Which employer pays for your tuition?

[foraminal]

Does anyone know any pharmacy that is willing to pay your tuition while you attend pharm school and work for them part time?

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[WVUPharm2007]

Indentured servitude is available from most retail outlets.....Kroger, Wags..

 

[Requiem]

Does anyone know any pharmacy that is willing to pay your tuition while you attend pharm school and work for them part time?

Canadian or States?

 

[pinkyrx]

From what I've heard Target offers $3000/year and you don't have to guarantee that you will work for them after school.

 

[sdn1977]

I agree - most chains might offer this - it depends on the geographic area & how badly they need pharmacists or techs.

I'd be VERY careful!

 

[DrSal]

I agree - most chains might offer this - it depends on the geographic area & how badly they need pharmacists or techs.

I'd be VERY careful!

why is that?

 

[spacecowgirl]

why is that?

Because, if for any number of reasons, if you don't work for the company afterwards, you have to pay the loan back at a rate that is likely higher than you would have paid on a federal Stafford loan.

In the scheme of things, the offers I've seen are so insignificant compared to the actual cost of school, it's just not worth it to obligate yourself to one company.

 

[KARM12]

Does anyone know any pharmacy that is willing to pay your tuition while you attend pharm school and work for them part time?

No school will pay your entire tuition. In general many of the retail stores have "scholarship" programs. These give you some money while you are a student. It generally isn't very much ~3,000 is average...but often times you have to promise to work for them for each year you take the "scholarship" or pay it back to them as a loan at a higher rate.

I haven't taken one because I didn't want to limit myself when I graduated and I wanted to keep my options open. If you are pretty sure you want to work for a particular company, then I would go ahead and take it. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my PharmD.

 

[sdn1977]

spacecowgirl pretty much said it...if you look at it strictly from a monetary point of view....you can borrow the money & your loan arrangements may change frequently over time....you can do the student loan thing, or choose later to use home equity money to pay off student loans, so many, many things.

However.....you can never predict what your job circumstance will be - 3yrs, 5yrs, 6 years from now.

What happens if now...you accept loan money & obligate yourself to 2 years of employment & they put you in the well-known awful store?

In the meantime, you find you do a rotation in neonatal pharmacy or any of the other specialties....you want to do a residency. They may still allow it...but you still have to "pay" that time &/or money back.......

How do you know what you want 3-5 years ahead of time?

 

[All4MyDaughter]

In the scheme of things, the offers I've seen are so insignificant compared to the actual cost of school, it's just not worth it to obligate yourself to one company.

Yeah, the highest offer around here is $6000/year... which is less than 20% of what it is actually costing me to go to pharmacy school. I just got more grad plus loans.

 

[MountainPharmD]

The good 'ole US Army is your best bet. Get a huge part of your loans paid back as well as a fully paid residency.

PHARMACY PRACTICE RESIDENCY PROGRAMIf you're pursuing a future as a pharmacist, this program will provide you with 12 months of essential training at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington or Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. To qualify, you must:

Have completed either a bachelor's or doctorate degree in pharmacy
Be younger than 46.5 years of age
Applicants who have earned a bachelor's degree will be commissioned as Second Lieutenants. If you have a pharmacy doctorate degree, you'll be commissioned as a Captain. The Active-Duty service obligation is 48 months, including the residency. If combined with the Accession Bonus or with loan repayment the Active-Duty service obligation will increase.

HEALTH PROFESSIONAL LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM
The Health Professional Loan Repayment Program for Active-Duty Officers provides up to $111,000 for repayment of educational loans for Pharmacists. Payment is made in increments of $27,998 (less tax) annually for each year of your Active-Duty commitment.

http://www.goarmy.com/amedd/m_service/corps_benefits.jsp

 

[spacecowgirl]

Don't forget the IHS. If I had known about the SRCOSTEP sooner, I would have done that. They provide residencies as well, and pay $20K year towards students loans (and they pay the taxes on that 20K directly to the IRS), housing stipends, signing bonuses, etc. http://www.pharmacy.ihs.gov/index.cfm?module=home

 

[twester]

Don't forget the IHS. If I had known about the SRCOSTEP sooner, I would have done that. They provide residencies as well, and pay $20K year towards students loans (and they pay the taxes on that 20K directly to the IRS), housing stipends, signing bonuses, etc. http://www.pharmacy.ihs.gov/index.cfm?module=home

Wow, I thought this looked really attractive until I saw that they discriminate based on age. They require everyone to be under 44 at graduation (I'll be 45). I wonder how they square that with federal law?

Anyway, looks like an interesting option for the youngsters out there.

 

[starsweet]

Don't forget the IHS. If I had known about the SRCOSTEP sooner, I would have done that. They provide residencies as well, and pay $20K year towards students loans (and they pay the taxes on that 20K directly to the IRS), housing stipends, signing bonuses, etc. http://www.pharmacy.ihs.gov/index.cfm?module=home

I just looked at the site really quickly, but was just wondering why can't you still do it? It says that you can apply during school or after you graduate.

I need to look into this program more.

 

[cycloketocaine]

I just looked at the site really quickly, but was just wondering why can't you still do it? It says that you can apply during school or after you graduate.

I need to look into this program more.

Try calling the IHS office that covers your area. All of the people that I have dealt with up there are really nice and just want to help. They also hold informative workshops, to help applicants with any questions or problems. I would just call and check into it.

 

[spacecowgirl]

Believe me, I looked into it after I heard about it March at APhA. You have to apply for the SRCOSTEP December of your 3rd year in order to get your 4th year paid for. Ultimately, the IHS wasn't offering what I was looking for so I'm going the residency route, but they were always very nice and helpful in all of my interactions with them. I think they have some great programs for the right person.

 

[Kunsan]

The good 'ole US Army is your best bet. Get a huge part of your loans paid back as well as a fully paid residency.

PHARMACY PRACTICE RESIDENCY PROGRAMIf you're pursuing a future as a pharmacist, this program will provide you with 12 months of essential training at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington or Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. To qualify, you must:

Have completed either a bachelor's or doctorate degree in pharmacy
Be younger than 46.5 years of age
Applicants who have earned a bachelor's degree will be commissioned as Second Lieutenants. If you have a pharmacy doctorate degree, you'll be commissioned as a Captain. The Active-Duty service obligation is 48 months, including the residency. If combined with the Accession Bonus or with loan repayment the Active-Duty service obligation will increase.

HEALTH PROFESSIONAL LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM
The Health Professional Loan Repayment Program for Active-Duty Officers provides up to $111,000 for repayment of educational loans for Pharmacists. Payment is made in increments of $27,998 (less tax) annually for each year of your Active-Duty commitment.

http://www.goarmy.com/amedd/m_service/corps_benefits.jsp

The repayment program is not that bad... I did it and don't regret it.
although some working conditions was a definite shock....I think I went out to the field 4 times year which I dreaded, I think its b/c I was in an MTOE unit. After a while, you get used to it and rather think of it as a camping trip.

 

[pimpbot2000]

Yeah, I work for Kroger, and at least in our zone (Great Lakes) the "scholarship" is 2600 per semester, and for each semester you accept it you have to work for Kroger half a year. However, they don't offer it for P1 students, only the final three years.

 

[acetyl]

The repayment program is not that bad... I did it and don't regret it.
although some working conditions was a definite shock....I think I went out to the field 4 times year which I dreaded, I think its b/c I was in an MTOE unit. After a while, you get used to it and rather think of it as a camping trip.

Ok, so the army will repay about $28,000, less taxes (conservative estimate of 30%) which would be about $19,600 per year of debt paid by Uncle Sam. I think I saw that you would be commissioned as a captain, and just out of curiousity, what would be a captain's salary given you've never served in the military, basically, completely wet behind the ears?

I'm curious to see how the numbers fall by serving in the military for 4 years with a loan repayment plan such as this, or working retail with no bonus and paying back the loans yourself. I know there are many other, important factors to consider, but I'm just curious to see how the numbers fall. I'm considering going to school out of state and looking at about $170,000 in debt which is why I'm curious. Those kind of numbers will do that to you

 

[chococat615]

I heard that after grad you must work for them and they can send you around and boss you around like a dog.