A friend desperately wants to go to nursing school but can't financially..any advice?

NurseyBaby'05, BSN, RN · Oct 21, 2004

Student Loans. I think the interest rate is around 3% and you have 10 years to pay it back after you're done. Same thing happened to me. Dh and I made $10 too much to qualify. There are also a lot of scholarships out there. She should check with financial aid. She could also try to check with her employer. There are a lot that offer tuition assistance.

CarVsTree · Oct 21, 2004

Check with local hospitals and the financial aid office at school. Is her school a community college? Hospitals are more open to footing the bill for a public college than a private college.

I have a grant through Lehigh Valley Hospital in PA. It pays my books, tuition, uniforms, with a little leftover each semester. I had to apply for the grant through my school. It is a grant not employee tuition reimbursement (I don't work there yet). I will owe them one year after I graduate in return. Once I'm an employee there, they will pay for my BSN (which will be through an expensive private college). This has been the only way I could be in school right now.

Encourage your friend to research local hospitals especially there websites (a lot of them have nursing websites in addition to their regular website). Tell her good luck!

flashyrn2be · Oct 21, 2004

Totally agree with above posts. Absolutely go for the student loans - some have great rates for RN students. Also employer assistance. Go ahead and apply for federal assistance. She may not get it at first, but with the help of the college she may later qualify. My college found $700 for me with a nursing grant.....I didn't know existed. Have her go talk to someone at the college - there is help out there - you just have to jump through hoops to get to it. Good Luck to your friend. :)

Yellow Rose RN · Oct 21, 2004

She can also request a meeting with the financial aid director to inform them of her financial situation right now. If she qualifies now... then sometimes they can work around only using last years tax info. Just tell her to be vigilent and keep trying. Good luck to her.

CHATSDALE · Oct 21, 2004

try everything...get through the financial office at college, try the internet, go to your public library, there are grants and scholarships out there that go unclaimed because the ones who need them are unaware that they are available

i know that some hospitals will pay for schooling in conjunction with a weekend option job....this can be REALLY rough...also you can find nursing schools with accelerated rn courses for lpns...this is also a rough way to go but you can have an ad-rn in as little as a year...don't give up

AdobeRN · Oct 21, 2004

Go speak to the Financial aid office. We were in similiar situation, didn't qualify for any grants the first time I applied. Filled out a special circumstance form and reapplied and received the money (our income was reduced by more than 25% from the year before). Also apply to the general scholarship funds thru the school. I did and was quite surprised that I actually received some money that way (my grades were not that great). Some others have already posted this, apply for student loans thru the school. They are not need based nor do they look at past credit. There is money available, but you have to do some hunting for it.

Jamie

jschut, BSN, RN · Oct 21, 2004

Apply for loans. I did. It sure is helping....if it weren't for Financial Aid, I wouldn't be a LPN today, and wouldn't be in RN school today!

Tell her to hang in there and good luck!

Lovermont · Oct 21, 2004

I applied for financial aid through http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ Worked out great for me. Good luck!

nursemike, ASN, RN · Oct 21, 2004

Agree with all above, but would add, don't take just enough loan money to pay for tuition and books. If more is available, take it! If you don't use it, it won't cost much to give some back, but you will use it.

Also, be persistant. If you give in to obstacles to getting into school, you probably aren't someone who'll make it through school. Whether or not it's by design, one thing nursing school measures is your degree of determination. If you aren't prepared to neglect your work, your family, and your health, you should probably wait until you are.

Other than that, it's great.

bahfotl · Oct 21, 2004

Almost any hospital in the area will offer scholorships to Nursing school. Fist come to staff then to all comers on a first come first served basis. Send your frient to your HR dept and get her in now!

Peachy720 · Oct 21, 2004

Hi guys!!

Hope this isn't a stupid or obvious question, but will financial aid (loans, hospital grant, etc) give enough to cover an apartment ($700-800/month)? I'm a single girl, and would like to avoid working if I can to concentrate on school..

Thanks guys, I'm so clueless at these things.. :imbar

Take care,

Tanya