Denial of financial aid for previous associates degree

Nursing Students General Students

Published

Hello everyone, I have worked my tail off to be accepted (and i was!!!) into the Practical Nursing program at a community college where i am from. I got a letter in the mail yesterday which is 16 days from the start of the class saying that I am ineligible for financial aid due to already having an Associates degree which is in an entirely different field. I cannot find anything saying that i should be ineligible. I will be calling and talking to them tommorrow but i wanted to see if anyone else has had this problem and if they appealed and won. I really want to be able to do this. Thanks for any input you guys have.

Specializes in MED-Surg; IMCU; PACU.
If you are eligible for food stamps you are likely eligible for WIA grants, if funds are still available in your area. The maximum income for WIA grants is a little higher than for food stamps. The caveat is that you must complete the educational training in 12-18months. If your first semester is done, it sounds like you are in the home stretch. Which office/agency administers WIA varies by state/county. But it's something to look into

I am supposed to graduate with ADN June 2015. Thank you for the info! I've never heard of WIA and I will be looking into it (after finals!)

Specializes in MED-Surg; IMCU; PACU.

I have housing. I also have 2 teenagers so caring or night-sitting isn't an option for me. Thank you for the opportunity.

Specializes in CMSRN.
I have housing. I also have 2 teenagers so caring or night-sitting isn't an option for me. Thank you for the opportunity.

Hi TiffiniNicole! You might want to read this article from allnurses regarding your avatar. https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/about-that-avatar-900567.html It's a great read. (and welcome to AN!)

Yep, you are only eligible for Student Loans, not Pell Grants if you are going back for a lower or same level degree that you already have. I have a Bachelors Degree in French, and am going back for my RN. I can't get grants, only loans, thankfully I have GI Bill to pay 80% of everything.

OK I thought i would update everyone. My school which is a community college APPOVED my appeal. I am so relieved and happy as i can now start classes which are only 9 days away. I am so excited for this journey. Now to start building a list of supplies that i will be needing.

Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

Congrats!!! :up:

Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.

Congrats! I'm still battling my denial. Fingers crossed!

Met with my FA last week and brought up this issue. I am on wait list for my ADN school, which will be an AS degree. I have 5 classes to finish an AA degree. Some of those classes I will need if I decide to bridge from ADN to BSN, so I planned to take those while waiting to start ADN.

I learned here that FA will only pay for one, so that left me freaked out. If I finish my AA, what about my ADN? I was told that the ADN was an actual degree, which would be considered continuing my education. So there will not be a conflict. WE can only move forward, not backwards. So I can not get another AA, with a difference focus, etc. Or anything that is considered less then an AA level.

Good that happened to me also, all worked out fine, they just set me up as "second degree" and I am now in my 4th and final semester of nursing school (RN) with no FA problems since then. ?

I ran into the same exact thing, I graduated with an AA in May from one community college but got accepted into the LPN program at another campus but still a community college. I could not even appeal my case because they said with the transfer credits that I currently had plus the credits I earned at the community college that they could not do ANYTHING for me...Not even loans. So, I had to turn down my seat in that program, but I was able to go to a 4 year university or a private school for my LPN, the problem with the private school is that my loans only cover $19,000 and I still have to come up with $12,000 and my credit is not good enough to get a private loan on my own:-(. So, I have been on fastweb.com looking for grants or scholarships because now I don't know if I will be able to attend and pay for school AGAIN....Pray for me!!!

On 7/20/2014 at 7:19 PM, NICUmiiki said:

A school can only give you FA (financial aid) for up to 150% of the hours for the program and they count any and all course work completed whether FA paid for it or not. For example the LPN program takes 60 hours. That means the school can grant you FA for 90 hours. But oops! you completed 95 hours for your associate degree in business already. You are not eligible for FA for that program. Also, you would be eligible for a bachelors degree that requires 120 hours because the max would then be 180 hours (you have 95).

You can file an appeal. In my experience, schools happily accept appeals with any semi-good reason, because they might not get any money if they don't. They just want the proper paperwork for when they are audited.

Do they counted the LVN program too?

I am able to get financial aid for my Lvn program, and after that I am going for my Adn and after that my Bsn. What I am worrying about is if I will be able to get tuition aid for my Adn program after my Lvn program?

+ Add a Comment