Roughly 85 percent of first-time, full-time undergraduates receive some form of financial aid in their first year, according to federal data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Most of it comes as loans. So the school you choose and the debt you take on aren't two separate decisions. They're the same one. Too many families still treat them as if they aren't.
I've spent over 50 years in education, and the pattern hasn't changed. Families spend months agonizing over which school to pick and about ninety seconds thinking about how the debt actually gets repaid. That math doesn't work. Let's fix it. Here's the three step framework I give every family who asks.
Step one: Go where the debt can disappear.
Some careers don't just pay well. They pay off the loans for you. Nursing, teaching, medicine, and allied health are the clearest examples, and the programs behind them are real.
The federal Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program, run through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), can repay up to 85 percent of qualifying nursing education debt for two to three years of service at a critical shortage facility. The National Health Service Corps offers similar support for primary care and other health professionals, often tens of thousands of dollars and sometimes reaching six figures depending on the commitment. Teachers have Teacher Loan Forgiveness and Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
In dollar terms, a traditional BSN or allied health bachelor's degree usually costs a family somewhere between $40,000 and $60,000 total. Most graduates leave with loans close to that amount. You walk in with $50,000 of debt. A few years later it can be zero because a federal program or an employer paid it down in exchange for your work. Hospitals and health systems are doing this right now. Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce projects hundreds of thousands of unfilled nursing and teaching positions through the early 2030s. They need people, and this is one of the ways they're getting them.
Step two: Choose a major the way employers are already choosing workers.
If a field is short on talent, that field is willing to pay to keep talent. Right now the pressure is highest in:
- Healthcare systems and hospitals
- Automotive manufacturers and dealer networks
- School districts
- Transportation companies
- Technology firms
These shortages are documented. Groups like the TechForce Foundation project shortfalls in the hundreds of thousands, heading toward a million, across technician and skilled trade roles in the coming years. Hospitals reimburse tuition and leftover loans for nurses and allied health staff because an empty position costs them more than the reimbursement. It's not charity. It's a business decision that happens to work out well for the graduate.
It's not charity. It's a business decision that happens to work out well for the graduate.
Before you apply anywhere, do the homework most people skip. Does this field actually have loan repayment or tuition reimbursement programs, and are they real ones backed by a federal agency or a named employer? What's the placement rate for the specific program you're looking at, not the university's overall average? Those two answers will tell you more about your financial future than any ranking list.
Step three: Price the degree against what it really returns.
At least sixteen colleges and universities now have a total cost of attendance over $100,000 a year for 2026-27, according to Princeton Review data reported by CNBC. Harvey Mudd, Duke, the University of Chicago, USC, NYU, and Georgetown are on that list. Before anyone commits to that kind of number, they need to know what they're actually buying.
Look at the school's financial aid policy in plain terms, not the marketing version. See what grants and scholarships are realistically available to you. And be honest about the earning potential in the field you're entering. A $100,000 price tag can be a smart investment or a bad one. The difference is what happens after graduation, not on move-in day.
Ask.
It's three questions, asked in order. Does my field have a real, named loan repayment program? Will my future employer help with tuition or student debt? Does this degree pay for itself given what it costs and what the field actually pays? Answer those before you enroll, and student debt becomes a temporary bridge instead of a weight you carry for decades.