Can I Afford CRNA School?

Financing CRNA school is no small task. It involves a great deal of ingenuity and sacrifice. I am going to be totally honest, finances aren’t my thing and I am NOT a financial advisor. I figured I’d get that out there and be honest rather than give any bad advice. What I will say from my own personal experience is that anesthesia school is expensive, but if you budget and are willing to sacrifice some luxuries you may have gotten used to, its totally feasible. Some people are savvy and save up enough money to pay for school. They come out with zero loans to repay. The majority of us will probably start school with little or no money set aside and rely heavily on loans to make it through. Just like in undergrad, I suggest getting to know your school financial aid advisors and build a relationship with them. I relied almost purely on student loans (I was able to acquire a few thousand dollars while in the program in available grant money by writing an essay about SRNA life) and was able to make it through the program.

Again, I am not a financial advisor, nor am I trying to give advice about loans here. This is simply to tell you how I made it through school with no money saved when I started. Student loan payments are heavy. You can expect to come out of school with well over $100,000 in loans. Don’t let this deter you from your goal of becoming a CRNA. You have the rest of your life to pay it back. What I will say is make damn sure this is what you want to do, because even dropping out after a few semesters can put you out several thousand dollars and no higher degree to afford those payments with.