How Summer saved a first-year nurse over $250K in student debt
It’s hard enough filling long shifts at the medical clinic in rural Kentucky where Corry works as a nurse practitioner. But in two weeks’ time, it’s about to become even harder when the first student loan bill for Corry’s nursing degree comes due — an eye-popping $2,584 per month as she pays back $329,817.57 of combined undergraduate and graduate school debt.
Unable to cover this high payment, Corry reached out to Summer for help. Corry created a free account with Summer by syncing her loans and answering a few basic questions about her situation. Next, our software automatically optimized her payment options across hundreds of different scenarios, which helped us spot a significantly better path for her loans.
In only a few minutes Corry was able to see on Summer’s app that she is eligible to lower her payments from $2,584 to $598 per month, saving her a total of $19,864 this year. By first consolidating her undergraduate and graduate loans, Corry was now eligible to enroll all her loans into an income-driven repayment plan called Pay As You Earn (PAYE). Because Corry works for a non-profit organization, she’s also eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program that will cancel her debt after 120 qualifying monthly payments. Corry was able to seamlessly submit applications for PAYE and PSLF through Summer’s app. All told, Corry is now on track to save a whopping $251,568 over the next 10 years.
“This massive weight was hanging over my head for months. My situation is frustratingly complex with many different types of loans. I didn’t even know where to start,” Corry told us. “My dad sent me an article about student loans that mentioned Summer and that’s how I found your app. It’s been remarkable to have Summer in my corner helping me with a customized repayment plan. I simply couldn’t have done this alone.”
Corry is not alone. There are an estimated 5.1 million nurses in the United States — ranging from certified nurse assistants to those with advanced degrees — according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A recent survey by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing revealed that 69 percent of graduate nursing students rely on student loans to finance their education and three in four also have undergraduate loans.
If you’re in a situation similar to Corry, we encourage you to sign up for early access to our tools. We’ll help you check your eligibility and enroll in loan savings programs, including the income-driven repayment plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). Sorting through all the options can certainly be daunting, but our team of experts (many of us are borrowers, too!) is here to help you through it.
Summer is a social enterprise helping student loan borrowers navigate the complex repayment process. Founded in partnership with Yale University, Summer partners with colleges and employers to provide borrowers with an innovative app to track their loans in one place and enroll them in the best repayment plan.
