Can someone explain this MDC Financial Aid?

Jmiami · Sep 5, 2011

I have a BA in Theater Arts which basically has gotten me jobs that someone who didn't bother to go to college would get since the economy went south (retail, restaurant, admin). MDC Financial Aid office has said that I'm not eligible for a pell because of my previous BA (as was to be expected). They also said that because they are considered a 2 yr college, students are only able to use 2 yrs (4 semesters) of financial aid. They recommended to "save" whatever loans I could still qualify for (which would be the remainder of my feds since my credit disqualifies me from private loans) for when I start the ADN program (a 2 yr program). I still have a handful of pre-reqs (micro, a&p II, chem) that have labs and a couple w/o labs (growth and devel, intro to healthcare). Since some of the pre's require labs, that would require me to request a "set" schedule at work, which would require me to step down from my management position to a regular staff position - a pay cut of $5 an hour (I'd get paid 8.75 an hour). This pay cut would require me to seek financial aid if I were to complete my pre req's. Jobs are scarce to non existant in this area, especially if you don't speak spanish well like me (I'm learning, though!) otherwise I'd just go find another job. So how does a low wage earner with a BA, poor credit, a husband (boo, low wage earner too - we're trying to better ourselves!) and a two year old go back to school without saving for years and years? I've tried to save for quite a few years now and hurricanes, medical bills, family emergencies and the like end up draining my savings. I'm 32 and like to be a nurse before I'm 40 ). So, you can only use 4 sem worth of loans at MDC? What about nursing students who have quite a few pre-reqs to fill? I guess I don't understand why you're not able to take out fed loans up to your loan limits for whatever amount of time you need to get the ADN and pre reqs done. Am I just not understanding this correctly? Ideally I'd like to do the generic or accelerated RN option, but I could also become an LPN and work through the second year bridging over to RN. Either way the problem still stands: how to cover half of my household's living expenses for one to three years (depending on the option chosen) while going to school? People dig themselves out of dead ends all the time - there has to be a way!