Debt management is one of the most difficult things to handle for anyone. Having debts could be stressful. If not managed properly, the debts could devastate one’s finances. These debts will not only cut one’s cash flow of today but it could also hurt his/her spending power in the future. While this is being said, a report states that the number of healthcare professionals in debts and looking for help with their personal finances has increased greatly during the past two years.

Higher Cost of Nursing Education:

It’s a well-known fact working as a nurse can be highly rewarding. At the same time, getting the required education, as well as nursing licenses can be highly expensive. Depending on the area of study, nursing courses can cost up to $118,000. With these higher prices, it’s more likely that the aspiring nurses will go for a student loan. According to a press release, almost 70% of all graduate nurses are seen graduating with a huge debt.

Although the individual can make good money while working as a nurse, the student loan repayment could take up a major part of the income. In the UK, the “Personal Debt Index” has reported that there is a 9.8% increase in healthcare professionals with debts. Among those individuals with debts, nurses are found to be representing 37%. Fortunately, in the United States, the nurses have ways to reduce their burden of student loan.

NURSE Corps Loan Repayment Program:

This is a distinctive program geared toward nurses who are working in underserved communities. This program has been designed by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration because there are millions of citizens in the U.S. going without any preventative medical care. The major reason for this is the lack of healthcare professionals. The NURSE Corps program aims to address this important issue when at the same time being helpful for the nurses who can’t afford their education. The candidates who qualify for this program would pay up to 85% of the unpaid nursing debt during the course of three years.

In order to be eligible for this program, the candidate must be a registered nurse working a minimum of 32 hours/week in a qualified healthcare facility. More importantly, the candidate must have gotten the nursing education from an accredited institution within the country. Also, she should be working in a designated “Critical Shortage Facility”.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program:

This is a unique program that has been designed for those working in the public sector facilities. This program will consider the candidate’s loan forgiveness application if he/she had worked full-time in a public sector facility and made continuous payments for ten years. It’s to be noted that all the direct loans that are not in a default list are eligible for this program. In order to be eligible for this program, the borrower must be working a minimum of 30 hours/week in a public health agency. Also, it’s to be noted that only the payments that are done after Oct 2007 would qualify for this.

Income-based loan repayment plan:

If anyone is struggling to manage the monthly expenses and has federal student loans, he/she might be eligible for “Income-driven repayment (IDR)” plan. Under this scheme, the government will extend the repayment period and capitalize the monthly payment based on the monthly income. This way, one’s repayment amount will be drastically reduced. Thus, the person can always stay on top of the payments when at the same time being able to free up some money for the other monthly essentials.

Under this scheme, based on the plan the candidate selects, he/she will make repayments for 20 to 25 years. It’s to be noted that if the loan is not paid off towards the end of the repayment term, it will be forgiven by the government. Although this program has a disadvantage of making the candidate pay more interest by adding ten or more years to the repayment schedule, it is found to be useful.

Repayment assistance programs:

Several states in the United States are offering assistance programs for student loan repayment for nurses who are living and working in the region. Based on the state the person works, he/she could have a part or even the entire loan repaid. All the individual has to do is to fulfill the requirements posted by the program. One can find the requirements of this student loan repayment program by searching online for the database in the particular state.

Thus, while the repayment of student loans and management of the expenses can be burdening, there are various ways to make the debts more manageable. Utilizing the forgiveness and assistance programs offered by the government could be the best way to get oneself free from the burden of debts. Look for one of these suitable programs today!