CHNS_Toolkit

Appendix I: Financial Aid/Loan Forgiveness Worksheet

Financial Aid/Loan forgiveness worksheet

Don’t let the cost of your education stop you from achieving your goal. It might not cost as much as you
think!

The following worksheet is a suggested format for getting a sense of cost and related debt for nursing

programs. It does not cover all the costs, and it is strongly recommended that students use a university’s
website, or government financial aid sites to gain more information. The loan forgiveness programs

vary, and new scholarship programs for nursing may be available too.

Step A: Total cost for nursing school

Prerequisite courses cost (classes taken at
community college/elsewhere if not completed
during high school)
Nursing program

• Associate’s Degree (2 year)
• BSN (4 year)
• BSN (2 year)
• RN-BSN (for those completing the 2 year

Associate’s degree )
Cost of living expenses



Step B: Total Financial Aid

Pell Grant

Scholarship

Perkins Loans

Direct Subsidized Loan

Direct Subsidized Loan

Direct Unsubsidized Loan

Parent Loan/Grad PLUS

Alternative Loan

Other Aid* (Grants/scholarships)



Step C: Subtract B from A, to get your total cost, this number may be zero if qualify for full financial aid,

A minus B = ________________



42

Step D: Determine your loan forgiveness, based on various state/federal programs for nursing.

Year 1 of service 20% of total loan forgiven

Year 2 of service 20% of total loan forgiven

Year 3 of service 20 % of total loan forgiven

Year 4 of service 25% of total loan forgiven

Remainder 15%



If you plan to work at least 4 years as a nurse in an underserved area, take your total loans, and multiply

by 15%

Total loans x 0.15 = ___________________

Step E: To determine how much you will pay monthly once you become a registered nurse, we
recommend using an online loan calculator such as:

http://www.finaid.org/calculators/loanpayments.phtml

or

https://studentloans.gov/myDirectLoan/mobile/repayment/repaymentEstimator.action

Example:

• $100,000 in student loans x 0.15 = $15,000 remainder if in the loan forgiveness
• $15,000 in loans at 6.8% interest rate, paid over 10 years is about $172/month

(use loan calculator)
• Income as a nurse will be more than $5000/month. There are also graduated payment plans

based on income, and hardship deferment, so your payment could be even lower!

43

BIBLIOGRAPHY

AACN (Association of American Colleges of Nursing). (2015). Enhancing diversity in the nursing
workforce Fact Sheet. Available at: http://www.aacn.nche.edu/media-relations/diversityFS.pdf

AACN (Association of American Colleges of Nursing). (2015) Enrollment surge in schools of nursing.
Available onlline at: http://www.aacn.nche.edu/faculty/news/2015/enrollment

Abbott, S. E. & Fisher. P. D. (2012). Ninth grade counts: strengthening the transition to high school.
Available online at:
https://www2.ed.gov/programs/slcp/ninthgradecounts/ninthgradecountsguide.pdf

ACE (adverse childhood experiences study). Felitti, V. J . et al. (1998) Relationship of Childhood Abuse
and Household Dysfunction to Many of the Leading Causes of Death in Adults. American Journal of
Preventive Medicine , 14 (4) , 245 - 258

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). (2014). The national healthcare quality and
disparities report. Available at: http://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/nhqdr14/index.html

Campinha-Bacote, J. (2010). A Culturally Conscious Model of Mentoring. Nurse Educator,35 (3), 130-
135.

Childs, G., Jones, R., Nugent, K.E., & Cook, P. (2004). Retention of African-American Students in
Baccalaureate Nursing Programs:Are We Doing Enough? Journal of Professional Nursing, 20, 129-133.

Diefenbeck, C., Michalec B., & Alexander, R. (2016). Lived experiences of racially and ethnically
underrepresented minority BSN students: a case study specifically exploring issues related to
recruitment and retention. Nursing Education Perspectives, 37 (1), 41-44.

Healthy People 2020. Available online at: https://www.healthypeople.gov

Abbott, S. E. & Fisher. P. D. (2012). Ninth grade counts: strengthening the transition to high school.
Available online at:
https://www2.ed.gov/programs/slcp/ninthgradecounts/ninthgradecountsguide.pdf

IOM (Institute of Medicine). National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2016). A
framework for educating health professionals to address the social determinants of health. Washington,
DC: The National Academies Press. Available online at:
http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/Reports/2016/Framework-for-Educating-Health-Professionals-
to-Address-the-Social-Determinants-of-Health.aspx

IOM (Institute of Medicine). National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2011). Future
of Nursing. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Available online at: www.iom.edu/.../The-
Future-of-Nursing-Leading-Change-Advancing-Health.aspx

IOM (Institute of Medicine). National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2002). Unequal
treatment: confronting racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Washington, DC: The National

44

Academies Press. Available online at: http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/Reports/2002/Unequal-
Treatment-Confronting-Racial-and-Ethnic-Disparities-in-Health-Care.aspx
Lavizzo-Mourey, R. (2014). Buidling a culture of health: president’s message. Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation. Available online at: http://www.rwjf.org/en/library/annual-reports/presidents-message-
2014.html
NACAC (National Association for College Admission Counseling). (2014). A national look at the high
school counseling office. Available online at: http://www.nacacnet.org/research/research-data/nacac-
research/Documents/NACAC_Counseling_PhaseII.pdf
Sedlacek, W. E., Benjamin, E., Schlosser, L. Z., & Sheu, H. B. (2007). Mentoring in academia:
Considerations for diverse populations. In T. D. Allen & L. T. Eby (Eds.), The Blackwell handbook of
mentoring: A multiple perspectives approach (pp. 259-280). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Weiston, T. (2015). The difference between giving access and preparing for access: How secondary
schools are failing students of color: Available online at:
https://issuu.com/livingeducationemagazine/docs/fall_2015_leem_107
White, B. J. & Fulton, J. S. (2015). Common experiences of African American Nursing Students; An
integrative review. Nursing Education Perspectives, 36 (3), 167-175.
World Health Organization. Social determinants of health. Available online at:
http://www.who.int/social_determinants/en/

45

GLOSSARY


AA: Associate of Arts degree
ACE: Adverse Childhood Experience study (CDC-Kaiser)
ADN: Associate Degree in Nursing
AS: Associate of Science degree
BSN: Bachelor of Science degree
CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
CHN: Community Health Nursing/nurses
LPN: Licensed Practical Nurse
LVN: Licensed Vocational Nurse
NCLEX: National Council Licensure Examination, licensing examinations for registered nurses
RN: Registered Nurse


46

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We are grateful to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse Fellows program and the
Center for Creative Leadership for providing us this incredible opportunity to collaborate and create the
Community Health Nurses Scholars Program. Specifically we would like to thank: Linda Cronenwett, Joan
Gurvis, Karen Wilson-Starks, Andi Williams, Val Swan, and Susan Frye. We are indebted to our
wonderful Action Learning coach, Donna Dinkin, who helped us bring our vision to fruition through
collaborative leadership. We are so appreciative of all the help, advice, and comraderie from our
2014 Cohort. Of course, this could not be possible without the continual support of our families and
friends.

47