Financial Aid Scams

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nurse2be2007

178 Posts

I have been on both sides of the rope. I attended college on a full pell grant back in 93 and had to drop out because my first daughter ( who was born with a severe birth defect) took a turn for the worse and was in a coma for 7 weeks. I went to the dean and they excused my pell, refunded it all back and made it look like I never attended. 12 years later, I tried to get a pell grant because even though my hubby has a decent career, we still struggle because we have three small children and one income. We sacrafice for me to stay home with the girls. When I finally decided to go back to school for nursing, we sat down and talked about all of our options. I applied for the pell and was given a EFC number higher than the cost of tuition for a full year at the cc in my district. So no pell! We figured out what we could cut back on or cut out completely so that we could save up the money for my first semester. We managed to do that and I was able to take two classes last fall. This semester was a disaster because, we figured that I would use my hubby's vacation pay that he gets every month (it comes out of his check so its not EXTRA money) because it is a 5th check for the month. We could pay our bills and live with his reg. paycheck and then I would use his vacation pay for school. The month I needed to register for the Spring 05, his vacation check didnt come. So I had to borrow the money from a family member, which I paid back the following month when he received two months worth of vacation pay.

I can not get a pell and I am managing to pay for school myself which I thank god for because otherwise I wouldnt be able to go. Now my state offers a grant for nursing students but you have to be officially admitted to the program and I am still doing pre-req's. So when I get admitted to the program I plan on applying for that grant, which isnt based on need, its strictly for nursing students. You can only get this grant if you dont receive a pell, so you cant get both which i think is only fair. Also, a family friend who is on the board for the Purple Heart organization here in my state is going to get me a scholarship for school but again I have to be admitted to the nursing program. So all I have to do is get myself through the pre-req's and I should have no problems after that. I only have two more classes of pre-req's and then I am done and can apply to the program. WOOOOHOOOO

To the OP, maybe you could check out and see if your state offers any type of nursing grants or even some of the local charity organizations. They might have nursing scholarships that you can apply for. I would check out all of your options, you never know what is out there to help. I do feel your pain though about the pell grant. I think they need to lower their income maximum and give some of us a break that have a larger family. I wish you all the luck in the world!

moonbunnie

134 Posts

i think that the system is just too overworked to actually take all sources of income and all circumstances into account. i know a couple who married and had a child while in high school, and because they are both students, they were getting a ton of money. like, community college tuition was about 2000 per year for both of them, and so they got that paid, and about 8000 a year for living expenses, all from grant money. But, they were living with parents and paying no rent, child care, or any other expenses, so they just put the 8000 they got for 2 years of community college in the bank. and i had just quit a full time job where i made "too much" money the year before, so i couldnt even get a penny to help with my tuition. it seems very unfair, but i dont think its necessarily a scam, just a poor system.

DenaInWyo

141 Posts

I have lived with my boyfriend for the past 5, nearly 6 years. I was married once, and there is not one advantage I can think of for doing something foolish like that again. He and I split the expenses 50/50, so there's difference financially between us and a pair of roommates.

I have two kids, and get the max pell/loans/a couple of scholarships. I suppose there are plenty of people out there who would say I am milking the system. Say what you like..no skin off my nose. I just know that I am able to give my kids at least a halfway decent standard of living and don't have to work a full time job so I have a little time left over for them. If I didn't have that money coming in, there would be no school for me. I can earn a living or go to school, but not both. If I can do it without having to scrape change out of the cushions for gas money, so be it, and I won't ever apologize to anyone for that.

Just remember, when you think you are sure of someone's personal standings, you may not know as much as you think you do.

Deana

kimhaw

221 Posts

I am sorry this is hardly a scam at all. If you are a mom w/ a live in boyfriend there is nothing legally tying this person to you and lots of times this person is not even the kids natural father. I never saw a finaid app. that asked do you have a live in boyfriend and bills must still be paid whether going to school or not. Should the boyfriend pay all the bills, no what happens if he leaves b/c they are not married the student can not legally get him to help her. Bottom line is if you are not married you are single and much better off conducting all financial affairs as that until you are married. If not you may find yourself w/bad credit and a heap of problems that a person put on you whom you are not married to.

Now if a person divorced their husband so they could get money that is a different thing but putting off marriage until graduation and your relationship is solid is not fraud.

I really don't beleive anyone should be concentrating on how much money someone get from finaid unless they are going to help them pay it back. People need to worry about more important things and concetrate on themselves. Also its very tasteless to brag about how much money you get from the goverment each sem. , so I can understand why it does raise eyebrows.

jmho

AnnaN5

429 Posts

Specializes in AGNP.
I am sorry this is hardly a scam at all. If you are a mom w/ a live in boyfriend there is nothing legally tying this person to you and lots of times this person is not even the kids natural father. I never saw a finaid app. that asked do you have a live in boyfriend and bills must still be paid whether going to school or not. Should the boyfriend pay all the bills, no what happens if he leaves b/c they are not married the student can not legally get him to help her. Bottom line is if you are not married you are single and much better off conducting all financial affairs as that until you are married. If not you may find yourself w/bad credit and a heap of problems that a person put on you whom you are not married to.

Now if a person divorced their husband so they could get money that is a different thing but putting off marriage until graduation and your relationship is solid is not fraud.

I really don't beleive anyone should be concentrating on how much money someone get from finaid unless they are going to help them pay it back. People need to worry about more important things and concetrate on themselves. Also its very tasteless to brag about how much money you get from the goverment each sem. , so I can understand why it does raise eyebrows.

jmho

I think that the financial aid also shouldn't take into consideration your parent's income a lot sooner than turning 24. I am in a bind with getting any financial aid because I am not 24, married, or have a kid - all of which are the requirements to be an independent student. I am 22 with a bachelors degree and a full time job plus I haven't lived with my parents for 3 years and they do not claim me on their tax return. But lucky me I still have to use my parents tax information on my FAFSA and now my EFC is $13,000. I was lucky enough for my parents to pay for part of my bachelors degree but now they are helping my younger sister pay for college so they don't have the extra money to help me anymore. :uhoh21:

My school's financial aid office said the only way I could be an independent is if I go to court and get emancipated from my parents which I think is a loan of crap. I get along great with my parents and they would give me the money if they could but I already got around $15,000 from them for my first degree. I wish schools and the goverment could make more financial aid decisions on individual basis.

fergus51

6,620 Posts

Yeah, I went through that stage too.... My parents made too much money so I had to work, and take a bank loan (due to be paid off this year!!). I don't know if it's just because I have distance from it (since I graduated years ago), but I've come to feel that it is my privilege to pay for the education I received. It was worth every penny. How many people on earth would give anything to have such an opportunity?

nurse2be2007

178 Posts

You are not alone in this situation. My younger brother was in the same boat as you are, with one exception. My parents couldnt afford to pay for his college so he had to wait till he was 24 to get a pell grant to go to school. He is now attending a 4 year university for his BBF degree and is racking up a heap of loans because the pell doesnt even touch the uni's tuition cost. It's just sad that education cost so much and there seems to be limited resources for some. There are some that DO scam the system. I knew a woman who did divorce her husband who made six digits a year so she could get financial aid, only to remarry him after she graduated. Now that IS scamming the system because they could afford to pay for school and just didnt want to. Her philosophy was: "Why should we pay for it when I can get it for free, marriage is just a piece of paper anyway!" UGH Its people like this that urk me. Those that choose to wait till they graduate to get married is not the problem, in fact I think they are making a very good life decision.

DenaInWyo

141 Posts

I have often wondered why 24 is the magical age for this. I don't know many 24 year olds who are still living with their folks. Why is it 21 is the legal age for everything else, but not for financial independence in the eyes of the gov.? I would also think this would be easy enough to validate, through taxes or even copies of utilities in the person's name. To put it plainly..that's just a DUMB rule.

Deana

NurseFirst

614 Posts

I have often wondered why 24 is the magical age for this. I don't know many 24 year olds who are still living with their folks. Why is it 21 is the legal age for everything else, but not for financial independence in the eyes of the gov.? I would also think this would be easy enough to validate, through taxes or even copies of utilities in the person's name. To put it plainly..that's just a DUMB rule.

Deana

And if you are going to "professional school" post-baccalaureate? I'm not sure there is even an age limit at which they stop considering parents' income. :eek:

NurseFirst

DDRN4me

761 Posts

Specializes in pedi, pedi psych,dd, school ,home health.

i understand completely OP. Kim,i see your point of view but i am still in school at 44, work 2 jobs, and my husband works . However, we have a 22 year old and a 20 year old in school as well. Do any of us get anything????nope. we can get federal loans, but no grants because we work too much. we need the work to pay our mortgage and the home equity loan we took out to pay for school so we all are not in debt till retirement. i think they need to reevaluate the criteria...you dont need to be "poor "to need the help.

eudemonist_too

12 Posts

Hey, take the advice of nurse2b2007. Check out your college of nursing and see what types of scholarships or grants they have info on. It's not really too difficult to apply for these things. I bet you'll find something! Good luck!

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