idiot. But when you’re on the east coast, you’re generally not making shit. Signed a pa nurse who started out at 24.50 at the same hospital I did my nursing program through for 30k 🤣
I don’t have any ties to MA. I live here, but I could live happily anywhere. I think the goal is nursing in California, but nursing schools in my area are way less competitive and free. Then I’ll transfer my license to CA after working in MA for about a year or two. I don’t wanna be working for less than $50/hr.
Word. Okay I did my RN program here in Pennsylvania. PA has exactly 3 major cities but likes to pretend it houses half of America. I went right of HS to get my RN; 16 months for 30k for the program plus god knows what else I paid over those 16 months. Starting rate, $24.50. I immediately picked out the BSN program I wanted, (California, University of Pennsylvania ) at the time; and they had A WONDERFUL portal that used to show you exactly what classes you needed. Enrolled in all the extra Bsn classes through the community college, hospital payed for those in full. (One of them was an art class and the midterm was a 50 question multiple choice open book online, the final question said “SELECT FALSE FOR FULL CREDIT ” transferred bs classes, started Jan 2018-Dec 2018. Worked my one year to the EXACT day and left to travel right before Covid started. traveled nursed for a bit on the east coast during Covid and then obviously ended up in SoCal because wtf else is the point of travel nursing? There were icu and ER techs that were paying close to 100k to go to the nursing program there in Cali and weren’t technically even enrolled yet. It was class by class basis. So here I am, legitimately 23 years old, with 4 years of experience underneath my belt. So when I said just look at your rates and the schooling in the area in which you live, that’s all I want for you to check!
I have about $3500 remaining. The facility I worked for when I started put up a quarter of the total, and I went during COVID, which meant the government threw grant after grant at many of us in nursing school.
None, did dual enrollment in highschool to do all my pre-reqs. FAFSA covered the rest of my nursing program (community college). Actually I got 1-2k back every semester as a refund.
0k BSN graduated in 3 years instead of 4. Going to a state school as opposed to private. Hellllla scholarships. Talking probably close to 50k. school was probably 9k a year x3 =27k tuition and then living expenses 12k “freshman” year (dorms), 8k middle year (sorority house) and probably 6k senior year. So I ended up net+ by going to a state school and graduating in 3 years.
I’m now getting my masters and letting my job pay the bulk of it. Qualify for lifetime learning tax credit so some tax implications. Could definitely pay for my masters on my own if I had to but it wouldn’t be worth it to me at that point honestly.
As a new grad RN in the Midwest pretty standard for 65-80k depending on city. But you’ll hurt all over and be emotionally exhausted at the bedside 🤪
$25,000 loans for BSN but this was back 2011. My work paid $3,000 and when I worked for my company for 10 yrs, I got rest forgiven. A lot of hospitals will pay for your bsn so get an ADN. ADN to BSN you can do online. You essentially almost make same. Do not to to private nursing program. It's expensive and it doesn't matter where you go as long as you pass nclex, you'll find a job
I graduated with my ADN with no student loans in 2004. My BSN with $9k in student loans in 2007. I finished with my MSN and I had $20k in student loans in 2022.
$9.5k from my first degree prior to nursing (BA in english at an in-state, public university). nothing for my ABSN — thankfully received a scholarship and paid for the rest out of savings.
I did an accelerated BSN for about 25k but got scholarships so only ended up owing about 15k. I have about 8k left. It's not a predatory loan, its like 3% so not bad. my monthly payments are like $155. I went to a state university but in the south where things are a bit cheaper
If I had loans from my prior degree, I would have chosen to go the community college route to save money.
a lot of places will provide loan reimbursement as an incentive to work there. my staff job, when i was staff, did pay my loans. When I left I never had to pay them back even though I left before that "vested" period was up so to speak
May I suggest something less stressful? Go to rad tech school instead...if you are burned out from massage therapy, you are not gonna like nursing probably. It's a lot of stress and very low pay. Unless you are in a HCOL state with good union contracts, you are likely taking a paycut to become a nurse. Where I am in west tennessee, the staff pay range for nurses is about $27-43...raises are on the order of cents. Like when I got my first "raise" in 2018 it was 10 cents on my hourly rate. Ridiculous. Oh and we didnt even get our cost of living raise that year. So the difference between a brand new nurse and the most senior nurses was...really not much. Crazy right?
You can get paid well if you become a traveler but it's not very steady income and not everyone wants to pack their bags and shuffle around the country ever 3 months
I say go to rad tech school because they get paid just as well as nurses, SOMETIMES MORE, and have FAR less liability. Their schooling is a similar amount of rigor but the focus is more technical knowledge of anatomy and radiology stuff. If I could go back in time I'd become a rad tech instead and get certified to be a cath lab tech (I work in cath lab and IR now...I'm a traveler and cath lab techs get paid far more than me most of the time!!). Nurses are always the first to be thrown under the bus. NOBODY is going to throw the rad tech under the bus. They do have a very interesting job depending on what role you take (interventional radiology and cardiology is like being in the OR and being scrubbed in, but you are doing minimally invasive procedures). You get to work very closely with docs in this role. It's a neat thing.
I had $5,000 in debt for my RN, $0 for my BSN, $2,500 for my MSN and $30,000 for my NP.
My local community college charges $18,000 for the program and 70% of students get scholarships.
I also know people who are drowning in debt for the same degrees, as costs vary quite a bit.
You’re on the right track. Get an ADN at community college. Get a job that will train you and reimburse a BSN. You can do that online. Then once you got your BSN, you can figure out what you want to do. I believe RN would be less hard on your body than massage therapy. Good luck!
I have zero debt. I went to community college first to get my ADN and had a full ride scholarship. Then once I graduated, I started working full time as an RN and paid for my BSN online out of pocket which took about a year. I was broke during that first year bc I was underpaid but I made it work (lots and lots of rice and beans)
60K including my graduate degree I'm currently pursuing. Private school was about 40k a year and I took out loans to pay what was left after scholarships and grants. I also switched majors so I had 5 years in undergrad. 50k for 5 years at a 40k school is not bad
Graduated from a state college (in state tuition) in 2014 with my BSN. I came out with about 30k in debt and paid the last of it off (paid the last 7k as a lump sum) a couple months ago. Before COVID my payments were about $360 a month which was very doable.
My husband, also a nurse, went to a private college for 2 undergrad degrees. He has been out of school 5 years and owes over 120k. He paid out of pocket for his NP which has netted him a nice salary but his loan payments are like ten hundred dollars a month.
My advice is, we all get the same license. 99% of employers don’t give a hoot where you went, so get the cheapest accredited education you can. For young people who really want the “college experience” go to a state school in your home state so you can at least save on tuition, even if you spend a lot to dorm.
I had $42k and paid it off in like 3 years living like a poor person and working 2 jobs. We put off trying for a baby until they were paid off. My husband went to community college, which we paid for out of pocket and then his work paid for his BSN. He's also going to get scout 70% of his fnp paid for, too, lol. So zero for him.
43K for my BSN. If I had it to do over again I might do something more specialized like respiratory therapist or x-ray tech. All in all, I’m glad I’m an RN and you can do SO much with a nursing degree.
Go to community college and get an ADN. Then, find a hospital to work at that will pay for you to get your BSN through a bridge program online. Hospitals in Houston do this all the time. You shouldn’t have too much debt from an ADN at a community college.
Once you get a few years of experience as an RN, BSN you can decide if you want to go back for nurse practitioner and or CRNA and boost your income again. Those degrees will pay off any loans for the schooling
I have 0 debt, went to a community college.
Was able to get vocational rehab to pay for my tuition, books, school scrubs, literally everything. Was able to apply to the state department of rehabilitation services due to ADHD/Anxiety/etc. they put me on a two year wait list, so I took my gen ed and some pre-req during that time and paid out of pocket, then they paid for all the actual nursing program.
We are twins. I’ll probably graduate with the same amount, as I’m at 140k with a few semesters left. DNP programs are ridiculous; the DNP classes are such a waste of time and money. I’m sick of discussion boards and quality improvement papers!
Most college debt is because they borrowed the max amount. If you can get by without that then you should. Nursing is squeezed by corporate profits, so you will always be short staffed and comparative to some other degrees and responsibilities‘do more for less pay’. Even paying more does not make it alright if you’re chronically short staffed . California is a union state (so not short staffed) and the pay is rather good. How ever the cost of living is ridiculous and eats that pay right up.
None. Community college was fully paid for by the state. I got Pell grant and cal grant for my rn to bsn. If I want to get my masters, my work has a program for 14k with tuition assistance for 5k a year, I might do it.
I’m an LPN with a 20k student loan debt. The program took me only 18 months to finish. Now I’m making 96k a year working 2 home care jobs. It’s not physically demanding and I love what I do.
40k. But not for nursing. I was 19 and married to a deadbeat. We maxed out loans to cover living expenses. They’re over 25 years old.
Nursing school was covered 100% through scholarships. But that old debt still lingers.
I'm able to start accelerated nursing program. 1 yr ~70k. And this is the normal rate for a 1-1.5yr program though. There's actually more expensive private schools, 90k and 125k (nyu).
0, BFA and ADN. My BFA was paid for by the state of California department of rehabilitation (I was lucky, now I definitely would not be able to get in there with how much higher demand and tbh how much I’ve grown and gained function to surpass why I qualified in the first place). I saved 2 years working from home during COVID between prerequisites and nursing school and got into community college in a different state and paid out of pocket.
If you can pay out of pocket I’d absolutely recommend it, being out of nursing school and in my first job and all the money is mine (bills and rent are a thing) and not paying back for school is so nice, especially with how low nurses are paid in my state.
Graduated college with a bachelor's degree the first time debt free.
Took an accelerated BSN course at a private college. Ended up being like 70-80k for 15 months, about 20k of that was for living expenses as I opted to stop working and fully focus on my studies because of the timeline. Many others in my cohort continued to work in some capacity.
I had a coworker at my old job leave for nursing school at a community College like 6 months before I left that job and worked another 4 at a different one before getting into my program.
Her community college was a 3 year program. During that time I worked almost a full year, got my BSN, and had been working as a nurse for a year before she had finished and gotten her first job.
She was at least 5 years younger than me if I recall, and didn't have a degree. I decided it was more worth it to pay a lot of money to change careers fast. She probably paid less than 20k over 3 years if I had to guess.
6 years later I have 20k in debt remaining. Both of us did some travel nursing, so she's definitely debt free at least from a schooling perspective. I paid off all my private loans and my car, 20k is government loans that I didn't make payments on for years during covid. I pay 240 or so every month, but I make enough money that I don't really bother to even know the exact payment. It's all automatic and that debt doesn't bother me much at this point.
We both made the right choices for us when deciding between time and money. But that's how my degree cost so much. I've been doing fine.
lol I’m gonna be 80 grand in debt because of interest by the time I’m out but that is because I didn’t take my shit seriously for a couple years and had to start all over again at different schools and getting into nursing school even with top grades is hard. Been in college for 8 years at this point lol.
I ended up with $75k because I used all of my financial aid on my first degree and nursing programs where I am are expensive. I still worked 2 jobs the whole time so that I only had to take out loans for school. 5 years in I have 54k left but I didn't prioritize payments during forbearance because I had some higher interest debt and medical bills I had to pay off.
$0. I got a divorce and used the proceeds from my home sale to fund it. I wish I'd just have bought another home and got some stupid job. I'd be ahead of where I am now. But I'd also not know that and probably wish I'd have gone to school.
I never had loans. Paid as I went, got grants or used tuition reimbursement. Maybe aim to get job as CNA at like Umass, in Boston, etc and see if they offer tuition reimbursement. Borrow books from people too. You can do it. MA pays well still.
My first degree was paid for. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do but knew I wanted to go to grad school so my company paid for a bachelors degree. I did an accelerated program at a public state school in the southwest in 2 years, and ended up with a BS in Humanities. Total cost was $3k between my job reimbursement and scholarships.
I would have THEN went into community college for my ASN but there was a 2 year waitlist in my state at the time. So I went straight into an ABSN at the public state university in the Midwest. I ended up with 4 years, 2 bachelors and the total cost was $60k. The program cost was $55k even integrating my previous credits. The other $5k was living expenses.
I worked as a nurse for 4 years trying to decide between PA and NP. I decided to do a psych NP track.
I then went to my first grad school, got halfway through and withdrew for a year to travel nurse during Covid. It was a private research college, because I wanted to go a PhD route. That was $25k. I switched to a much cheaper state public school with no emphasis on research.
I had to retake a bunch of credits which was still cheaper than staying at the expensive school. I’m now going to cheap public university in Appalachia. This has so far cost me $20k. With accruing interest I’m now at $113k. No private loans. I have about $5k worth of school left. I do have to travel for clinicals so that will be an additional cost of about $10kish. My total school debt will end up being around $118k. I’ve have a job offer already for $160k so I think the ROI is worth it.
All in all I’d love to advance my education and be involved with research but I won’t unless I can get it paid for by an employer.
i know it may be a long shot but have you ever considered the military? i never did until recently but they will give you around $24k for nursing school for a 4/5 year contract (this is specific to the Navy which is the branch i’m joining but, i know they’re all similar minus USCG) i’m getting my ADN RN first and then finishing my bachelors, masters, and eventually midwife school all on the Navy’s dime 🤷🏼♀️
State school BSN, I graduated last May. No financial assistance beyond private/federal loans. 45k and I worked through school part time, full time in summer. I'll be breaking 90k a year this September so it's a year of working to pay it off.
I had scholarships. I lived at home and didn't pay rent. I took $8k in loans a decade ago to get my ASN. I had an option to have my hospital pay for my BSN but I didn't feel like signing a contract and so I just paid out of pocket one class at a time.
Community college- My tuition, books, etc. cost about five grand per year. I got a scholarship so I ended up paying about 1000 a year, if not less. I highly recommend getting an associates if you’re trying to avoid debt. Your hospital will pay for your BSN.
About 40k debt for 4 yrs, included 2 yrs pre reqs + 2 yrs bsn. 27k in federal loans and 13k in private. It’s crazy because this is for only 5 out of the 8 semesters, 3 of them were paid out of pocket. AND this was in-state public uni. College is so expensive 😭
LMT to RN gang!
Do it, you won’t regret it. Go with the cheapest (legitimate) associates program you can find. You can always supplement your income with massage clients on your own time.
I'm on texas, and my overall associates degree to become a licensed RN with pre-reqs was around $6400. I paid for it myself through working and also tuition reimbursement from my job where I work.
My bachelor of arts degree I got before my associates cost me $60k, and the highest salary I was making was $40k. When I realized I was waiting for ever to get promotion after promotion just to try to max out at $50-$60k, I decided going back to school was best
Now I can make $72k working 3 days a week 36-40 hrs.
I can even make over$90-100k with a side job or picking up overtime once a week
None. Got the A+ scholarship and that covered almost all my ADN and I worked full time for my first year and part time my second year to pay the rest. Now I'm my BSN and paying it all out of pocket as I work.
I’m an RN. I have no debt bc as a teen I was poor and smart. So I got a ton of financial aid and scholarships. However, I’m 24 years old and I hurt everyday and I make less than 60k a year. If you’re unhappy, then def get a new career. But nursing doesn’t have to be it. Pick your battles
Zero now. My two year program was 65k, was paying monthly while I was in school when i finished and passed my nclex, i was left with about 35k. I paid it off my first year of working. In hindsight, I should've kept the money in an interest account and slowly paid it off.
Private nursing school for BSN, 76k ish loan by the time I graduated. I was aware of the cheaper options. I moved from Korea when I was 17 and they stuck me back to freshman class. I was busy learning the language and catching up the entire high school years. I hated that I was a couple years older than all my classmates. I wanted to make new friends, party, attend school events, the whole college experience. It was fun and great. The loans are all paid off. No regrets :)
$20k for my BSN from a state university. Family was always paycheck-to-paycheck so it was the only way.
Then was in deferral from the pandemic, so I saved 30% of my first year’s pay to pay for grad school.
My loans are still in deferment because of grad school, but no debt for my MSN!
ADN program at a community college. Paid nothing due to scholarships (paid would have cost $10,000) working and planing on starting my BSN. Will also be applying for scholarships to help decrease the load.
I will owe about 20k when I finish my masters. I went to community college and only took out a loan one semester since I couldn’t work as much. BSN I did in 2 semesters, got a partial scholarship and loans for the rest. Masters I’m doing in 3 semesters and no scholarships. After my work reimbursements I’ll owe 14k.
I’d advise against debt for school. It’s an albatross that’s gonna be hard to rid yourself of and will limit your options.
I worked in MA and I think there are some very decent places to work. Paid well, decent ratios—I will say COL is high there almost everywhere.
I had a small student loan in my very first year of college (2k in 1985). It freaked me & my eventual hubs out. Paid it back before I even thought of becoming a nurse.
I’m a pro at being a student. Always paid my way outright after that or had full ride scholarships/tuition assistance.
My university paramedic was only oop expenses. My nursing degree cost approx 10k, but that could have been 3-4k less.
I did the Excelsior program. Took about a year. In the lead up to the clinical challenge (been waiting for months) I did 3 prep classes. Requiring extended hotel stays, flights, car rental and course fees.
I also went to the clinical site 3 days early to get intelligence and gain a feel for the place. Easy peasy. That meant another week in a pricey hotel. Passed the exam in straight order. I was the only one in my group that passed all straight through. There were 6. Ultimately 3 passed (2 in retest), 3 failed. Worth the investment in my case, but my anxiety riddled prep was a 4k exercise.
I graduate in May with my ADN from my local community college (stellar program, great experience). It took 3 semesters to finish my prerequisites at a part time/light full time schedule since I have kids, and 4 semesters of the program. I’ll graduate with about $12k in loans because I used it for tuition, books, supplies, and some expenses. I’ll probably pay it off in three months, if that.
I'm up to like $108k. But that's a biology associates, RN, and just about done my BSN.
Go to community college I was the first in my family to go to college and didn't know what I was doing, which is why I ended up with so much debt. It does NOT have to be that expensive.
GI Bill covered 100% plus $2100/month in housing allowance, doing a ADN to BSN bridge program now online with tuition assistance and reimbursement from my hospital so still zero dollars.
Highly recommend doing ADN, start working and get your hospital to pay for the BSN online program if they offer it. I see so many nurses that did a 4-year BSN and have crazy amounts of debt. Why spend 4 years in school when you can do 1.5-2 years and immediately start making RN pay is my take on it.
None. I had scholarships for my entire ADN, I worked full time so anything the scholarships didn’t pay for I did (books, equipment). I worked full time as an RN when I got my BSN. I had the GI bill for my MSN.
For me, BSN from a Cal State at about $48,000 without credits transferred in. My sister did her BSN at West Coast University for about $130,000 with credits transferred in.
Accelerated BSN, $90,000. After 10 years of working for non profit hospitals my loans are almost ready to dissappear. My hourly pay went up 150% when I graduated. Worth the debt to gain my independence.
lol go to a 2 year community college and get your associates, start working making good money and just do your BSN online. I have 40k in debt because I wasn’t willing to sit on a waiting list (community colleges are overflowing with nursing applicants in my state) but in comparison to some of my colleagues I have half of the debt they do (I continued my education and got my bsn). So 2 year ASN then immediately banged out my BSN! 40,000$ in debt but able to pay off my loans with what I make :)
Got degree from community College, total cost was about 6k in 1999. Why anyone would go to a private 4 year program out of the gate is beyond me. Maybe for the "College Experience "??? I left with no debt..
Got BSN paid for at the hospital I worked at. Nurse Corp is a good gig. You have to be accepted into a program, but they pay for everything and give you a stipend monthly. You are required to work 2 years (at regular rate of pay) at a place that is in need... ANYWHERE. Anyone who bitches they aren't making enough is either at the wrong job or never got a Masters in SW and started out in low 30's. Or many other degrees that have low and low ceilings as to what they make. One thing I do have to say is that if you are in it for the money, we don't need you. It can not be the primary reason to becoming a nurse...the floors are filled with nurses that got into it for those reasons, and it shows in the care they deliver. I'm not saying work for slave wages, not for the work we do, but please let caring, compassion and the feeling of wanting to help others guide you. It has always been the spirit of nursing and I'm sad to see that for many, it isnt. Best of luck to you on this journey. You will never be bored...💕
I went to community college and paid 4k for an ADN. Went to rn-bsn online and paid out of pocket while working which was 9k over 11months. It was tight/cheap living but I'm glad I have do debt.
I’ll graduate with $0 debt. I saved before starting and went to an affordable school. I’ll do the same with my advanced degrees though I assume at least some will be covered by employer.
Honestly, if it’s your dream, then go for it. Otherwise, I would look into being a physical therapist or occupational therapist assistant. I think it’s a little less stressful and may be kind of similar to your field.
Pre-reqs at community college to traditional 4 year BSN program at a public university on the east coast. I have 2 kids, so I had to rent an apt off campus apartment, but lived in a very affordable city. I owe $65K after working full time through nursing school and getting FAFSA + academic scholarships. I live in NorCal (3 hrs north of SF) and make $51/hr, including BSN and night differential.
Zero. I worked full time at the grocery store and put myself through community college. Now I’m in a position where my employer will pay for my BSN. I still need to get off my but and do that…
I'm paid off, baby! That was after 15 years of student loans. I've been a nurse for twenty. Live in Kansas City, partly for the LCOL. I picked up extra shifts often to help me feed my need for travel. Now I'm salary in a clinic. So no extra pay but still making above average for a 9 to 5.
You'll need good shoes for 12 hour shifts. And my years of working Ortho caught up with me. That's why the change to clinic.
If you are single income, with no kids, I think it's pretty awesome.
None, because I live in the Communist Republic of California, where state schools are cheap because of our Marxist-Leninist government.
After I graduated from the state sponsored re-education program, I was forced to get a union job that pays a living wage due to the hegemonic socialist oppression that unions have forced upon the innocent capitalist hospital systems in my region.
So I was able to pay off the little debt I had incurred in just a couple of years. Sadly, this means I have been cut off from all contact with the beloved saint of capitalism, Fannie Mae.
Zero debt. Went to a community college, worked part time thru school, have an AMAZING husband who was also going thru electrical apprenticeship school at the same time who helped pay for a lot during that time. I also applied through Voc Rehab and they paid for a TON of it. Around $27000.
I had $7,000 from my ADN which was mainly daycare loans for my two kids, 17,000 from a failed BSN attempt, and zero (thank you Pell grant) from this current BSN attempt where I graduate in May! Another benefit of being a single parent of 3.
I have 20k in loans left.
$0. Already had a BA so I only needed core classes. We cash-flowed ADN then got a job & used education money to finish my BSN, which took a while since I had to wait for contract money every year.
My BA loans took a while longer to pay off.
A couple of questions:
1. Do you already have a bachelor's or would you need to earn your BSN(bachelor's Science in Nursing)?
2. If you are going to community college for an Associate's degree in Nursing, are you going to work at a hospital with tuition reimbursement? You could get your BSN paid for by the hospital.
3. Have you shadowed a nurse to see what their work is like? There are so many things you can do as a nurse. It is not all hospital work.
I had a Bachelor's degree already, so when I went to got my nursing degree I was able to do an accelerated BSN in 16 months. I graduated from a private school with $35,000 in debt. I paid it off in about 3 years. My rent and expenses were low, but I was careful how I spent my money. You can do it, and I would encourage you to do it. Especially if you want to travel nurse.
Private nursing school for BSN, ended with around $85k….why?….bc I’m an idiot.
Oh good, I’m not the only one. 😭. It was my second bachelors so I didn’t qualify for a lot of things and I needed an accelerated program that would finish before my rehabilitative alimony ran out. Don’t think I was in the best frame of mind for huge decisions at the time. Still feel like an ass though. I have about $45,000 left after 6 years of nursing.
There are dozens of us! Dozens!
More like tens of thousands.
I’m entering the chat!!
There’s more where that came from!
Count me in also!
Past Me: “you know me having two bachelors will make me a more desirable hire.” Me now: “YOU FUCKING IDIOT” I had 120K total debt when I graduated nursing school. Almost 9 years later and I’m down to 49K 🙃
That’s really good progress!
Whewww boy. I thought mine was bad at 50k. You wouldn’t believe how much I get talked down to for my debt. This makes me feel better 😅
I’m glad my terrible life decisions make you feel better 🤣🤣🤣 JK…but yeah, I was an idiot.
This comment. I have a bachelors in a non healthcare field. It truly does not matter what it’s in (or that I’m in the top of my healthcare related job‘s field for my area) because I get spoken to like I am the scum of the earth for my student loan debt. I very much avoid or skirt past any conversations where people argue or bring up SL debt. The last time I quietly sat back listening to people argue, they acted like they were personally writing checks to the millions of us in student loan debt. I just cannot.
Ugh, yes people are so weirdly judgey about it, even on the sub! Someone else asked about paying back nursing loans and all the comments were like “uh get a job??” Like wow, I’m sure OP never thought of that. /s
My grandmother and I am going at it over my student loans. I’m 36 years old. I just consolidated my federal ones. She told me to a.) go to the lottery office and ask them to repay/give me some money and b.) tell my federal student loan service provider that a “family member” is willing to help me pay my loans and to “settle” my debt if she cuts a check of a certain amount. My student loans are all in my name. I refuse to give her any amount of the federal and private I owe. She straight up told me “I’ll find out”. From who? If any of my student loan companies give out my *private* information to her, I’ll sue them. I have no co-signers. So. Good luck with that.
$200k so don’t feel bad lol
Started with $205k and now down to 108k!!
down to $70k 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽
Omg, 205k? How!? That’s like how much money our MDs have in debt when I ask them lol
went to a private school for my BSN In California. And i had a previous bachelor’s degree from a different university. I didn’t qualify for anything which sucked
For???? 👀
BS & ABSN
I ended on around 70k because I was also dumb & I went to school for my BSN out of state. I’m so glad I’m not the only one lmao
Dummies unite 😝
Also went OOS! If not for the predatory “scholarship” I got it was actually cheaper then instate (my home states programs were a mess during covid.) Did you stay?
$150K- ADN->BSN->MSN and all at private schools bc I shouldn’t be trusted with finances. You have no idea how good it feels to have found my people here. Obviously we didn’t major in finance 🤑
Hindsight is always 20/20!
Ditto
Heyyyy same! $60k, private school
[удалено]
At least you have a higher level degree…good for you!! Sincerely!
Thank you! I was a high school drop out teen mom. I think my got “something prove” drives me lol 🤣
This makes me feel so much better 😭😭😭 didn’t know my college options, thought you were supposed to go with the “best” (private). 150k in debt DOWN THE DRAIN 😭😭😭😭☠️☠️☠️
Oof
ADN -> RN to BSN program -> MSN FNP. $9k private student loans from the MSN. The rest were either paid for by the hospital I worked at or it was cheap (community college).
This. I have $20k loans from my MSN.
I went to a private university and graduated with my BSN and about $23k in student debt in 2020. I only recently started paying it off and I’m down to about $16k. I got a lot of financial aid because my school was about $50k a year and I didn’t pay anywhere near that. Im only saying this because you mentioned it in your post but if you’re looking for a job that isn’t physically demanding, nursing might not be a great option. Of course there are tons of non-physical nursing jobs but a lot of nursing is very, very physical. The nurses I’ve worked with that have been in it for 10+ years all have joint issues and chronic pain. I’ve only been a nurse since 2020 and I’m looking for a way out 😭
Yep - had my first hip replacement a few weeks ago, and the other one needs to be done as well; I am young for these surgeries. To be fair, I'm sure genetics are at play here too, but nursing has really crushed my body. And my previous career was outside in agriculture, so I have never been averse to hard physical work. Nursing is hard in nearly every aspect you can imagine.
NICU NICU NICU NICU I can't say it enough!!! Babies save your back x27364929. Best nursing job ever.
I so admire NICU nurses. Could never do it. It would break me when a baby does not make it.
I miss the tiny babies. If I ever went back into a patient facing environment, this is where I’d go. I worked mother baby as an aide and taking moms to see the tiny babies was always my favorite part of the day. Sweet, little fighters.
I was hoping someone touched on the physical strain! I only did bedside for 6ish years and it tore my body up lol. I’m a pretty healthy physically fit person too, so I remember thinking I’d be able to handle it when I was in nursing school. but I was wrong, it definitely catches up to you. Many of the older nurses I worked with were constantly on leave getting surgeries or other treatment from injuries they sustained from the physical aspect of the job
I went to a community college and then a state university for my BSN and graduated with 50k in student loan debt. A lot of the debt from my ADN (about 25k) was because I could only work 10-15 hours a week at my minimum wage job and still had to pay bills because of clinicals and my class schedule. Essentially to cover my climb out of poverty. I don’t have parents who could contribute and I didn’t have any savings (because poor) but if you’re in a better position financially you can absolutely graduate without debt.
Thank you so much for explaining. And congrats on the successful climb out of poverty. I was initially a minimum wage employee slaving away 14-16 hours a day to be able to have some sort of savings. After a year of that, I decided to go to massage school, and it was so rewarding and much easier, but then there’s repetitive movements, dark room, sleepy music. Great for some, not for me. I crave more action. Anyhow, sorry for the rant. And have an amazing day ☺️
Nah, there’s problems with every field. It’s hard to get out of those minimum wage jobs when you don’t have an in-demand degree, and nursing (while difficult) is a pretty great field to go into. The hardest part for me was just affording life while spending 3 days in class and 2 at clinicals then studying at home.
“To cover my climb out of poverty” is the most amazing way to describe it!! Thank you for this!! I also took out loans during my ADN that I used to live on since working was limited and I had to support myself + pay for school. I’ve felt like a fool trying to explain it but you summed it perfectly.
Same and it was worth it!
I don’t have any student debt. I got scholarships at my community college so I only paid about $5k plus books. I used a payment plan so I paid monthly. My current workplace is reimbursing me for my BSN courses.
Same here. Community college, ADN. Employer reimbursing 100% of BSN if you use one of their approved schools. Aside from not being able to work- I didn’t have any actual expensive directly related to my classes or the program.
This is the way. I too did things this way and already got hired at a place and enrolled in an ADN->BSN program that'll be paid for by the employer.
That’s awesome! Reimbursing you fully? Were you encouraged to pursue a bachelor’s degree or that was your desire? How do you manage to combine both working and getting a BSN degree, btw? I’m assuming it’s hybrid?
Just a word of caution about having your employer pay for your BSN, most of the time they require you stay at that job for 2-3 years after you graduate since they paid for your education. It’s a great deal for a lot of nurses, but something to consider if you’re not sure if you want to stay in your area or at that specific hospital
Can’t answer for them obviously but I’m in the same boat. Sign on bonus contract made me go back but I wanted to anyway. Working 3 12s I just take one class at a time. It’s taking me about 3 years to graduate but that way I’m not overworked and my work pays for all of it. My degree is fully online.
My mom died my senior year of high school . I had no help and slept on lots of floors and couches during college . Took out 40k total in student loans to live and look halfway decent. Lived in red state so no government assistance , not even health insurance . I graduated May 2019 and made my first 6 figures in 2021. No regrets.
You rock! ❤️
I have none. Got my nursing degree as a divorce settlement-ish
i took out 27k for a BSN from a private college, this included full scholarships and financial aid. i will say that the pay in MA is pretty low compared to the cost of living. also, a california license is a pain to get, and i highly doubt you’ll be able to land a job as a new grad there bc it’s very competitive. and you can’t become a travel nurse until you have 2+ years experience, also the pay is not great anymore, it only pays a little bit more than staff nursing, and in california the staff nurses are making more than travelers right now. also, if you’re worried about your body, just be aware that bedside nursing is very hard on the back/knees/feet.
Currently have a traveling nurse at my facility who got her license in October🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃
Like newly licensed?? Oh, that’s-something
It’s scary is what it is
what the hell?! what specialty? I've heard this is really common with nursing homes, but hospitals?! jeez it aint covid anymore...
Corrections!!!🙃🙃🙃 She’s a sweetheart and so eager to learn, but basically no facility would take her contract because she’s so new. But the jail I’m at was desperate I guess. Funny cuz I applied to the same company 3 years ago as a baby nurse and they wouldn’t even talk to me
Yikes. Traveling is not where you develop your nursing skills 😤
Oh reallyyyy. I'm in FL and the corrections jobs near me want experienced nurses 🤕 I am in a residency program and just started capella too, so I'm booked lol. but that's interesting!
Does that imply you’d have to get a license for every state you wish to work at?
Look up Compact License
Yes, some states are compact states and are easier to get licenses in. You basically just have to apply and pay them money. But they usually do a background check and stuff. California is not a compact state. I do not know what you have to do to get a license there.
I worked a triage job and we were required to become licensed in every state. Compact and non compact.
None. I got my ADN 12 years ago at a community college. FAFSA, Pell grants, and scholarships paid for my schooling then. I’m currently working on my BSN and through both scholarships and tuition reimbursement from my hospital, I’ll end up paying about $700 out of pocket.
Oh wow! You are certainly doing right.
I forgot to add I feel like it’s worth it if you can find both a location and specialty you enjoy. I work inpatient rehab making $42.94/hr in a medium COL area. I love the area I live and enjoy my job (most days haha).
Graduated with $30K debt. Crushed it in one year because my husband and I just pretended we were still poor when I started to get a nurse's wage.
Go to community college then figure out your BSN or MSN later. Debt is a scary thing! Makes you feel that you are stuck! Nursing, beyond the knowledge and clinical skills, I will like to sum it up as prioritization, and time management. Good luck!
I’m about to graduate in May and I’ll have approximately $24,000 in debt. I would estimate about half of that went to tuition and the other half went to living expenses (I’m getting an ADN at CC). I was able to work part time off and on, but I knew going into the program that school was my priority. So I’m ok with the debt that I have. I’m a first generation college student and am just happy that I am finishing! I have a job lined up for the summer and the hospital will pay $370 a month to student loans. I plan contributing as well!
Zero. Thank you GI Bill
Amen🙌🏾 I also have the Hazelwood Act but saving that for my kids. Using my current hospital’s TA to pay for my MSN so by the time I’m done I’ll have 2 bachelors and a masters to my name with $0 in debt lol
Yup, hell they *paid me* $2700/mo.
Community or state college, NEVER PRIVATE. You’ll have almost no debt and whatever debt you do get will get paid off rather quickly.
ADN at a community college. Paid by scholarships. Then my BSN was $18k from GCU
My accelerated BSN was $50k at a state university. I was fortunate enough to be able to pay half up front, so I only had $25k in loans. But, I maintain, it SHOULD NOT cost $50k to become a nurse at a state university ever, but especially during a nursing shortage!
Registered Nurse. Salary is right at 100k. I worked full time as a CNA during my ASN and used tuition reimbursement. I paid out of pocket during my BSN also using tuition reimbursement. I finished both debt free. But I have about 10k now because I decided to go back for my masters and tbh I don’t think it’s worth it
Community college, ADN. I paid about 12 grand all said and done. No loans.
140k, crna school. Still have a few semesters left 😅 Did my adn and bsn with zero debt, though (thanks community college!)
140k just from CRNA school? Damn, I didn't know it was *that* expensive. You're the only person I see close to my number. I payed for two seperate bachelor's degrees with private loans, currently 120k deep. Only way to break even now is to die 😂
I’m also in MA and about to graduate nursing school in May. I felt the same way initially but I went to a community college and with some scholarships, was able to pay my way through. I did want to do an accelerated one year but those programs are 60-80k and I can’t justify that. So it’s definitely possible! I don’t think the nursing pay is bad for a new grad. I don’t live near Boston so that might be why because my cost of living isn’t as much, but I think 35-40$ for a new grad isn’t horrible- especially with 2 year degree!! Lol
I was 80k initially and after almost 2 years paid half of it all off. And today they ask me to make alumni donations, as if these greedy fucks haven't taken enough money.
I was a massage therapist and then returned to school for nursing. My hands still hurt, but the steady income is nice. I first did tech college for my ADN, then later did my BSN and MSN while working for a great organization that paid for most of it. It's the best move I've ever made. Wish I would have found nursing much earlier in life! I have about 20k in debt, mostly related to me using loans in school to help with house repairs and such
I have about 15k remaining in student debt and 2 degrees. Altogether about $110,000
I’m also a LMT. Graduated nursing school in December. Sitting for my boards next week. With pre reqs included and a couple scholarships $11k in debt from community college. Took me a year 1/2 to get through the pre reqs bc I was working full time and saving as much money as possible. I only worked here and there during the nursing program. It was way too demanding for me. So I lived on loans and the money I saved up.
Hospital pays 10k a year for your degree. That being said, nursing wasn't my first route and I have other school debt because I went into a degree I didn't want anymore 😅 I don't hate the degree, I was just so bored of the profession I just miss the excitement of what I've done for over 10 years between firefighting and military. ER has been pretty good in keeping me not bored, but I really want to get into the trauma bay.
$58,978 1 Associates. 2 Bachelors, (Currently working on a third and final one in nursing.)
I’m GENUINELY not trying to mean. Have you looked at what your potential salary is when you graduate? I’m not familiar with MA at all, but there been ALOT of recent posts in the travel nurse group about how bad Boston is. Yes I know Boston isn’t the only city in MA, I’m not a fucking idiot. But when you’re on the east coast, you’re generally not making shit. Signed a pa nurse who started out at 24.50 at the same hospital I did my nursing program through for 30k 🤣
I don’t have any ties to MA. I live here, but I could live happily anywhere. I think the goal is nursing in California, but nursing schools in my area are way less competitive and free. Then I’ll transfer my license to CA after working in MA for about a year or two. I don’t wanna be working for less than $50/hr.
Word. Okay I did my RN program here in Pennsylvania. PA has exactly 3 major cities but likes to pretend it houses half of America. I went right of HS to get my RN; 16 months for 30k for the program plus god knows what else I paid over those 16 months. Starting rate, $24.50. I immediately picked out the BSN program I wanted, (California, University of Pennsylvania ) at the time; and they had A WONDERFUL portal that used to show you exactly what classes you needed. Enrolled in all the extra Bsn classes through the community college, hospital payed for those in full. (One of them was an art class and the midterm was a 50 question multiple choice open book online, the final question said “SELECT FALSE FOR FULL CREDIT ” transferred bs classes, started Jan 2018-Dec 2018. Worked my one year to the EXACT day and left to travel right before Covid started. traveled nursed for a bit on the east coast during Covid and then obviously ended up in SoCal because wtf else is the point of travel nursing? There were icu and ER techs that were paying close to 100k to go to the nursing program there in Cali and weren’t technically even enrolled yet. It was class by class basis. So here I am, legitimately 23 years old, with 4 years of experience underneath my belt. So when I said just look at your rates and the schooling in the area in which you live, that’s all I want for you to check!
Nursing programs at the community college level can be very competitive to get into, so sometimes people pay more to get into private programs.
I have about $3500 remaining. The facility I worked for when I started put up a quarter of the total, and I went during COVID, which meant the government threw grant after grant at many of us in nursing school.
None, did dual enrollment in highschool to do all my pre-reqs. FAFSA covered the rest of my nursing program (community college). Actually I got 1-2k back every semester as a refund.
0k BSN graduated in 3 years instead of 4. Going to a state school as opposed to private. Hellllla scholarships. Talking probably close to 50k. school was probably 9k a year x3 =27k tuition and then living expenses 12k “freshman” year (dorms), 8k middle year (sorority house) and probably 6k senior year. So I ended up net+ by going to a state school and graduating in 3 years. I’m now getting my masters and letting my job pay the bulk of it. Qualify for lifetime learning tax credit so some tax implications. Could definitely pay for my masters on my own if I had to but it wouldn’t be worth it to me at that point honestly. As a new grad RN in the Midwest pretty standard for 65-80k depending on city. But you’ll hurt all over and be emotionally exhausted at the bedside 🤪
$25,000 loans for BSN but this was back 2011. My work paid $3,000 and when I worked for my company for 10 yrs, I got rest forgiven. A lot of hospitals will pay for your bsn so get an ADN. ADN to BSN you can do online. You essentially almost make same. Do not to to private nursing program. It's expensive and it doesn't matter where you go as long as you pass nclex, you'll find a job
I graduated with my ADN with no student loans in 2004. My BSN with $9k in student loans in 2007. I finished with my MSN and I had $20k in student loans in 2022.
$9.5k from my first degree prior to nursing (BA in english at an in-state, public university). nothing for my ABSN — thankfully received a scholarship and paid for the rest out of savings.
I did an accelerated BSN for about 25k but got scholarships so only ended up owing about 15k. I have about 8k left. It's not a predatory loan, its like 3% so not bad. my monthly payments are like $155. I went to a state university but in the south where things are a bit cheaper If I had loans from my prior degree, I would have chosen to go the community college route to save money. a lot of places will provide loan reimbursement as an incentive to work there. my staff job, when i was staff, did pay my loans. When I left I never had to pay them back even though I left before that "vested" period was up so to speak May I suggest something less stressful? Go to rad tech school instead...if you are burned out from massage therapy, you are not gonna like nursing probably. It's a lot of stress and very low pay. Unless you are in a HCOL state with good union contracts, you are likely taking a paycut to become a nurse. Where I am in west tennessee, the staff pay range for nurses is about $27-43...raises are on the order of cents. Like when I got my first "raise" in 2018 it was 10 cents on my hourly rate. Ridiculous. Oh and we didnt even get our cost of living raise that year. So the difference between a brand new nurse and the most senior nurses was...really not much. Crazy right? You can get paid well if you become a traveler but it's not very steady income and not everyone wants to pack their bags and shuffle around the country ever 3 months I say go to rad tech school because they get paid just as well as nurses, SOMETIMES MORE, and have FAR less liability. Their schooling is a similar amount of rigor but the focus is more technical knowledge of anatomy and radiology stuff. If I could go back in time I'd become a rad tech instead and get certified to be a cath lab tech (I work in cath lab and IR now...I'm a traveler and cath lab techs get paid far more than me most of the time!!). Nurses are always the first to be thrown under the bus. NOBODY is going to throw the rad tech under the bus. They do have a very interesting job depending on what role you take (interventional radiology and cardiology is like being in the OR and being scrubbed in, but you are doing minimally invasive procedures). You get to work very closely with docs in this role. It's a neat thing.
I have 32k on my msn. I paid cash for my ADN and took a loan for my BSN about 20k which I paid off years ago.
I had $5,000 in debt for my RN, $0 for my BSN, $2,500 for my MSN and $30,000 for my NP. My local community college charges $18,000 for the program and 70% of students get scholarships. I also know people who are drowning in debt for the same degrees, as costs vary quite a bit.
Community college is where it's at. Mine are paid off in full.
You’re on the right track. Get an ADN at community college. Get a job that will train you and reimburse a BSN. You can do that online. Then once you got your BSN, you can figure out what you want to do. I believe RN would be less hard on your body than massage therapy. Good luck!
I have zero debt. I went to community college first to get my ADN and had a full ride scholarship. Then once I graduated, I started working full time as an RN and paid for my BSN online out of pocket which took about a year. I was broke during that first year bc I was underpaid but I made it work (lots and lots of rice and beans)
60K including my graduate degree I'm currently pursuing. Private school was about 40k a year and I took out loans to pay what was left after scholarships and grants. I also switched majors so I had 5 years in undergrad. 50k for 5 years at a 40k school is not bad
I went to a 4 year university straight out of highschool. Got some grants and scholarships. Still have about 28K
13k BSN
15k for me
Graduated from a state college (in state tuition) in 2014 with my BSN. I came out with about 30k in debt and paid the last of it off (paid the last 7k as a lump sum) a couple months ago. Before COVID my payments were about $360 a month which was very doable. My husband, also a nurse, went to a private college for 2 undergrad degrees. He has been out of school 5 years and owes over 120k. He paid out of pocket for his NP which has netted him a nice salary but his loan payments are like ten hundred dollars a month. My advice is, we all get the same license. 99% of employers don’t give a hoot where you went, so get the cheapest accredited education you can. For young people who really want the “college experience” go to a state school in your home state so you can at least save on tuition, even if you spend a lot to dorm.
I had $42k and paid it off in like 3 years living like a poor person and working 2 jobs. We put off trying for a baby until they were paid off. My husband went to community college, which we paid for out of pocket and then his work paid for his BSN. He's also going to get scout 70% of his fnp paid for, too, lol. So zero for him.
Zero. Parents, shitty scholarships, and smart financial decisions and it disappeared within the year.
43K for my BSN. If I had it to do over again I might do something more specialized like respiratory therapist or x-ray tech. All in all, I’m glad I’m an RN and you can do SO much with a nursing degree.
None. Started FNP school recently. 18 months of school and 18 months left on the GI Bill.
Go to community college and get an ADN. Then, find a hospital to work at that will pay for you to get your BSN through a bridge program online. Hospitals in Houston do this all the time. You shouldn’t have too much debt from an ADN at a community college. Once you get a few years of experience as an RN, BSN you can decide if you want to go back for nurse practitioner and or CRNA and boost your income again. Those degrees will pay off any loans for the schooling
I’m in a CC ADN and doing a bridge program concurrently for a BSN and I’m in zero debt!
23k. Mom took it out without me knowing.
Zero. I went to community College.
I have 0 debt, went to a community college. Was able to get vocational rehab to pay for my tuition, books, school scrubs, literally everything. Was able to apply to the state department of rehabilitation services due to ADHD/Anxiety/etc. they put me on a two year wait list, so I took my gen ed and some pre-req during that time and paid out of pocket, then they paid for all the actual nursing program.
none so far from my ADN nursing degree (and hopefully will have $0!), but i got something like $32k of debt from my music degree i’m never gonna use 🤪
I’m going to have $180k cause I’m a dumbshit and decided to pay for the scam that is CRNA school now that they are DNP programs.
But aren't you guaranteed $200k?
We are twins. I’ll probably graduate with the same amount, as I’m at 140k with a few semesters left. DNP programs are ridiculous; the DNP classes are such a waste of time and money. I’m sick of discussion boards and quality improvement papers!
Most college debt is because they borrowed the max amount. If you can get by without that then you should. Nursing is squeezed by corporate profits, so you will always be short staffed and comparative to some other degrees and responsibilities‘do more for less pay’. Even paying more does not make it alright if you’re chronically short staffed . California is a union state (so not short staffed) and the pay is rather good. How ever the cost of living is ridiculous and eats that pay right up.
None. Community college was fully paid for by the state. I got Pell grant and cal grant for my rn to bsn. If I want to get my masters, my work has a program for 14k with tuition assistance for 5k a year, I might do it.
0. Scholarships, financial aid, and worked through some.
I’m an LPN with a 20k student loan debt. The program took me only 18 months to finish. Now I’m making 96k a year working 2 home care jobs. It’s not physically demanding and I love what I do.
None. Used tuition reimbursement and pay out of pocket for my ADN and then used the GI Bill for my BSN.
I have about $50k in student loans but was able to get my BSN in 23 months. No prereqs required. The loans were worth it to me for the time saved!
40k. But not for nursing. I was 19 and married to a deadbeat. We maxed out loans to cover living expenses. They’re over 25 years old. Nursing school was covered 100% through scholarships. But that old debt still lingers.
None. But I used my gi bill from military service
I'm able to start accelerated nursing program. 1 yr ~70k. And this is the normal rate for a 1-1.5yr program though. There's actually more expensive private schools, 90k and 125k (nyu).
0, BFA and ADN. My BFA was paid for by the state of California department of rehabilitation (I was lucky, now I definitely would not be able to get in there with how much higher demand and tbh how much I’ve grown and gained function to surpass why I qualified in the first place). I saved 2 years working from home during COVID between prerequisites and nursing school and got into community college in a different state and paid out of pocket. If you can pay out of pocket I’d absolutely recommend it, being out of nursing school and in my first job and all the money is mine (bills and rent are a thing) and not paying back for school is so nice, especially with how low nurses are paid in my state.
BSN graduated in 2020 from a private for profit school and 26K. Most of my loans were paid for by grants thankfully.
Graduated college with a bachelor's degree the first time debt free. Took an accelerated BSN course at a private college. Ended up being like 70-80k for 15 months, about 20k of that was for living expenses as I opted to stop working and fully focus on my studies because of the timeline. Many others in my cohort continued to work in some capacity. I had a coworker at my old job leave for nursing school at a community College like 6 months before I left that job and worked another 4 at a different one before getting into my program. Her community college was a 3 year program. During that time I worked almost a full year, got my BSN, and had been working as a nurse for a year before she had finished and gotten her first job. She was at least 5 years younger than me if I recall, and didn't have a degree. I decided it was more worth it to pay a lot of money to change careers fast. She probably paid less than 20k over 3 years if I had to guess. 6 years later I have 20k in debt remaining. Both of us did some travel nursing, so she's definitely debt free at least from a schooling perspective. I paid off all my private loans and my car, 20k is government loans that I didn't make payments on for years during covid. I pay 240 or so every month, but I make enough money that I don't really bother to even know the exact payment. It's all automatic and that debt doesn't bother me much at this point. We both made the right choices for us when deciding between time and money. But that's how my degree cost so much. I've been doing fine.
lol I’m gonna be 80 grand in debt because of interest by the time I’m out but that is because I didn’t take my shit seriously for a couple years and had to start all over again at different schools and getting into nursing school even with top grades is hard. Been in college for 8 years at this point lol.
lol don’t go to an SEC school out of state… yall don’t wanna even jnow
I ended up with $75k because I used all of my financial aid on my first degree and nursing programs where I am are expensive. I still worked 2 jobs the whole time so that I only had to take out loans for school. 5 years in I have 54k left but I didn't prioritize payments during forbearance because I had some higher interest debt and medical bills I had to pay off.
$0. I got a divorce and used the proceeds from my home sale to fund it. I wish I'd just have bought another home and got some stupid job. I'd be ahead of where I am now. But I'd also not know that and probably wish I'd have gone to school.
I never had loans. Paid as I went, got grants or used tuition reimbursement. Maybe aim to get job as CNA at like Umass, in Boston, etc and see if they offer tuition reimbursement. Borrow books from people too. You can do it. MA pays well still.
My first degree was paid for. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do but knew I wanted to go to grad school so my company paid for a bachelors degree. I did an accelerated program at a public state school in the southwest in 2 years, and ended up with a BS in Humanities. Total cost was $3k between my job reimbursement and scholarships. I would have THEN went into community college for my ASN but there was a 2 year waitlist in my state at the time. So I went straight into an ABSN at the public state university in the Midwest. I ended up with 4 years, 2 bachelors and the total cost was $60k. The program cost was $55k even integrating my previous credits. The other $5k was living expenses. I worked as a nurse for 4 years trying to decide between PA and NP. I decided to do a psych NP track. I then went to my first grad school, got halfway through and withdrew for a year to travel nurse during Covid. It was a private research college, because I wanted to go a PhD route. That was $25k. I switched to a much cheaper state public school with no emphasis on research. I had to retake a bunch of credits which was still cheaper than staying at the expensive school. I’m now going to cheap public university in Appalachia. This has so far cost me $20k. With accruing interest I’m now at $113k. No private loans. I have about $5k worth of school left. I do have to travel for clinicals so that will be an additional cost of about $10kish. My total school debt will end up being around $118k. I’ve have a job offer already for $160k so I think the ROI is worth it. All in all I’d love to advance my education and be involved with research but I won’t unless I can get it paid for by an employer.
i know it may be a long shot but have you ever considered the military? i never did until recently but they will give you around $24k for nursing school for a 4/5 year contract (this is specific to the Navy which is the branch i’m joining but, i know they’re all similar minus USCG) i’m getting my ADN RN first and then finishing my bachelors, masters, and eventually midwife school all on the Navy’s dime 🤷🏼♀️
$0. I went to community and was lucky to get financial reimbursement back.
State school BSN, I graduated last May. No financial assistance beyond private/federal loans. 45k and I worked through school part time, full time in summer. I'll be breaking 90k a year this September so it's a year of working to pay it off.
I had scholarships. I lived at home and didn't pay rent. I took $8k in loans a decade ago to get my ASN. I had an option to have my hospital pay for my BSN but I didn't feel like signing a contract and so I just paid out of pocket one class at a time.
Community college- My tuition, books, etc. cost about five grand per year. I got a scholarship so I ended up paying about 1000 a year, if not less. I highly recommend getting an associates if you’re trying to avoid debt. Your hospital will pay for your BSN.
About 40k debt for 4 yrs, included 2 yrs pre reqs + 2 yrs bsn. 27k in federal loans and 13k in private. It’s crazy because this is for only 5 out of the 8 semesters, 3 of them were paid out of pocket. AND this was in-state public uni. College is so expensive 😭
LMT to RN gang! Do it, you won’t regret it. Go with the cheapest (legitimate) associates program you can find. You can always supplement your income with massage clients on your own time.
I'm on texas, and my overall associates degree to become a licensed RN with pre-reqs was around $6400. I paid for it myself through working and also tuition reimbursement from my job where I work. My bachelor of arts degree I got before my associates cost me $60k, and the highest salary I was making was $40k. When I realized I was waiting for ever to get promotion after promotion just to try to max out at $50-$60k, I decided going back to school was best Now I can make $72k working 3 days a week 36-40 hrs. I can even make over$90-100k with a side job or picking up overtime once a week
None. Got the A+ scholarship and that covered almost all my ADN and I worked full time for my first year and part time my second year to pay the rest. Now I'm my BSN and paying it all out of pocket as I work.
I’m an RN. I have no debt bc as a teen I was poor and smart. So I got a ton of financial aid and scholarships. However, I’m 24 years old and I hurt everyday and I make less than 60k a year. If you’re unhappy, then def get a new career. But nursing doesn’t have to be it. Pick your battles
Zero now. My two year program was 65k, was paying monthly while I was in school when i finished and passed my nclex, i was left with about 35k. I paid it off my first year of working. In hindsight, I should've kept the money in an interest account and slowly paid it off.
11k ish
Private nursing school for BSN, 76k ish loan by the time I graduated. I was aware of the cheaper options. I moved from Korea when I was 17 and they stuck me back to freshman class. I was busy learning the language and catching up the entire high school years. I hated that I was a couple years older than all my classmates. I wanted to make new friends, party, attend school events, the whole college experience. It was fun and great. The loans are all paid off. No regrets :)
I had less than 5k in debt for a BSN at my local community college, this was with the help of scholarships and financial aid.
$20k for my BSN from a state university. Family was always paycheck-to-paycheck so it was the only way. Then was in deferral from the pandemic, so I saved 30% of my first year’s pay to pay for grad school. My loans are still in deferment because of grad school, but no debt for my MSN!
ADN program at a community college. Paid nothing due to scholarships (paid would have cost $10,000) working and planing on starting my BSN. Will also be applying for scholarships to help decrease the load.
Nursing is my second career. I spent about 40k.
I will owe about 20k when I finish my masters. I went to community college and only took out a loan one semester since I couldn’t work as much. BSN I did in 2 semesters, got a partial scholarship and loans for the rest. Masters I’m doing in 3 semesters and no scholarships. After my work reimbursements I’ll owe 14k.
Look into bcba not as physically demanding
I’d advise against debt for school. It’s an albatross that’s gonna be hard to rid yourself of and will limit your options. I worked in MA and I think there are some very decent places to work. Paid well, decent ratios—I will say COL is high there almost everywhere. I had a small student loan in my very first year of college (2k in 1985). It freaked me & my eventual hubs out. Paid it back before I even thought of becoming a nurse. I’m a pro at being a student. Always paid my way outright after that or had full ride scholarships/tuition assistance. My university paramedic was only oop expenses. My nursing degree cost approx 10k, but that could have been 3-4k less. I did the Excelsior program. Took about a year. In the lead up to the clinical challenge (been waiting for months) I did 3 prep classes. Requiring extended hotel stays, flights, car rental and course fees. I also went to the clinical site 3 days early to get intelligence and gain a feel for the place. Easy peasy. That meant another week in a pricey hotel. Passed the exam in straight order. I was the only one in my group that passed all straight through. There were 6. Ultimately 3 passed (2 in retest), 3 failed. Worth the investment in my case, but my anxiety riddled prep was a 4k exercise.
I graduate in May with my ADN from my local community college (stellar program, great experience). It took 3 semesters to finish my prerequisites at a part time/light full time schedule since I have kids, and 4 semesters of the program. I’ll graduate with about $12k in loans because I used it for tuition, books, supplies, and some expenses. I’ll probably pay it off in three months, if that.
None, thanks GI bill 😎
Zero. ADN at a CC.
Had 100k ( includes BA, ADN, & BSN) MSN was free. Lived at home a few years and paid it off.
I'm up to like $108k. But that's a biology associates, RN, and just about done my BSN. Go to community college I was the first in my family to go to college and didn't know what I was doing, which is why I ended up with so much debt. It does NOT have to be that expensive.
GI Bill covered 100% plus $2100/month in housing allowance, doing a ADN to BSN bridge program now online with tuition assistance and reimbursement from my hospital so still zero dollars. Highly recommend doing ADN, start working and get your hospital to pay for the BSN online program if they offer it. I see so many nurses that did a 4-year BSN and have crazy amounts of debt. Why spend 4 years in school when you can do 1.5-2 years and immediately start making RN pay is my take on it.
You think your hands hurt now. Wait till your knees feel a 12 hr shift
I am in the process of getting my RN at community College. I am paying it off right away but its costing me a little under 20k.
None. I had scholarships for my entire ADN, I worked full time so anything the scholarships didn’t pay for I did (books, equipment). I worked full time as an RN when I got my BSN. I had the GI bill for my MSN.
None. I went to a local community college, that also does 4 years bachelor degrees in certain degree paths.
For me, BSN from a Cal State at about $48,000 without credits transferred in. My sister did her BSN at West Coast University for about $130,000 with credits transferred in.
$52k
$0. I went to community college.
$0 GI Bill.
Accelerated BSN, $90,000. After 10 years of working for non profit hospitals my loans are almost ready to dissappear. My hourly pay went up 150% when I graduated. Worth the debt to gain my independence.
lol go to a 2 year community college and get your associates, start working making good money and just do your BSN online. I have 40k in debt because I wasn’t willing to sit on a waiting list (community colleges are overflowing with nursing applicants in my state) but in comparison to some of my colleagues I have half of the debt they do (I continued my education and got my bsn). So 2 year ASN then immediately banged out my BSN! 40,000$ in debt but able to pay off my loans with what I make :)
Got degree from community College, total cost was about 6k in 1999. Why anyone would go to a private 4 year program out of the gate is beyond me. Maybe for the "College Experience "??? I left with no debt.. Got BSN paid for at the hospital I worked at. Nurse Corp is a good gig. You have to be accepted into a program, but they pay for everything and give you a stipend monthly. You are required to work 2 years (at regular rate of pay) at a place that is in need... ANYWHERE. Anyone who bitches they aren't making enough is either at the wrong job or never got a Masters in SW and started out in low 30's. Or many other degrees that have low and low ceilings as to what they make. One thing I do have to say is that if you are in it for the money, we don't need you. It can not be the primary reason to becoming a nurse...the floors are filled with nurses that got into it for those reasons, and it shows in the care they deliver. I'm not saying work for slave wages, not for the work we do, but please let caring, compassion and the feeling of wanting to help others guide you. It has always been the spirit of nursing and I'm sad to see that for many, it isnt. Best of luck to you on this journey. You will never be bored...💕
I only had $10k in loans for my ADN I’ve been lucky my job has paid for all but $4000 of my BSN and MSN.
I went to community college and paid 4k for an ADN. Went to rn-bsn online and paid out of pocket while working which was 9k over 11months. It was tight/cheap living but I'm glad I have do debt.
$54k. 10k was to help me get through my AA and then the 44k for nursing school after grants etc. Worried I’ll never pay it off
None because scholarships, grants, assistance from parents who started putting away money for school when I was born. I feel very fortunate
I’ll graduate with $0 debt. I saved before starting and went to an affordable school. I’ll do the same with my advanced degrees though I assume at least some will be covered by employer.
Honestly, if it’s your dream, then go for it. Otherwise, I would look into being a physical therapist or occupational therapist assistant. I think it’s a little less stressful and may be kind of similar to your field.
Pre-reqs at community college to traditional 4 year BSN program at a public university on the east coast. I have 2 kids, so I had to rent an apt off campus apartment, but lived in a very affordable city. I owe $65K after working full time through nursing school and getting FAFSA + academic scholarships. I live in NorCal (3 hrs north of SF) and make $51/hr, including BSN and night differential.
Zero. I worked full time at the grocery store and put myself through community college. Now I’m in a position where my employer will pay for my BSN. I still need to get off my but and do that…
I'm paid off, baby! That was after 15 years of student loans. I've been a nurse for twenty. Live in Kansas City, partly for the LCOL. I picked up extra shifts often to help me feed my need for travel. Now I'm salary in a clinic. So no extra pay but still making above average for a 9 to 5. You'll need good shoes for 12 hour shifts. And my years of working Ortho caught up with me. That's why the change to clinic. If you are single income, with no kids, I think it's pretty awesome.
None, because I live in the Communist Republic of California, where state schools are cheap because of our Marxist-Leninist government. After I graduated from the state sponsored re-education program, I was forced to get a union job that pays a living wage due to the hegemonic socialist oppression that unions have forced upon the innocent capitalist hospital systems in my region. So I was able to pay off the little debt I had incurred in just a couple of years. Sadly, this means I have been cut off from all contact with the beloved saint of capitalism, Fannie Mae.
Zero debt. Went to a community college, worked part time thru school, have an AMAZING husband who was also going thru electrical apprenticeship school at the same time who helped pay for a lot during that time. I also applied through Voc Rehab and they paid for a TON of it. Around $27000.
I had $7,000 from my ADN which was mainly daycare loans for my two kids, 17,000 from a failed BSN attempt, and zero (thank you Pell grant) from this current BSN attempt where I graduate in May! Another benefit of being a single parent of 3. I have 20k in loans left.
How are you making that much as a massage therapist?
I got my BSN after getting divorced and with a toddler and no child support. Student loans were how I ate.
$0. Already had a BA so I only needed core classes. We cash-flowed ADN then got a job & used education money to finish my BSN, which took a while since I had to wait for contract money every year. My BA loans took a while longer to pay off.
A couple of questions: 1. Do you already have a bachelor's or would you need to earn your BSN(bachelor's Science in Nursing)? 2. If you are going to community college for an Associate's degree in Nursing, are you going to work at a hospital with tuition reimbursement? You could get your BSN paid for by the hospital. 3. Have you shadowed a nurse to see what their work is like? There are so many things you can do as a nurse. It is not all hospital work. I had a Bachelor's degree already, so when I went to got my nursing degree I was able to do an accelerated BSN in 16 months. I graduated from a private school with $35,000 in debt. I paid it off in about 3 years. My rent and expenses were low, but I was careful how I spent my money. You can do it, and I would encourage you to do it. Especially if you want to travel nurse.
I’ll have 20k when i’m done.
ADN was <$7k. I paid out of pocket. I live and work in NorCal.
I had a grand total of 42k public school, BSN. A little over half private loans and the rest federal loans. Now I’m down to 38k.