What are the best methods of lowering student loans and debt?

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Aero SSX

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From what I've gathered, there's a few basic things:

-work as much as possible, whether during the DPT and/or after you graduate, such as a second job

-scholarships/grants

-hope you get into a cheap program, maybe public in-state colleges, programs in Texas, etc.

-join the military

I have some questions on this though. I've read that the only way you can get the military to pay for your DPT schooling is through Baylor. But if you go on army.com or on the national guard website, it doesn't really seem to put it that way. It seems like there are other methods of paying for schooling, or perhaps loan repayment/forgiveness.

Look here: http://www.nationalguard.com/careers/amedd/healthcare-bonuses-and-loans

Is there anything I'm missing? I'm going to shadow a PT probably next week so I can decide if this is for me or not, but the last thing I want is crazy debt from loans with interest that just stacks up over time. I'd rather minimize this problem, pay it off in 10 years in whatever way possible, and move on.

Oh, and what about the GI Bill?

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Add Indian Reservation to that list for loan forgiveness.

GI-Bill will cover 100% tuition at your state school OR highest state tuition equivalence at a private school. If the private school participates in the 'yellow ribbon' program, any additional tuition not covered by the highest state tuition equivalent payment may be matched 1:1, VA: private school contribution. You will also receive $1000/yr for books, housing allowance for the school's zip code (BAH, pay grade E-5 w/spouse) and tutoring assistance fees. All for 36 months.
 
Add Indian Reservation to that list for loan forgiveness.

GI-Bill will cover 100% tuition at your state school OR highest state tuition equivalence at a private school. If the private school participates in the 'yellow ribbon' program, any additional tuition not covered by the highest state tuition equivalent payment may be matched 1:1, VA: private school contribution. You will also receive $1000/yr for books, housing allowance for the school's zip code (BAH, pay grade E-5 w/spouse) and tutoring assistance fees. All for 36 months.

Can you give me a link for all this info?

Thanks!
 
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hey! there's also loan forgiveness. depending on the setting the government will forgive the balance of your loan after 10 years. settings include certain pediatric settings, non-profit, etc. hope this helps!

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http://christina-pt.blogspot.com
 
So let me get this straight, the government will repay your student loans for you if you work for a company (or a certain hospital, or wherever) if they are part of this program?

Can someone clarify this, or just provide a one or two sentence explanation of basically how this works? Preferably someone who's gone through the process personally, or is currently doing so. But all opinions welcome. I've been doing some research and can't really find a simple straight forward answer that has some valid credibility.
 
So let me get this straight, the government will repay your student loans for you if you work for a company (or a certain hospital, or wherever) if they are part of this program?

Can someone clarify this, or just provide a one or two sentence explanation of basically how this works? Preferably someone who's gone through the process personally, or is currently doing so. But all opinions welcome. I've been doing some research and can't really find a simple straight forward answer that has some valid credibility.

No, you work for the government, providing care to Indian Reservations. The link I posted can explain everything. If you're looking for credibility, it's from the horses mouth @ .gov website.

http://www.ihs.gov/loanrepayment/documents/IHS_LRP_ParticipantGuide.pdf
 
Go work in a SNF in the middle of nowhere. I met an employer a few weeks at a job fair who was looking for PTs at his facilities in Oklahoma and Texas. He was ready to hire me. Of course, I still have two more years left. He was offering close $70-80/hour with benefits. It might not seem glamorous, but go work there for five years, and then move to where you want with no debt. Sounds like a good deal to me.

Kevin
 
It is good that you are thinking ahead but you have to read the fine print when it comes to these debt repayment agreements. You are either going to work in an undesirable area or you will get low balled on your salary. You will also probably have no leverage when it comes to your salary since you already signed a contract.

I am currently a DPT1 at Governors State University in Illinois and I was chosen for a graduate assistantship. I get a monthly stipend and a tuition waiver every semester. In return, I work 20 hours a week at the academic resource center at my school. I usually get my work done in there early and have most of my time to study. I would recommend that you look into scholarships/assistantships before you sign a long term contract with anyone.

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Learn to love beans and rice for X amount of months/years! Lol
 
Go work in a SNF in the middle of nowhere. I met an employer a few weeks at a job fair who was looking for PTs at his facilities in Oklahoma and Texas. He was ready to hire me. Of course, I still have two more years left. He was offering close $70-80/hour with benefits. It might not seem glamorous, but go work there for five years, and then move to where you want with no debt. Sounds like a good deal to me.

Kevin

Wow.. this is crazy. 70-80 per hour equates to 145K- 166K before taxes... I would definitely be willing to go work at a place like this for a year or two.
 
Wow.. this is crazy. 70-80 per hour equates to 145K- 166K before taxes... I would definitely be willing to go work at a place like this for a year or two.

On second thought, I think he said $60-70 per hour, but that's still a lot of money. It's almost impossible to lure OTs and PTs to these SNFs in the middle of nowhere.

Kevin
 
Well, if it were in Oklahoma I'd be down. I'm a severe weather fanatic and up here in MN, we barely get anything. I'm sure I'd see some crazy stuff in OK. lol :D
 
As far as lowering debt and being frugal there are two things that will make you hundreds of thousands richer over the course of a lifetime: riding a bike and cooking your own meals.
making 150k a year doesn't hurt.
 
we barely get anything. I'm sure I'd see some crazy stuff in OK. lol
9.jpg

Are you kidding me? The Oklahoma City area gets POUNDED. Not sure what you're talking about. I realize you live there but...even just looking at the news I see you guys are hit hard. Heck, you're in the dead center of tornado alley. You get some of the worst tornadoes in the US. That's the kind of stuff I like.

I've never seen a tornado and I really want to. I'd sign a deal to make good pay in OK, hell yeah. It'd be worth it for me.
 
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