Large Student Debt - Anyone else?

[TravisDPT]

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I am in my first year of PT school. After 4 years of undergrad (private), and paying the first year of PT school tuition, I am currently at.... (drumroll...) $152k debt. Cost for the remaining 2 yrs of my program will be approx. $35k.

I know, it's a lot. Going to a private undergrad and paying for most of it with private loans wasn't the best choice. But oh well, can't change the past. I am just curious if there is anyone else who currently is, or has been in a similar situation. I am expecting loan payments in the $1000-$2000/mo range once I graduate, and will be budgeting accordingly and putting anything else left over on top of that as well.

Not looking for explicit financial advice. (Although it wouldn't hurt 😉). Just seeing if there is anyone else in the same boat, and if so, a place where others can see that they are (hopefully) not alone too!

 

[Jarrodmac10]

I'll be participating in the public service loan forgiveness program while on an income-based repayment plan. I currently work for a hospital-based outpatient clinic, and will need to be practicing in a qualified setting for 10 years. After those 10 years are up the remaining balance will be forgiven and not taxed. This was the best option for my family and myself. I think if I were single I would attempt to pay off the debt as fast as possible.


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[beestrng]

Not in PT school but I'll be around 160k.

About the public service loan- is it worth it with the interest compounding?

Possibly looking into working PRN to pay it off faster.

 

[Jarrodmac10]

Not in PT school but I'll be around 160k.

About the public service loan- is it worth it with the interest compounding?

Possibly looking into working PRN to pay it off faster.

Regarding the compounding interest, I don't believe it will be an issue if you decide to look into the public loan forgiveness, as your payments are based on your income.


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[TravisDPT]

I'll be participating in the public service loan forgiveness program while on an income-based repayment plan. I currently work for a hospital-based outpatient clinic, and will need to be practicing in a qualified setting for 10 years. After those 10 years are up the remaining balance will be forgiven and not taxed. This was the best option for my family and myself. I think if I were single I would attempt to pay off the debt as fast as possible.


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This is what I am planning on doing as well. In the grand scheme of things, 10 years is not a bad deal at all. I could be debt-free by 35. Thanks for the reply!

 

[pblover123]

I'm currently applying to grad schools and have about 90k as undergrad loans right now. Pretty scary thinking about how my loans will accumulate up to maybe $200k by the time im done with PT school. Anyone had the chance to work while studying??

 

[TravisDPT]

I'm currently applying to grad schools and have about 90k as undergrad loans right now. Pretty scary thinking about how my loans will accumulate up to maybe $200k by the time im done with PT school. Anyone had the chance to work while studying??

I have $91k from undergrad as well. Principal is only about 70k, but my interest rates are crazy high with private loans.

I have a small on-campus job and a research position related to my program, but they equate to a low amount of hours. It's only enough for some running around money, nothing substantial enough to cover any bills unfortunately.

 

[deleted699287]

Yeah there is definitely a major issue of the cost of PT school loans and the actual amount of money you make. This runs true for undergraduate degrees, but is definitely amplified massively in graduate school. I am sure this runs true for primary care physicians (most other MD's make plenty of money), nurses, NP, PA, etc.

However, even compared to the other health care jobs listed above, PT seems to have an especially awful ratio of salary to tuition cost. NP's and PA's both make significantly more than PT's. RN's make less, but it's much less school. One of those elephant in the room type of problems in PT school. People just accept it as the way things are, but it's definitely a problem that has to be addressed at some point. With the transition to DPT with more schooling and more tuition costs (and schools feeling entitled to charge more since it's now a "doctorate") and the actual profession salary not really changing, this problem is going to persist.

During our open house a couple years back, several alum PT's came in to talk about loans and talked about how they are on 10+ loan payment programs. This effectively cuts your salary for the first 5-10 years by a significant amount. This may not necessarily reduce your earning power in 10 years, but there are several consequences of having to pay off loans for 10+ years. It is now MUCH more difficult to start your own clinic if you want to. You lose out on investing your earnings, and 5-10 years can make a sizable dent in your long-term earnings through investments. When you get out of school around age 25-30, you don't have so much money for buying a car, a house, or your wedding. You can definitely finance those things, but this will inevitably make your loan payment plan longer and more costly, which also has its opportunity costs of aforementioned things.

TL;DR - School is too expensive. PT's don't make enough money. It sucks and is a REAL problem that needs to be addressed.

 

[redrose424]

Yeah there is definitely a major issue of the cost of PT school loans and the actual amount of money you make. This runs true for undergraduate degrees, but is definitely amplified massively in graduate school. I am sure this runs true for primary care physicians (most other MD's make plenty of money), nurses, NP, PA, etc.

However, even compared to the other health care jobs listed above, PT seems to have an especially awful ratio of salary to tuition cost. NP's and PA's both make significantly more than PT's. RN's make less, but it's much less school. One of those elephant in the room type of problems in PT school. People just accept it as the way things are, but it's definitely a problem that has to be addressed at some point. With the transition to DPT with more schooling and more tuition costs (and schools feeling entitled to charge more since it's now a "doctorate") and the actual profession salary not really changing, this problem is going to persist.

During our open house a couple years back, several alum PT's came in to talk about loans and talked about how they are on 10+ loan payment programs. This effectively cuts your salary for the first 5-10 years by a significant amount. This may not necessarily reduce your earning power in 10 years, but there are several consequences of having to pay off loans for 10+ years. It is now MUCH more difficult to start your own clinic if you want to. You lose out on investing your earnings, and 5-10 years can make a sizable dent in your long-term earnings through investments. When you get out of school around age 25-30, you don't have so much money for buying a car, a house, or your wedding. You can definitely finance those things, but this will inevitably make your loan payment plan longer and more costly, which also has its opportunity costs of aforementioned things.

TL;DR - School is too expensive. PT's don't make enough money. It sucks and is a REAL problem that needs to be addressed.

Agree with your post. The only thing I would say is I don't think NPs and PAs necessarily make *significantly* more money than PTs. They seem to be slightly ahead median wise but only by 5k.

 

[AP191]

slightly ahead median wise but only by 5k.

According to the BLS data, the mean annual wage for NPs and PAs is about 14 thousand more than PTs. The median is about 13 thousand more.

 

[BlueBlue8]

Sorry you're in that boat. Your debt will influence where you will take a job. What about working in a state without state income tax and a cheap cost of living?
Think Texas or Florida.

 

[ptisfun2]

Yeah there is definitely a major issue of the cost of PT school loans and the actual amount of money you make. This runs true for undergraduate degrees, but is definitely amplified massively in graduate school. I am sure this runs true for primary care physicians (most other MD's make plenty of money), nurses, NP, PA, etc.

However, even compared to the other health care jobs listed above, PT seems to have an especially awful ratio of salary to tuition cost. NP's and PA's both make significantly more than PT's. RN's make less, but it's much less school. One of those elephant in the room type of problems in PT school. People just accept it as the way things are, but it's definitely a problem that has to be addressed at some point. With the transition to DPT with more schooling and more tuition costs (and schools feeling entitled to charge more since it's now a "doctorate") and the actual profession salary not really changing, this problem is going to persist.

During our open house a couple years back, several alum PT's came in to talk about loans and talked about how they are on 10+ loan payment programs. This effectively cuts your salary for the first 5-10 years by a significant amount. This may not necessarily reduce your earning power in 10 years, but there are several consequences of having to pay off loans for 10+ years. It is now MUCH more difficult to start your own clinic if you want to. You lose out on investing your earnings, and 5-10 years can make a sizable dent in your long-term earnings through investments. When you get out of school around age 25-30, you don't have so much money for buying a car, a house, or your wedding. You can definitely finance those things, but this will inevitably make your loan payment plan longer and more costly, which also has its opportunity costs of aforementioned things.

TL;DR - School is too expensive. PT's don't make enough money. It sucks and is a REAL problem that needs to be addressed.

I have said it before, and I will say it again. Yes, tuition to get a PT degree is expensive relative to the salary upon graduation. Sadly, PT is not unique in higher education for this. But the number of applications schools are getting would point to administration that cost is not a deterrent to applicants wanting to get PT degrees. As long as schools are getting 3-4 to 50 to 100 times the number of applicants as positions available for school, universities have no reason to even think about stopping increases in tuition. All administrators look at is demand and money in. For example, we have been able to stop increases in enrollment for a while citing lack of clinical rotations and our state unable to support jobs for all of our graduates. That worked...for a while. But when the administrators look at over 1,000 applications, they want us to increase enrollment, and for this year we lost the battle and admitted 8 more students. By the time these decisions get to the PT Department, the role is enacting them. My experience is with a proper university, and the health care 'universities' may have some more wiggle room at the Department level. But a faculty member is akin to a PT being told they have to treat 2 more patients/day based on some administrator formula.
So you want to stop the increase in tuition? Well, get state legislators involved for state institutions, but also make the supply of potential PT students lower.

 

[NewDPT31]

Agree with your post. The only thing I would say is I don't think NPs and PAs necessarily make *significantly* more money than PTs. They seem to be slightly ahead median wise but only by 5k.

Depends on specialty of both. My fiance is an ortho PA and makes $25k base more than my base. My sister's fiance is an ER PA and makes a good $40k more than her. My sister and I are both Outpatient hospital based PTs(and yes, it's hospital based but I make ~10k more than my friends who work for big box chains like Athletico and ATI) I'm 5 years out of school.

 

[beestrng]

Don't PTs and OTs have a ton of PRN opportunities? I thought this would even it out assuming you want to work additional hours.

I think our fields have a wider range of compensation compared to PAs etc. I know of PTs who makes 60k and PTAs making 80+k. Obviously anecdotal but there you go.

Compensation seems to range a lot more with OTs.

 

[redrose424]

Don't PTs and OTs have a ton of PRN opportunities? I thought this would even it out assuming you want to work additional hours.

I think our fields have a wider range of compensation compared to PAs etc. I know of PTs who makes 60k and PTAs making 80+k. Obviously anecdotal but there you go.

Compensation seems to range a lot more with OTs.

True, we do have a pretty wide range and the ability to make a more than the median with PRN work and travel therapy. The issue comes in when a lot of people chose PT because they found the work-life balance and amount of hours attractive so they don't particularly want to work on their weekends too. I, on the other hand, will be excited to work a ton (especially before I raise a family).

 

[Ginglymus]

I will have in the low 200ks when I am done with school unfortunately =\