CNA financial assistance in Wisconsin?

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Hi all,

I am new to allnurses.com. But before I signed up, I would come here a lot and read questions I might have had at the time and stuff..this site seems nice.

For my question, I am a freshman at Alverno College in Milwaukee, WI and Nursing is my major. I would really like to become a CNA to start off and get a feel for the hospital environment. The accredited CNA programs are quite expensive, and I don't have the money to pay for it. Are there any programs in Milwaukee that anyone here from Wisconsin knows of that will help me pay for most or all of CNA course tuition? Anyone know of any grants or scholarships I can look into? Any insight will be helpful. Thanks

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Specializes in Acute Mental Health.

All of the tech colleges in WI require their nursing students to be CNA certified before beginning classes. I believe the only way you can get the course covered is if you qualify for like a DVR type program (Department of Vocational Resources). If you have already been accepted at Alverno, then I don't think there is much aid available. The course is a few hundred dollars and I would bet there is a wait list due to the requirement of the tech colleges. You might want to look into some of the ltc facilities that hold classes if you agree to work there for a certain number of months after passing their course. They might love having you because you're a nursing student wanting to stay in the field. Good luck and I hope you find a class :nurse:

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Some LTCs offer CNA classes and pay YOU to take them- and want you to at least work part time....if you get in to an LTC that has tuition assistance, you could get help financially w/school as well :)

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Have you tried MATC? They always offer a CNA course and it isn't terribly expensive (compared to Alverno's tuition!) I believe they have some kind of assistance available but can't remember the details. Also, Aurora Healthcare offers a CNA class as part of their recruitment process. You get paid to take the class over a few weeks (usually in the summer, I believe) and as a condition of that are hired to work for them. Check out their website for any openings like that.

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Specializes in Pediatrics & luvin it.

Check with your local hospitals. I am not sure about WI but where I live both major hospital systems have CNA classes for just the cost of the class which also covers the state exam. The class cost $128 and I did check into it and I found that there was no extra money made from the class.

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I am not sure if they still applies but in 2002 Linden Grove Nursing Home in Waukesha gave me a two week free class to become a CNA. They also paid for me to take the State exam which was also held at their facility. I only had to commit to three months of service. It was a nice facility to work at.The CNA to patients ratios were pretty low compared to other nursing homes where I did my nursing clinicals.

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Specializes in Critical Care.
Hi all,

I am new to allnurses.com. But before I signed up, I would come here a lot and read questions I might have had at the time and stuff..this site seems nice.

For my question, I am a freshman at Alverno College in Milwaukee, WI and Nursing is my major. I would really like to become a CNA to start off and get a feel for the hospital environment. The accredited CNA programs are quite expensive, and I don't have the money to pay for it. Are there any programs in Milwaukee that anyone here from Wisconsin knows of that will help me pay for most or all of CNA course tuition? Anyone know of any grants or scholarships I can look into? Any insight will be helpful. Thanks

Are you kidding me? You can't afford the cost of a CNA certification, but you're going to Alverno where you'll probably end up in debt of $60,000-80,000 or more? FYI you don't get paid more for a BSN, nor for going to an overpriced, expensive college!

All you get is more loans to pay back!

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Specializes in Pediatrics & luvin it.
Are you kidding me? You can't afford the cost of a CNA certification, but you're going to Alverno where you'll probably end up in debt of $60,000-80,000 or more? FYI you don't get paid more for a BSN, nor for going to an overpriced, expensive college!

All you get is more loans to pay back!

Actually it depends on where you live on whether you get paid more for a BSN or not. When I started my wife checked this out and found that in some states a BSN will get you more pay to start out and an ASN will not get you as much. She found where we live now it does not matter but where we would like to move on the east coast you do get more pay for a BSN.

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Are you kidding me? You can't afford the cost of a CNA certification, but you're going to Alverno where you'll probably end up in debt of $60,000-80,000 or more? FYI you don't get paid more for a BSN, nor for going to an overpriced, expensive college!

All you get is more loans to pay back!

For your information, the CNA class that best fits my schedule is $750, and as for Alverno, financial aid paid all of it's tuition for me. And you clearly over-exaggerated the debt amount. My student loans so far is under $7,000, and that is because I missed the opportunity to apply for a Grant that that I was eligible for because I did not know of it at the time. I'm better prepared for next year when I have to apply for financial aid, and will hopefully be able to accept less loans. A BSN in Nursing is better than an ADN, for numerous reasons. For one, you have a better chance of getting supervisory positions and are a bit closer to be a Charge Nurse or a Head Nurse even. Do you research before you start "yelling" out ridiculous things and assumptions. As far as I'm concerned, in Milwaukee, you do get paid more with a BSN and more jobs are requiring that a RN has a BSN opposed to an ADN.

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Specializes in Acute Mental Health.

I work in Milwaukee and you don't get paid more, but you may have more opportunities due to hospitals going for magnet status (or whatever they call it). You won't get head nurse or charge nurse right off the bat unless the place is short and I wouldn't want that title even after 1 yr working.

I hear Alverno is a great school! I went to tech college myself and am now going to Concordia for the completion. It's expensive as well, but with grants I'm good. Check into the long term care facilities and get some hands on experience. A new nurse with cna experience is a plus. Good luck to you!

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Not many people are aware of this, but it's federal law that a LTC facility must pay for tuition, books & fees, fee for the certification exam... I think it's up to each organization to determine how this actually works (my experience has been that you have to work, usually FT, for a period of time before you are reimbursed for your costs but if you are a good negotiator, you may be able to work something else out).

I'm pretty sure that this doesn't apply to acute care facilities.

Good luck!

Per Title 42 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 483.152© Prohibition of Charges. (1): "No nurse aide who is employed by, or who has received an offer of employment from, a facility on the date on which the aide begins a nurse aide training and competency evaluation program may be charged for any portion of the program (including any fees for text books or other required course materials)."

Further, per Title 42 CFR 483.154© Administration of the Competency Evaluation. (2): "No nurse aide who is employed by or who has received an offer of employment from a facility on the date on which the aide begins a nurse aide competency evaluation program may be charged for any portion of the program."

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