by Sponsor

Hello Filipina Nurses. I am looking for some help here, I met a girl in Hong Kong who I intend helping by sponsoring her through nurse training in Cagayan de Oro. She is from a poor family so needs my help.
Can you tell me please how much she would need monthly for living expenses if she is away from her family who are not in Cagayan. What are the tuition fees at Xavier college?
What qualification will she need to work abroad?
I have asked her but of course would like to know from those of you who have gone through the same thing.
Many Thanks.

Re: How much

Good day sponsor,

It's nice to meet people like you who are eager to help others. Regarding the various costs, tuition would probably run from 18000 to about 22000 pesos per semester depending on the number of units she will be enrolled in.Living expenses would probably be from 4500 to about 6000 pesos per month. she will also need additional money for books, uniforms and other requirements.To be able to work abroad she will need to pass the local boards and other qualifying exams required by the country she is planning to work in.Hope this helps.

Re: How much

Thanks Monodon, she is telling me that Xavier university in Cagayan de Oro is 40000 per semester to study nursing, that sounds rather excessive to me. She is asking for 20000 a month to cover everything. Is that reasonable or am I being taken for a ride here? I want to help her but don't want to be scammed iether!
Is it feasible for her to study and also work part time to help support herself?

Re: How much

Hi Sponsor,

I know for a fact that Xavier is very expensive. The University has a very good reputation and has 100% passing rate in the Phil nursing board exam (in 2006). They have entrance exam in order to get there. So, even if you have the money, you have to prove that you'll be able to meet their academic standards. Check them out via this link:
http://www.xu.edu.ph/

Re: How much

Originally Posted by Sponsor

Thanks Monodon, she is telling me that Xavier university in Cagayan de Oro is 40000 per semester to study nursing, that sounds rather excessive to me. She is asking for 20000 a month to cover everything. Is that reasonable or am I being taken for a ride here? I want to help her but don't want to be scammed iether!
Is it feasible for her to study and also work part time to help support herself?

40,000.00 pesos a semester is reasonable for a full time student. but to me, 20,000 a month is too much, I dunno what is the breakdown of her monthly expenses, does that including board and lodging? dormitory fees? books?. You might want to ask the school for the tuition cost. Nursing is very expensive. You can have a set amount of money to burn every month, but there is always something you need that extra cash for. My expenses varies when I was a student 3 years ago ( $1.00= 56.00, back then, I dunno now).. honestly, it's not a good idea to work while your in nursing school, even part time. yeah, it is expensive. with that kind of money, you might want to think about that twice.

Re: How much

Sponsor;

You are indeed noble for your willingness to sponsor a gifted child through 5 years of college. As an expat myself, and one who has set up sponsorships for other nurses here in Baguio, I can give you some guidelines.

1. If she can pass the entrance exam at Xavier Univ., which is a TOP RATED University, then you can get the exact costs for the year from the Registrars office directly. However, if she does not qualify for Xavier, and chooses another college of nursing, make SURE that school has a good record of first time Nurse License Examination passing rate. There are over 400 nursing schools, of which only 60-70 consistently have a 70-99% passing rate on the nurse license exam (NLE).

2. Figure 40,000 a semester for the first year (80,000 total tuition and lab fees). 2nd through 5th year will be more expensive as she progresses but you can get those costs from the school at the beginning of each school year.

3. In addition, she will need money each semester for books, supplies and uniforms. Figure about 5,000 for books, 5,000 for uniform items (shirts, lab coat, etc). Also, a nice private room or small apt. will be about 6,000-8000 per month rental. Utilities will be another 1,000 - 2000/mo. Food and transportation costs per day will be about 150/day 4,500/mo. So you see, 15-20000/mo for Rent, Food, Utils. Transportation should cover it.

These are estimates only and will vary according to location. Manila schools are very expensive so living costs will be up another 50% compared to smaller cities.

Here is the link to Xavier Univ. http://www.xu.edu.ph/

She is too late to enroll in any school starting this year, but may be able to enroll as an "Irregular" student beginning 2nd Semester (October/Nov). Check with the University to see what their policy is regarding mid term enrollment, otherwise, she should begin in March of 2008 to get enrolled for the 2008/2009 Scholastic year.

Good luck!!

Re: How much

Thank you Hoss Marwan and Hawaii for your helpful replies. If I am going to help her then it might as well be the best place. She is concerned that the other students at Xavier will be "too rich" as she is from a poor background. How does the Liceo Cagayan rate?. She already has college time training in social work so is it feasible for her to do nursing in only 2yrs? I also get the point about not working part time, she wants to do as many units as she can to reduce the overall time of study.
She thinks that she can still enroll this week while they are still adding and dropping units. I'll let you all know what happens.

Re: How much

I thought you might be interested in knowing how it is all going.
The answer is not very well! She managed to enroll late and is now in her second simester. Her studies seem to have been going well and I am pleased with that.The problem has been the extra money she keeps asking for to help out various family members, they seem to have got it into their heads now that she is rich as they have seen her with money and know that nursing is an expensive course to study.
I went up the wall when she asked for the money to pay for some exams recently and I knew that I had sent her enough. It turns out that their was a family crisis and she could not bear to see the family do without. I had previously helped her when her mother was ill with some extra, so I guess she thought it would be alright. I have tried to impress on her that I am trying to help her only and that she is on a last chance. I don't want to let her down but am beginning to feel that I'm being taken for a ride here.
Any comments!!

Re: How much

hi sponsor! my im so glad that a person like you still exists today.
anyway im from CAGAYAN DE ORO i was born there.

Xavier University (XU) opened nursing around 2002(if i remember it right), the nursing department was so strict, they don't want to accept students who wanted to shift from other courses, they don't accept transferees, they only accept students straight from highscool!
And if you are a fresh highschool graduate you need to meet their academic standards. so you see getting in XU is very very difficult, the fact that she was able to get in is something.

did u call XU already and confirmed if she is really studying there? you can reach XU at
(+63) (088) 858-3116.

Cost of living in Cagayan de Oro is soooo cheap! we own several apartments and we set them up for rent, our apartment is conveniently located near XU and its just a 3-5 minute ride away. Our rate is 3,500-4,000 pesos/month (1 US dollar= 48 pesos) it have 3 bedrooms, so if she lives alone one bedroom is enough our rate for that one is 1,500-2,000 pesos. take note that our rate is already expensive(very near the city proper)

food? its also very cheap. back when i was a student there (5 years ago) i didn't eat at expensive places like Mcdonalds, me and my friends ate at "carinderia's" and its cheap and CLEAN too (they have DOH certificates) 50 pesos would be enough for one meal in a carinderia.

now about the books, i never bought all the "required books" except for the books that "you-really-cant-live-without" like lab manuals etc...other than that i utilize the FREE cable fast internet offered by XU for free, i also learned to utilize the 2 building , 6 floor library! wow!

anyway about her getting worried that she came from a poor family and her friends are rich, um i came from a poor family too (my aunt in the U.S.A. paid for my nursing education) and i was able to survive. and oh that really depends on who you hang out with. Anyway, most of the rich kids who are studying in XU doesn't judge you if your poor or rich. and it would also her choice if she would want to hang out with the rich kids or the middle class kids. anyway i have rich friends there and they too eat at "carinderias"

don't get me wrong but 20,000 is very very big especially that CAGAYAN DE ORO is a province! but then just ask her to give you some OFFICIAL RECEIPTS and some monthly liquidation.

hope this helps.

Re: How much

Originally Posted by Sponsor

I thought you might be interested in knowing how it is all going.
The answer is not very well! She managed to enroll late and is now in her second simester. Her studies seem to have been going well and I am pleased with that.

how did you know? did she send you her grades? i just want to tell you that it's so easy to replicate the grade sheet XU gives out. by the way is the school sending you her grades every semester?

Originally Posted by Sponsor

The problem has been the extra money she keeps asking for to help out various family members, they seem to have got it into their heads now that she is rich as they have seen her with money and know that nursing is an expensive course to study.

so nice of you to give her "extra money" can you send some for me too? hehe.

Originally Posted by Sponsor

I went up the wall when she asked for the money to pay for some exams recently and I knew that I had sent her enough. It turns out that their was a family crisis and she could not bear to see the family do without. I had previously helped her when her mother was ill with some extra, so I guess she thought it would be alright. I have tried to impress on her that I am trying to help her only and that she is on a last chance. I don't want to let her down but am beginning to feel that I'm being taken for a ride here.
Any comments!!

i am happy that a person like you is helping someone achieve their dreams, but if you feel that your taken for a ride, trust your instincts! call the school, call the hospital and ask for verifications.

anyway, if your willing to give more, more than education, like supporting her family, then by all means do so, but if your on a tight budget, just tell her that you can only support her education and not her family, if she wants to help them out, she need to excel in nursing and would help them soon when she finishes her education.

anyway, im just curious, are you a filipino?
you met her at HK right? can you please tell me more, im just curious. thanks.