Calling all Associate's Degree Students that already have a Bachelor's degree!

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Hi all! I'm looking for students who have been accepted to an AAS program at a local community college. My problem is that I have been accepted to Southwest Tennessee Community College in Memphis, but since I already have a Bachelor's degree, I've been told by someone in financial aid that I can't get any student aid. I never took out any loans in the past, most of my Bachelor's degree was paid for by scholarship. Is anyone else having this problem? I can't believe that I'm the only one with a Bachelor's degree who is going for an Associate's in Nursing, especially considering that 75% of kids at my school are receiving aid. I thought that when starting my Associate's track I was considered undergraduate again? Can anyone help??! thank you!!

It covered my tuition and I have a BS :)

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I have to pay cash, 4 payments per semester. I'm just working as much as possible, but its hard because that is still only part time.

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Specializes in Substance Abuse, Mental Health.

i was in your shoes! listen! i'm 1/2 finished w/ an adn program and i have a b.a. i earned in 2005. i was denied financial aid after i had completed the fafsa and fin. aid application. i anticipated this though and worked out a payment plan with the business office but all the while i was looking left and right for scholarship opportunities that would be open to me. one month, it was going to be really really hard making the payment and i pleaded with the financial aid office for any help and they did! i was eligible for $1,200 that they deposited that day ($600 for fall and $600 for spring)! then i found out the nursing faculty nominated me for a full scholarship through my school's foundation. i received the money a couple of months into the semester but it was awesome. any money i had paid toward my books and tuition was reimbursed back to me and then some. so as it turns out, i didn't receive any federal aid but i was still eligible for private scholarships and funds. please look into any and all possible sources. most schools have some kind of foundation office where people give back to the school to help students financially outside of the usual financial aid. also, check the college foundation for your state. mine has a scholarship-loan program that will give you money for nursing school as long as you commit to work in the state for at least a year.

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i have a bachelors and was allowed to get a federal loan one semester, then cut off the next semester because i had too many credits. i tried to appeal to no avail. since i had taken an extra chemistry class that was not part of my program but needed for the rn to msn program i wanted to apply to, i went beyond some irreparable credit cap that cut me off.

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that was for an associates in nursing, by the way. so my advice to you is be careful with extra classes if you have a bachelors and are getting loans for your associates in nursing! there are some funky financial aid rules out there! :-( i was aware i wouldn't qualify for grants, and rightly so, but not sure why i couldn't get loans anymore even though i was well below the maximum loan amount for that level.

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Specializes in Forensic Psych.
that was for an associates in nursing, by the way. so my advice to you is be careful with extra classes if you have a bachelors and are getting loans for your associates in nursing! there are some funky financial aid rules out there! :-( i was aware i wouldn't qualify for grants, and rightly so, but not sure why i couldn't get loans anymore even though i was well below the maximum loan amount for that level.

You cannot get ANY financial aid after you reach 150% of the required hours for your degree program, including loans So after 90-ish hours at a community college, you're cut off. Sometimes schools don't catch it or enforce the rules, but if they DO catch it or suddenly start cracking down, they can take it away without any notice.

Sometimes appeals works and sometimes not, but when they do go through, you aren't allowed to take any classes outside of your degree plan.

So, yes, people with a lot of credit hours need to be careful taking extra classes. And those who are over maximum time frame and still receiving aid need to have a financial back up plan in class their luck runs out!

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I had one course left to complete my B.S. in Biology, but I chose to return to community college to finish my pre-reqs and enter a nursing program. I was able to get a pell grant my first year, but I am unable to get anything this year because I have already been in college for more than 6 years. I also got fin aid taken away for exceeding my maximum timeframe, but it looks like I can have it petitioned. I was awarded a cal grant © and that's at least something. Otherwise, this year is going to be pretty bad for me since I have no aid and the first semester of the nursing program is the most expensive. We have no loans and finding a job is impossible for me because of my schedule. My boyfriend is going to help support me, but I really wish I didn't have to rely on him. I wish you the best of luck.

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