How are non-traditional students paying for DPT program, plus living expenses?

[DeterminedONE84]

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I just wanted to get a headstart on researching my options.

Is anyone else here starting DPT school as an adult with a family, mortgage, car payments? What options are you looking into (or are going to receive) to help pay for college loans, as well as sustain you financially with daily expenses (groceries/fuel, insurance, mortgage/rent, etc) while you complete your program? 😕

 

[jblil]

I refinanced my mortgage last year when rates were low, and I told my wife she's going to be the breadwinner of the family for the next few years... I'm counting on loans to tide me over. It'll be really tight, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

[Analyst2PT]

Hello,

I dont know if I can be of much help to you but this is what I'm doing to support myself financially for next few years.

Save money even down to a penny.
Cut spending (ex. cable - do you watch all 500 channels?)
Sold my car for more gas efficient car (depends what you drive right now)
Even rotating tires will save you some money in the long run.
Craigslist or eBay (your junk is a treasure to someone else)
Stopped using credit cards (use only when it is urgent)
Investments - mutual funds, equities, etf. (i currently hold some positions.)
I hold a full time job so I maximized my 401k (i can borrow loans if i have to)

This is what I am currently doing for the future because I planned to apply next year.
I hope this was helpful to you. 🙂

 

[DeterminedONE84]

Thanks both of you for advice.

I, too, have cut down my expenses to the wire:

-Car is paid off as of this month! (And I plan to drive it into the ground, or at least until I graduate and buy myself a "grad gift" 🙂 )
-Cable is included with rent
-I only have about 1500.00 in credit card debt and plan to have it all paid off by the end of this year
-And I am a craigslist/Ebay selling queen! Glad to hear someone else is too, LOL.

I ran some numbers on the calculator and anticipate I will likely need a 150,000.00 loan to get me to graduation (including all "predicted" tuition and living expenses, hoping nothing catastrophic happens where I have to spend thousands to repair vehicle, etc).

Is that amount of loan unheard of or pretty average?

 

[Analyst2PT]

That amount is heard of if you live around the tri-state area.

p.s. I youtube and visit car forums on the times that I have to fix my car.

 

[jblil]

I ran some numbers on the calculator and anticipate I will likely need a 150,000.00 loan to get me to graduation.

Is that $150K figure for a private or state school? If you go to this link, and scroll down to the table and the text below it,
http://tinyurl.com/3o55aj
you'll see that some health-related professions may allow up to $224K in loans. I now wonder if PT School qualifies.

 

[DeterminedONE84]

Is that $150K figure for a private or state school? If you go to this link, and scroll down to the table and the text below it,
http://tinyurl.com/3o55aj
you'll see that some health-related professions may allow up to $224K in loans. I now wonder if PT School qualifies.

That 150K is for a state school, but amount is also to finish my last few semesters of undergrad. I am currently going to school partime, it has taken me four years just to get to junior status. At this rate I will be 31 before I can even apply for PT school. So I am wanting to leave fulltime position in the Spring and finish up undergrad and enter PT school all on a student loan, relying solely on that as my source of income. So the $150k is requested over the span of the next six years.

 

[markelmarcel]

I'm a nontrad, about to start. My SO will be footing the bill as far as mortgage, bills, etc-- we bought a modest house (about 80k) so our mortgage payment is relatively cheap. We did this on purpose, knowing that there would only be one income to pay for expenses. Additionally, I will be able to collect unemployment for awhile as I was laid off from my job last week. (Yes, it's legitimate... PA UC laws are different than some other states; I cannot be denied UC benefits because I'm in school; and since I was laid off before I've started school, I will be able to start collecting. I just don't know the amount yet).

My parents are helping me with my car insurance and I'm on their cell phone plan for now.

 

[MsLadyTherapist]

There are a TON of things I do to save $$$ for PT school, but i will list a few:

Craigslist, Bonanza, Amazon.com, Half.com and Ebay- Sell everything you don't use or will not be using
Coupon Queen/King (become obsessed with coupons. lol)
No Cable. Local Channels only.
Do laundry every 2.5 weeks (waste less water and less electricity)
Hang all clothes to dry (dryer uses too much electricity)
Internet is my friend (Thanks to National Public Radio, Google News and Weather.com).
No gym membership (do regular exercises you can find good ones on youtube and walk/run for cardio)
No credit cards with annual fees
Don't use credit cards unless emergency OR unless they give you rewards and you have the $ to pay them off every month.
Listen to radio or online radio/podcasts if you get bored of not having cable.
Eat at Home instead of out.
ONLY buy from Amazon.com or Walmart (both of these have saved me a ton...)
If you need to buy something- Find bargains (TJMaxx, Ross, Big Lots...)
Make sure you have a reliable car that is paid off.

 

[TheOx777]

My great UNCLE SAM has decided to help me with my education; however, he is charging some serious interests and told me he will not tolerate any delay in his payment once I am done with school. We'll see if it was a wise idea to borrow money from "family"😉!

 

[johncronejr]

My great UNCLE SAM has decided to help me with my education; however, he is charging some serious interests and told me he will not tolerate any delay in his payment once I am done with school. We'll see if it was a wise idea to borrow money from "family"😉!

Well now I never knew we were cousins Ox....LOL

 

[eric813us]

Not sure if this is an option for you (depending on preference and your location) but have you looked into weekend programs? I currently live in St. Augustine, FL and plan on applying for Uni of St. Aug's Flex PT program for Fall 2012. Mostly delivered online with labs on Saturday and Sunday. Its a 4 year (12 trimester) program that they offer at both their locations (the other in San Diego). Its not a bad option as I want to graduate with as little debt as possible. I've seen from this site that a few other schools also offer this "part-time" option.

Best of luck.