Denied Financial Aid b/c of Traumatic Event

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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I was denied Financial Aid, but not for income reasons. Supposedly, I'm denied because I "failed to complete the minimum required hours" of classes last time I was in school. Several yrs. ago, I was attending part-time on a Pell grant while working full-time and caring for my 2 kids. Something traumatic happened to me, involving a stalker, police, and trial. I was forced to quit my classes, for my own safety and that of my family. At the time, I explained my reason for dropping out to the admissions office staff. I also paid for the unfinished classes.

(The offender has served, to date, 9 yrs. in prison following conviction of that crime.)

Now that I finally know what my true calling is (nursing), and my kids are grown & I am able to attend school full-time, I'm turned down for financial aid because of something terrible that happened to me years ago. The only thing I know to do is to appeal their decision..I wonder if it would help to 'prove my case' by showing them the police reports, etc.?

Any advice is appreciated.

Meanwhile, I know someone who is getting their 3rd school grant in 3 yrs., who never finishes any of the classes she starts! She is literally living off the grant $$, just enrolling and attending long enough to get the checks and cash them. She knows it's wrong, but doesn't care (obviously) and she makes no secret of it to her family and friends. Supposedly, hers are Pell grants. When I got a Pell grant 10 yrs. ago, I never received any actual money - it was paid directly to the school. How many other people get away with this crap?

Okay - enough venting...but it's true. Just makes me so mad! :angryfire

If you are trying to attend the same school that you attended years ago then they are possibly denying you financial aid b/c you went past the required hours for that school. You will have to appeal the decision with the school. It has very little to do with the Government. If you were to attend another school then you will qualify for aid there b/c you are not over that schools maximum time limit. I say appeal with your school and if your are denied then go to another school.

If you are trying to attend the same school that you attended years ago then they are possibly denying you financial aid b/c you went past the required hours for that school. You will have to appeal the decision with the school. It has very little to do with the Government. If you were to attend another school then you will qualify for aid there b/c you are not over that schools maximum time limit. I say appeal with your school and if your are denied then go to another school.

Not exactly true. Yes, you do have to appeal with your school. Trying another school won't help if the OP transfers any credits from old school to new school, as she will encounter the same situation because most schools have this "Maximum Time Frame for Maintaining Aid Eligibility" rule in place. Again, I've encountered this issue also because I am applying to 2 different schools for their nursing program and had to meet pre-reqs for each and transfer over credits so as not to start all over in a new school. The process is painless and most schools have a form to fill out. Do it early, so it doesn't get caught in the backlog of all the other "financial aid" stuff that they typically get a certain times of the year.

Hey Everyone,

It sounds like I'm pretty much in the same boat, got my first bachelors degree, then realized a few years after that I wanted to go into nursing, (I never expected that I wouldn't get things like the pell grant, simply because I already have a bachelors degree)

Enough about that though....my question is since you don't qualify for pell grants even though your EFC is 0, what other grants are out there that I might not know about?? I really didn't want to take out student loans if I can possibly avoid it...

Search for scholarships. Once I was accepted into a nursing program there were a lot to apply for. I recieve a scholarship from Saint Francis hospital and one from the state of Oklahoma. If I did it again I would go for the federal programs that pay you a monthly stipened. I had zero money when I was accepted into the program. The lady at the desk (rude and mean ediot) in fin aid told me I was out of options. I looked into it further and talked to the director and was able to get help clearing it up and with the scholarships it is happening. Of course this was after tears and frustration. There are resources. I dont know about money for the pre-reqs though. Good luck and dont give up. When one door closes look to see if there are any others you can knock on.

She doesn't officially "drop" any classes. She just stops going. By the time they figure out she's not coming back, she's already received all the grant $$. Again, this is according to her.

This doesn't surprise me. At my school, the aid(grants/loans) goes to the school to pay the bill, then they mail the check(it's about 5 weeks into classes.) I swear, the week after people receive those checks, you can notice a difference in attendance.

Not sure how they keep this up. I mean, I get a refund, but I am in school and have a good gpa. I always thought that if you don't drop, you obviously fail. And if your gpa is horribly low, you get put on probation and won't be eligible for aid. And if you do drop, after 2 quarters, you have to start paying.

I would assume she is passing a few classes every now and then to keep it up.

Wanna know what's worse? People on welfare can go to the expensive nursing school by me($20K per year)and the state will pay for the ENTIRE education. On top of that, they get the full grant money. So they get paid thousands to go to school. :mad:

I would be frustrated to. I get financial aid but in loans, I qualify for very little "grant" money so I will owe when I am finished with school. It is very frustrating because I work full time but am going to school to try and better myself but b/c I work I feel like I am "penalized" so I have borrow the money. No I don't expect a free ride by any means but a little more help would be nice. I did drop a class last summer and had to pay for it or I would have been on financial aid probation.

This is a little off and just a vent.....I know someone that has been in prison for a drug conviction and..............that person is now going to a very expensive college being paid for by you guess it the state. They even pay the housing. This is for a degree related to the healtcare field. What I don't understand is will the person actually be able to use that degree and get a job in the healthcare field having a previous drug conviction??????? makes no sense to me. Situations like this make me so mad!!!:confused:

I would be frustrated to. I get financial aid but in loans, I qualify for very little "grant" money so I will owe when I am finished with school. It is very frustrating because I work full time but am going to school to try and better myself but b/c I work I feel like I am "penalized" so I have borrow the money. No I don't expect a free ride by any means but a little more help would be nice. I did drop a class last summer and had to pay for it or I would have been on financial aid probation.

This is a little off and just a vent.....I know someone that has been in prison for a drug conviction and..............that person is now going to a very expensive college being paid for by you guess it the state. They even pay the housing. This is for a degree related to the healtcare field. What I don't understand is will the person actually be able to use that degree and get a job in the healthcare field having a previous drug conviction??????? makes no sense to me. Situations like this make me so mad!!!:confused:

That's the same with some of the welfare people! My friend paid for the expensive nursing school while these people got free rides and then some. Some of the students talk about them having criminal records. The school could care less. They are getting money from the state, so it's not their loss if the student can't ever get a job or their license because of their record.

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