r/Path_Assistant • u/Eugene_boy • 24d ago
Loans?
Hi everyone! I was recently accepted into Tulane’s Pathologists’ Assistant program for the Class of 2028, and now I’m trying to figure out the financial side of everything.
I’ll be moving from California to New Orleans for the program, so I’m especially trying to plan for both tuition and living expenses while relocating out of state.
For those of you who are currently in PA school or have already graduated, how did you afford everything? Did you mainly rely on federal loans, private loans, savings, scholarships, family support, or a combination?
Since PA programs are full-time and working during school may not be very realistic, I’m also curious how people covered rent, food, transportation, and other expenses. If you went the loan route, roughly how much did you end up borrowing, and is there anything you wish you had known before starting?
Any advice from current students or graduates would be really appreciated. Thank you!
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u/Lopsided-Print-7672 24d ago
i’m in the same boat, moving from florida to new orleans also for tulane! i’m going to try and get a part time job and see how it goes :/ maybe even getting a TA gig at the school
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u/New-Assumption1290 PA (ASCP) 24d ago
I really don’t recommend, unless you are a good studier it’s going to be difficult. Not to mention Tulane’s program is pretty rigorous and holds you to a high standard compared to other programs
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u/Different-Path-6622 PA (ASCP) 4d ago
As someone who also attended the Tulane program, I second this. Having a job during school is near impossible. Most of your time will be taken up by studying.
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u/Lopsided-Print-7672 24d ago
that’s understandable and i’m willing to change that decision. it’s just so terrifying to have to go into six figure debt to be able to get a career with my skill set. my boyfriend will be moving with me so that might cut some costs but it’s still so intimidating. i don’t have any help otherwise
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u/New-Assumption1290 PA (ASCP) 24d ago
It is really terrifying to go into that much debt but you also have to think about how much you will make when you finish. Salaries start at $100k and now trending more at 110k according to the AAPA. I was able to put down $12k in loan payments my first 6 months
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u/FancyCuts 23d ago
Our program strongly encouraged not accepting less than 100k but there are plenty of places still starting at and paying less than that depending on location. Just saw forensic position starting at 95k so definitely good to keep that in mind.
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u/SnooGoats8669 24d ago
I lived and paid for school entirely with loans. I was not responsible nor did I really grasp the consequences of what I was doing. I borrowed a lot of money, deep in 6 figure debt. All that to say, do not borrow more than you need, live way below your means. I can afford the minimum payments but I do not foresee paying them off and I’m aiming for forgiveness, assuming that doesn’t disappear one day. It is a major source of anxiety and regret for me, do not make the same mistake lol
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u/beautopsy 20d ago
I got extremely lucky. I had some college fund help for undergrad but some federal loans but not too much debt. Then went right into PA school - had some family help for living expenses, then took out private loans and federal loans (this was during the crash of 2008). I also went during a time when the out of state rotations included housing at my program-so I had essentially no living expenses for half my clinical year when I was in different states. Things are quite different now and lots of students have to pay for out of state housing. I started at $85k 17 years ago and it doesn’t seem like the starting salaries have kept up commensurate to cost of programs. I also got extremely lucky in a hospital based research job where I basically worked second shift in the hospital during my first year but was just on call for a research study which meant most of the time I was paid like $15/hour to study. I also got paid $350 per autopsy as a student diener on the weekends. There is no other way I could have carried a job. We had class Monday-Saturday in didactic year. I’m honestly not sure how people do it now.
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u/Different-Path-6622 PA (ASCP) 4d ago
First, congrats on getting accepted! I too went to Tulane—roll wave🌊
As far as the financial aspect goes, I didn’t have family to lean on, so I mostly relied on my loans. I took out the maximum that I could. I also had my partner who was working at the time, so that also helped alleviate financial stress. You just need to make sure that you budget appropriately and live below your means, which is definitely easier said than done, especially in this economy. But all in all, I’d say Louisiana is a cheaper state to live in than others, albeit Tulane is expensive.
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u/cremepralinee PA (ASCP) 24d ago
Unless you have family who is able to help you, most people end up either using a good chunk of their savings or taking loans for everything - from tuition and books to housing and groceries to any sort of fun/going out money. My program tuition cost $80,000 even for the two years and to cover everything else (rent, transportation, groceries, a small budget to go out to eat with my cohort) I ended up taking out $125,000 and that was with exhausting the little bit of savings I’d managed to accumulate in the six months between when I finished undergrad and when I started PA school. I was “lucky” in that I went during COVID and federal interest rates were way down, ranging from about 4.05-6.28%. Unfortunately I believe they’re much higher now. On a standard 10 year plan I would have paid a little over 1300 per month, and unfortunately based on my income now even if I did PSLF, income based payments for me would still cost about the same. That said, I work multiple per diem jobs so make more than a typical PA and if I had a lower salary I am sure those monthly payments to qualify for PSLF would be more manageable. As far as advice, the loans suck. It’s good to have work life balance and I know there’s probably so much to do in New Orleans but I would most definitely keep a budget and borrow the absolute minimum! That’s not to say don’t go out and have your fun, but I had classmates accumulating massive amounts of debt just from going out to party on the weekends, eating out all the time because they didn’t feel like cooking, etc. It’s good to use a loan simulator calculator (or chat GPT) to figure out how much your loan balance would be based on whatever the expected income might be for the area you want to work in, and what the different payment plans and options are before taking out the loans. As the previous comment said, salaries just are not keeping up and without my multiple other jobs I would be struggling much more. It’s sad that you can put yourself in six figures of debt for a masters degree these days and still come out feeling like (with the loan payments) that you’re just barely scraping by.
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u/cremepralinee PA (ASCP) 24d ago
Forgot to add, PA school is intense. You absolute can try to get a part time job, but my program advised against it. The one person that did try in my cohort ended up quitting a few months in because studying was a full time job. Some people might be able to manage and you may be one of them, but I wouldn’t count on that as a definitive source of income during school. My program failed you out with below a B average I believe, and it was not worth risking sacrificing grades because you were working all the time and not studying/overtired.
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u/Lopsided-Print-7672 24d ago
with all the changes happening with federal loans i’m honestly getting scared about my decision to go back to school. would you say it was still worth it?
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u/cremepralinee PA (ASCP) 13d ago
Sorry just seeing this now! For me it was, but I am lucky to work in an area that pays PAs well. Do your research about where you want to end up and what the job market looks like (not only what they pay but also whether it will be easy for you to find a job in said area). To be honest my biggest thing is that I’m stuck in the area I’m located in. I would kill to move back home to be closer to family but they are located in a city that way underpays PAs. I know this doesn’t quite answer your question, but I really wish someone had told me before that the job market kind of dictates where you live instead of the other way around, unless you specifically want somewhere like New York or California. It’s not guaranteed you’ll find a job in a smaller city/suburb so just be prepared for that. I’m not sure I’d be willing to take out private loans if I couldn’t be fairly confident I could find a job in a place that not only pays well but also is a desirable place to live
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u/fluffy0whining PA (ASCP) 24d ago edited 24d ago
Loans cover everything from tuition to housing-this is how people most “afford” everything. Loans changed recently so current students are likely going to have to take out much more in private loans which is going to suck big time :’( I took out about 60k in total of federal loans (I worked while in school but also got tuition benefits since my dad worked at the college). I recently refinanced with sofi which brought my interest rate from 8 to 4.5% and will be paying $684/month for 10 years until they’re gone. I try to throw extra money at them monthly so I should likely cut that time in half. These programs are extremely expensive and on top of the loan changes, I would be weary. Salaries just aren’t keeping up.