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VIN Foundation | Supporting veterinarians to cultivate a healthy animal community | Blog | 2019 New Veterinary Graduate Student Loan Playbook
May 13, 2019 In Veterinary resources, Veterinary student debt By Tony Bartels, DVM, MBA

Repay Wiser: 2019 New Veterinary Graduate Student Loan Playbook

Graduate, Consolidate, Get Started in Income-Driven Repayment

 

Congratulations, new veterinary doctors! It’s time to celebrate graduation! It’s also time to log in to NSLDS.ED.GOV, download your NSLDS file, use the VIN Foundation My Student Loans tool and Student Loan Repayment Simulator, and start a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan as soon as you can to save you time and money.

 

On Wednesday, May 29, 2019, VIN & VIN Foundation hosted a live webinar with Tony Bartels, DVM, MBA, to discuss why starting your student loan repayment plan ASAP is so beneficial and how to do it.  If you were unable to attend, no worries — we have the information for you to review right here!

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VIN Foundation | Supporting veterinarians to cultivate a healthy animal community | Blog | Veterinary School Student loan Interest Rates for 2019-20 Academic Year Decreasing
May 9, 2019 In Veterinary school, Veterinary student debt, Veterinary student loans, Veterinary students By Tony Bartels, DVM, MBA

Lower Student Loan Interest Rates for 2019

Rarely do we get good news when it comes to student debt. But interest rates for the federal student loans you borrow for the 2019-20 veterinary school academic will be lower than last year.

Interest rates are updated each year using the high yield of the May U.S. 10-year treasury note.  The high yield plus a factor for your Direct loan and school type sets the fixed rate you pay for the life of those loans received between this July 1st and next June 30th. As a veterinary student, the graduate/professional school Direct Unsubsidized loan interest rate will be 6.08%, down from 6.6% this past year. The Direct Graduate Plus loan rate will be 7.08%, down from 7.6% this past year.

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VIN Foundation | Supporting veterinarians to cultivate a healthy animal community | Solutions for the Profession Competition | veterinary essay competition | 3rd Annual Essay Competition 2019 winners
April 30, 2019 In Press releases, Veterinary students, VIN Foundation news By VIN Foundation

3rd Annual Solutions for the Profession Competition Winners

Third annual essay competition provides veterinary students an opportunity to offer insight into practice consolidation and its impact on the profession

 

Davis, CA: The VIN Foundation is excited to announce the results of its third annual Solutions for the Profession Competition. Three winners were awarded cash prizes to help with educational expenses.

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VIN Foundation | Supporting veterinarians to cultivate a healthy animal community | Blog | Top 5 Mistakes Made by Veterinarians Using Income-driven Repayment
March 20, 2019 In Veterinary questions & answers, Veterinary student debt By Tony Bartels, DVM, MBA

Top 5 Mistakes Made by Veterinarians Using Income-driven Repayment

The below piece was originally published as a guest post on Financial Wellness DVM

 

 

Repaying student loans is stressful and complicated.  For recent graduate veterinarians, high student loan balances coupled with starting salaries lower than their student debt total are the norm.  Depending on the school you attended or the practice type and region where you’re working, your student debt to income ratio is often two or greater.  Once your student debt to income ratio gets above one, traditional repayment plans and strategies are financially risky, inflexible, and often more costly.

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VIN Foundation | Supporting veterinarians to cultivate a healthy animal community | Blog | In-School Loan Estimator expands VIN Foundation Student Debt Part 2
March 19, 2019 In Veterinary questions & answers, Veterinary resources, Veterinary student debt By Tony Bartels, DVM, MBA

Veterinary Student Debt Questions and Answers Part 2

VIN Foundation partnered with Under the Microscope to bring you a free follow up webinar: Veterinary Student Debt Questions and Answers Part 2

WHAT

In Part 1 we covered the basics and answered questions. For Part 2 we talked through actual cases. Feel free to add your questions, comments, experiences, and suggestions to add to the conversation by commenting below or emailing us. 

 

Case 1: High Student Debt Scenario

  • Which plan should I use?
  • How much do I pay?
  • How do I plan for forgiveness?

 

Case 2: Low Student Debt Scenario

  • I didn’t borrow that much – What if I don’t need income-driven repayment?
  • When do I pay more? And How much more do I pay?
  • Should I or When do I refinance?

 

Case 3: Married Student Debt Scenario

  • Double Vet, Double Debt
  • One vet, spouse with no debt
  • Community property states
WHO

Tony Bartels, DVM, MBA joined Carl Darby, MA, VETMB for a discussion on your veterinary student debt questions and answers. Presented by VIN Foundation, VIN and Under the Microscope.

WHY

After working with thousands of veterinary students and veterinarians in repayment for the better part of the last ten years, we’ve amassed a lot of data, perspective, and experiences to help shed light on common veterinary student debt scenarios, much of which you can see reflected in the VIN Foundation Student Debt Center.

View the presentation below, and we encourage you to leave feedback or ask a question below in the comments!

If you don’t have time to watch the full presentation above, here are the presentation materials with links to valuable resources:

VIN Foundation | Supporting veterinarians to cultivate a healthy animal community | Blog | Furloughed and Unpaid Federal Veterinarians
January 28, 2019 In Veterinary student debt By Tony Bartels, DVM, MBA

Furloughed and Unpaid Federal Veterinarians

More than 3,000 veterinarians are Federal Government employees (USDA, FDA, EPA), and many work for agencies who are impacted when the government shuts down.  Even though the longest shutdown in U.S. history as just come to a close, there is a chance this will happen again in the future and impacted folks may still not have received back pay. 

 

This puts veterinary colleagues who work for the government and get furloughed, or otherwise do not receive income for working in an even tougher position if they have student loans. However, any reduction of your income (like when the government shuts down) provides a reason to re-evaluate your student debt repayment strategy and consider an income-driven student loan repayment plan (IBR, PAYE, REPAYE) to reduce your current monthly payment under IBR, PAYE or REPAYE.

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VIN Foundation | Supporting veterinarians to cultivate a healthy animal community | Resources | Solutions for the Profession Veterinary Student Essay Competition
January 14, 2019 In Press releases, Veterinary school, Veterinary students, VIN Foundation news By VIN Foundation

VIN Foundation Announces 3rd Annual Solutions for the Profession Competition

Third annual essay competition provides veterinary students with an opportunity to shed light on the impact of practice consolidation within the profession.

The VIN Foundation is excited to announce its third annual Solutions for the Profession Competition. The essay competition this year asks veterinary students to share their views on the impact of practice consolidation, both positive and negative on the profession.

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