where to begin when paying for nursing school

U.S.A. Texas

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I'm in desperate need for any advice for scholarships to pay for nursing school. Everything I have applied for denies me because "were not poor enough" Yes I understand low income families need help but so do middle income. With only one income and a family of 5 paying for school is killing us. I'm so frustrated. Why cant they have programs for low income that middle classes cant apply for but also have programs directed solely to middle class families who are raising kids and trying to better the future!!! Please if anybody know any programs out there please let me know. Ill be attending GCC Nursing program in Denison Texas. Letter go out the first week of June. Fingers crossed this has been a long road I pray I get accepted.

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I also got the "not poor enough" rejections and ended up working to pay for school.

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I dont have the option to work I attend classes during the day and my husband works nights. This leaves us with nobody to stay at home with the kids during the evening hours...

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I feel for you! I do not think that it is fair, they want you to be "indigent" before they will help. In this way it makes it difficult for people that are making it, but could use some help to move up in life. I wish you luck:heartbeat

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lots of loans

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Specializes in NICU Level III.

Same thing with the "not poor enough".. Made me so mad when my friends who had parents that refused to work got a full ride to college and I had two hard working parents and didn't get a penny. FAFSA - not my friend. Anyway, I didn't bother with any scholarships and just did a loan from a bank...for everything including rent and groceries! Paid it back pretty fast, too.

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the only types of loans I have heard of are student loans from the school. Are the loans you received from the bank student loans or just a personal loan. Do payments begin right away or after school.

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There are private loans IE Chase offers them. You can defers the payments, but their interest rate is higher and any loan that is considered a student loan is not dischargable if you can't afford them. Go for grants, scholarships, and work as much as possible.

Edit: By the way I am also "too rich" etc. So I have to work a lot. One this is for sure. Do not use credit cards to pay for school. Do you have family who might be able to help or loan money? Having to work makes your grades and progress through school much harder. Good luck!

One more thought... Don't let the expense hold you back. Do loans if you need to in order to get through school. If you put off going to school you may never go back and you 'll regret it.

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Specializes in NICU Level III.

Mine were deferred until after school and I think it was through Chase.

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Specializes in CDI Supervisor; Formerly NICU.
I also got the "not poor enough" rejections

Me too. Not poor enough (and down here, too Caucasian - I looked at the scholarship board on campus again the other day, and all 35 scholarship postings were for "of Hispanic origin only".), so it was up to me to find private loans to cover my lost salary.

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Specializes in Utilization Management.

Same here.

So I worked as a CNA 32 hrs per week (I did evening-night doubles on the weekend at a nursing home) and hubby stayed home with the child, and I got tuition assistance through my employer. Yes, it was a big sacrifice, but we did it and I didn't have to worry about loan repayments.

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Even though you do not qualify for pell grants, you can get federal student loans. With my first degree, I had to use these the whole time because we made too much money. When you filled out the FAFSA, there was a question that asked if you wanted loans. If you checked yes, they should have told you that as a freshman, you are eligible for 9500/yr. If you did not check yes, go back on the FAFSA site and do a correction and have it sent back to your school so you can get these loans. They are better than private loans from banks, less interest rates and not based on credit at all. You do not have to pay them back until 6 months after school. Even then, there are a million reasons they will let you go into deferment, which means you don't have to pay. I am in deferment right now on mine just because I qualified for medicaid for pregnancy. Not sure a bank would do that on a private loan. Talk to the financial aid office about it. I would say talk to hospitals about scholarships, but you may be out of luck there with the way the economy is. Please check out this website about federal stafford loans. http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/studentloans.jsp

I hope this helps you.

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