College can get expensive and most students must supplement the cost by taking out student loans. Figuring the right amount to get can be hard to estimate.
1. How Much Should You Take Out In Student Loans?
Some argue that you can never spend too much on your education. Others refute that saying anything
over $20,000 for four years is too much.
A recent article posted by Forbes put the top 10 most expensive universities as requiring about $60,000
from their students a year. The justification behind this expensive bill is that you’re getting a reputable
education with more one-on-one time with you professors.
Is that worth it for you to try to attend that college though? The answer to that question ultimately lies
in your hands.
Program Costs
It depends on the kind of education you’re looking for. Are you interested in one-on-one work with the
professor or will office hours and careful personal study do?
If you find a job in your field of
study, will your salary be able
to cover the costs of getting
the education? Is there a limit
to how much you’re willing to
spend?
Again, these are your decisions
to make, and hence a “how
to” guide about how much
money you should spend on
your education must
ultimately begin with your
choice of university. You’re
going to want to take out as
much in student loans as can
cover your schooling costs.
This not only includes the price of tuition, but also the price of books, school materials, needed
computer programs, and extra fees for special classes. Books alone will often cost you a couple hundred
dollars, much more if you take multiple science classes for a nursing degree.
Personal Costs
The next group of expenses to worry about will be your personal costs. You can’t live off of class lectures
and textbooks alone.
2. You need money to cover food costs,
housing, insurance, utility bills, vehicle
needs, clothing, etc. A student loan should
take into consideration the costs of all these
expenses as well.
Figure out how much it would cost to feed,
house, insure, energize, and cloth yourself
every week and multiply that by the number
of months you’ll need financial help. Then
consider how much in other miscellaneous
expenses you will need to spend money on
in the coming months.
Total all of your upcoming expenses and circle that number on a piece of paper. Use that number as a
minimum loan requirement.
Income
Next, factor in how many resources you’ll have
available to you, ie. financial assets to
counterbalance this number. These can include
money in savings or an expected salary from a job.
Find out how much money will be available to you
while you attend school. Figure out how much from
this resource you can afford to use to counteract
the minimum loan requirement.
The less you have to borrow for a nursing
education, the less you’ll have to pay off later. The
best way to avoid excessive debt is to pay for your
education as much as you can without loans.
So once you’ve decided on the place to receive
your education, be it nursing or otherwise, consider
first how much it would cost you to go to school,
and then subtract how much of that money you
could provide yourself. This should give you a close
total amount to base your loan off of.
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