Help: Need Money for School

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Hi, does anyone have any suggestions for getting money for school. I am looking to apply for scholarships.

I am no longer eliglbie for federal financial aid (grants) as I have already earned a bachelor's and master's degree. I can't do a second degree option as I have tapped out in student loans.

I was recently accepted into a nursing program at a community college. :) I know it will be so much cheaper than going to a university but I still need to come up with the money. :twocents:

Does anyone know of any good nursing scholarship websites?

Thanks for your help.

Specializes in Critical Care, Postpartum.
I was in a similar position when I went to nursing school. I had a bachelors degree and couldn't get aid either. I did, however, sign a contract with the hospital I now work for and they gave me $1000/semester in exchange for 2 years of service. I don't know if something like that is available for you, but it is worth trying. Good luck!

I'm actually in the process of applying to a tuition forgiveness program as you described. How is the experience been working for the hospital. Are you given full time hours?

OP, I would do a search in your area.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Np, i disagree with u there, jobs will pay for u to go back to school to get your RN, as long as you sign a contract to work for them for a certain amount of years. Im in LPN school right now, will be finished in Dec (God-willing) & right when I graduate, Im going right back for my RN. I already have all my prerequisites out the way. Im going to look to work for a company which has loan forgiveness. BUT again, a lot of companies definitely pay for nurses to further their education.

Congrats to you! I'll be done in June (God-willing also) but in my area things are really bad. I would like to go right into RN. I've been able to maintain myself since last year, but my unemployment will be running out soon. So now I'm torn between looking for work, or how I'll be able to take care of myself. But I'll look around. Thanks for the info!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I'm in the same boat! I don't qualify for WIA either, since my previous bachelor's is less than 10 years old. (graduated in 04). I'm able to get some student loans to cover the tuition, but like you I will have to quit my full time job in August when classes start and I have no idea how I will manage to cover the mortage and all the bills. I'm hoping we can muddle through the first semester and then if I can take the CNA test hopefully get a part time job at the hospital for the rest of school. Heck they may even have tuition reimbursement, which would be awesome. I'm most worried about paying for daycare, which will be a new expense on top of losing half our already paycheck to paycheck income. Just have to keep our eye on the prize! There is an RN at the end of the struggle!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
lol. when i got my mba it changed nothing as far as pay goes. not all industries pay well like nursing. although i do think an mba will help me after i get my rn license.

the community college that i will be attending costs approximately $4,000 for the first semester (don't have $4k sitting around). after that it's about $1,500 a semester.

i have to quit my job because i will not be able to work part time there. i applied at a few hospitals for part time positions. although, like everyone else, i will still need to pay my monthly bills. i have to figure something out soon.

i have googled a lot of scholarships but they all require a letter from an instructor. that will be almost impossible as i took all of my science/nursing pre-reqs like 7 years ago.

it's going to be hard, but i will make it work some how.

i don't know how much you think nurses get paid but it might not be as much as you think. general motors hourly employees make more than many nurses do, especially new grads.

plus, your mba won't do a thing for you in terms of getting more money as a nurse, or even getting hired, unless you go into management at some point. even then, you'd be surprised at how little many management positions in nursing pay. many staff nurses make more money than some management positions, especially once you factor in some ot.

private student loans are available. but you should get one before you quit your job or you will need a co-signer for the loan. just don't tell them you plan to quit your job.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Peds and PICU.
I'm actually in the process of applying to a tuition forgiveness program as you described. How is the experience been working for the hospital. Are you given full time hours?

The hospital I contracted with is the large teaching hospital in my area. I absolutely LOVE where I work! I have been there for almost 3 years (in 2 months!) so I have met and exceeded my 2 year commitment.

As part of the contract, recipients of the scholarship must work full time in any of the participating system hospitals (our teaching hospital is the "hub" with several smaller community hospitals feeding into it) for a minimum of 2 years. However, like most programs, obtaining the scholarship doesn't guarantee a job. I was lucky when I started that new grad jobs weren't so difficult to get. In the last few years, my hospital had very few new grad positions in limited departments. I think the trend is turning though, at least in my region. We hired 2 new grads in my PICU in February and we have another 2 new grads starting in July. Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come! Good luck with school and your future nursing career!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Hi, does anyone have any suggestions for getting money for school. I am looking to apply for scholarships.

I am no longer eliglbie for federal financial aid (grants) as I have already earned a bachelor's and master's degree. I can't do a second degree option as I have tapped out in student loans.

I was recently accepted into a nursing program at a community college. :) I know it will be so much cheaper than going to a university but I still need to come up with the money. :twocents:

Does anyone know of any good nursing scholarship websites?

Thanks for your help.

Here are a few ideas.

It may depend on what state you're in as many nursing scholarships are administered by the state so be sure to check that.

However here is a link for health and human services nursing scholarships

http://www.hrsa.gov/loanscholarships/index.html

Think outside of nursing specific scholarships to scholarships too. here is a general index of scholarships link.

http://go.salliemae.com/scholarship/

I'm sure there are others, know I've seen books and such at Borders.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
You can do what my counselor told me to do...

Get divorced... and have an illegetimate child.

I was in shock over that advice.

I applied for tiny scholarships that the hospitals around were offering- without a sign-on contract.

I sold things a lot of the clothing I had for the TV station I worked at on E-Bay and paid for my books! I didn't have any clothes, but hey.

My husband got a second job (during the last two semesters of school).

It may be why it took me 8 years to finally graduate with a BSN? LOL.

actually, your counselor probably told you to do that so you would qualify for federal grant money.

this poster isn't eligible for grant money (even if they had an illegitimate child).

Up Vote Up Vote ×

You mentioned you had an MBA so you might have heard of the three Fs of small business: friend, family, and fools. YMMV.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Emergency.

You may have a hard time getting scholarships before starting nursing school. After you finished a semester/year or nursing (and perform well), you'll have a lot more available - both at school and various resources. ask the local librarian for resources. Also, you may have to consider taking out loans specifically due to your particular situation (and/or work some type of part time job - preferably as a cna). BTW, your community college is very expensive at $4k/semester. My program was less than $7,000 for the entire ADN program.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I had a mortgage to pay and a child to support while I went to school. Since I didn't qualify for financial aid, I was put into the position of working to pay for school, and the mortgage, and my child's support, as well as my own support.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care.

How much do you owe in student loans right now? Are you going to have the time and money to pay them off and the extra for this nursing degree? How many years are you from retirement?

You must remain current on all your student loans. If you end up defaulting they double or triple what you owe with all the collection fees they are allowed to tack on. Student loans are not bankruptible and will remain with you till you die. They will garnish wages, tax returns, disability or retirement if you still owe them.

Most importantly, if you are in default you will not be able to practice as a nurse because they will take away your professional license.

Student loans are serious business and in truth I think the most dangerous loan out there because there are virtually no consumer protections.

I would think long and hard before quitting my job and putting myself deeper in debt, especially if you are an older person as you have less years to work to pay off the debt before retirement and greater chance of illness and disability.

Couldn't you look into ways to use the degrees you have already, esp the MBA. It would be the most practical approach.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care.

It's true you could put the loans into deferment, but the interest will be capitalized and the debt will grow.

I don't know how the job market is for RN's where you live, but in many places, new RN's are having a difficult time getting a job, because present nurses are working longer, defering retirment, picking up overtime, or returning to the workforce due to the general bad economy and high unemployment rate. Also hospitals and nursing homes are under financial pressure with the medicare and insurance changes and people are not having routine surgery very frequently anymore due to the high out of pockets most people with insurance have.

What interested you in becoming a nurse? Have you seen nurses in action. It is a difficult, physically and emotionally, high stress job.

So if you think it is an easy job to get and good pay, that is not necessarily the case anymore.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment