Student Loans??

MS Kathy · Sep 19, 2006

Talk to your financial advisor at school. For me I filled out the financila aid application for school and the FAFSA. The school then cam back and told me how much I could get through federal loans (US Dept. of ED/SallyMae) and everything went through them ( I had to sign some paperwork and do an online tutorial). As an independent student you qualify for more than a dependent student. I qualified for subsidized and unsubsidized fed loans. The amount you can get depends on your year of school- I think the most is 8,500 for the 1st year and 10,500 the second. BUT if you have other aid (Pell Grant, scholarship, etc) you can only receive the total aid that they calculate as the cost of attendance per year (tuition, transportation, books, housing) and these totals may be different for commuting and resident students.

So for example my calculated cost for the year are 15000 after tuition comes out(4500) then 10,500 is refunded for the year- 5,250 for each semester so after books, transportation and child care there may not be a lot left for rent.

But that all depends on your individual costs.

I don't know how private loans work- I never qualified without a cosigner and there is no one to do that. :-)

But look locally to help fill other costs- Food Stamps, Child care assistance though DHS, Medicaid. They are **** to get the application through- but it helps to make it all work.

Kathy

Oh and once you get the refund- the money is yours to use as you want.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Sep 20, 2006

I obtained a private student loan from SallieMae in the amount of $20,000. You can visit http://www.SallieMae.com for more information, but my advice is to borrow as little money as possible because all loans need to be repaid eventually.

Grants do not need to be repaid, but many of us do not qualify to receive them.

yuca799 · Sep 20, 2006

Hello,

Yep, I agree with the above post. I went to http://www.salliemae.com and I got the loan ($29,000...YIKES!) and this barely covers 2 semesters at my school (Barry University in Miami,FL). I didn't need a cosigner and it was painless. I also filled out a FASFA and I got about $10,000 in unsubsidized loans for two semesters. Anything helps at this point. There are other private loans out there like http://www.educationone.com. Just do a websearch for "Private student loans" and you'll find many, many options. Best of luck to you. Never give up on a dream....especially when money is the obstacle. Find a way to do it and you will be rewarded in the end! Good luck future nurse!