How to pay for Nursing school: Student Nursing Scholarship + Financial Aid Links

missmollie, ADN, BSN, RN · Jun 9, 2014

Edited because I didn't realize this was a necro thread. For the last poster, if you are considering how to pay for school and have ever had a job that you contributed money for a 401K, you might consider dipping into that.

cracklingkraken, ASN, RN · Jun 9, 2014

I'm currently in a similar situation, as well. However, I managed to reduce my student loans by working in college and receiving grants and scholarships. Even so, I still have approximately 20k in debt. I've used this time in the summer to pick up extra jobs to help ease the financial burden, and will probably continue to work part-time during nursing school. I am choosing to go to a CC for my ADN or a PN program (I'm still waiting on a letter) to save on costs and then continue a bridge program after I pass the NCLEX, whether it be to complete a BSN or go from LPN-RN. Only you can determine what is right for your current situation. You should definitely consider other options if cost is such a big factor, whether it be to attend CC for your ADN or waiting a year or two to do the nursing program and working during that time to ease some of that financial debt. Have an open mind and good luck :)

HippyMama · Jul 31, 2014

So I'm pretty sure I do not qualify for federal financial aid. When I was sixteen and seventeen my mom signed me up for a university. Not only do I owe the university five grand but between the two years of full time credits I have reached the maximum units attempted now for financial aid.

I returned to school as an adult and took a year of general education class then two years of nursing Pre requisite classes. Now the debt from the university as a teenager has caught up with me! Is there any way I can have schools not ask for those transcripts there is no way I capay a five grand debt from when I was a minor! Also if those units did not count towards my maximum units attempted I could get grants to cover tuition and books etc.

i feel like I've made it so far to stop now. I'm not sure if I could get scholarships for everything because I'm not the greatest. I have a high gps but very little extracurriculars and took time off of work to be a stay at home mom. All my prerequisite are about five years old so I don't have recent professors to write letters of recommendations.

Now that my son is school age I was really hoping to go back to school this fall but then I found ut about the old debt and credits from the univeresity my mom signed me up for from sixteen to eighteen. She says since I was signed up for classes after my eighteenth birthday it's not her responsibility and I need to deal with my actions. That was about fifteen years ago and I did not go to the classes! I'm so frustrated right now, thanks for reading!

cracklingkraken, ASN, RN · Jul 31, 2014

Unfortunately, there is no way to undo the past. It seems to show up at the worst times, but you have to learn how to deal with it wisely. Are you asking whether you can exclude your past academic history while enrolling in nursing school? I don't understand. How would that help you financially? I think that PPs from previous threads have mentioned that not including your past academic history is a form of dishonesty and is not okay. I suggest finding a part time job and paying for school as you go along. You could qualify for in-school deferment, which would prevent your current loans from accumulating interest (depending on the types of loans you have) while you are enrolled. However, I'm not really familiar with your situation, as well as not 100% sure about how financial aid works, so I can't really give you more input than that. I'm sure some other posters will have more insight.

HippyMama · Jul 31, 2014

As for the transcript from the old university it did end up showing up when I applied to a different univeresity this fall. I was accepted then rejected for academic dishonesty. I had gone to community college without it showing up and honestly did not think to look into the classes my mom had signed me up for. They we're all pass or fail grades and even though I did not go I passed sbout half of them! So now if I reapply to that particular school I have to have the transcript. As for the loans I am doing income based repayment of zero to five bucks a month. I'm not worried sbout default since I'm making my payments.

For financial aid for a bachelors degree that takes 120 units to complete a student can only get aid for up to 180 units. If you count the two hers my. Mom signed me up for and the three I went to st community college as an adult (one year of general Ed to get into prerequisite classes and two years of prenursing classes ) then I have the maximum units attempted. Therefore I am not eligible for more financial aid unit wise, it's part of the satisfactory academic progress.

Im not really sure sbout how any of the liberal arts classes taken pass fail would effect my overall gpa and my chance of getting admitted as most schools. My prerequisite gpa is 3.9 to 4.0 depending on if statistics is a prerequisite or co requisite.

So I guess my main trains of thought right now are:

Are there any nursing schools that only ask for Pre requisite transcripts? Or offer any type officer for including very old transcripts? There was a ten year gap between when I was a minor and then restarted school at community college.

Is thee ny type of financial aid that does not look at maximum units attempted in calculating their satisfactory academic progress?

Right now my only viable option seems to go to. Community college in Californis and getting a board of governors fee waiver to covere tuition. However since I've done the Pre requisite for BSN programs I feel like getting s LVN certificate would be my last resort...

Do any others states have similar programs like the board of governors fee waiver? I plan on working as a CNA again wherever I would move to be a resident for. I doubt there still are any hospitals that still offer it but some of the nurses I worked with years ago when I was a CNA before had their tuition paid by the hospital they were an aid at.

Im really grasping for shoestrings here! But becoming a RN has been my dream for years now andim not going to let it slip by just because a mistake from soo long ago!

BeachsideRN, ASN · Jul 31, 2014

Appeal to the financial aid dept at your school. It's usually a form that needs to be signed by your advisor stating why you are over max allowable credits. Unfortunately you need to provide all transcripts to every university, I have a stack of 12 because I cross enrolled at different schools to complete my degrees (I got my first BA in chemistry over 10 years ago).

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Jul 31, 2014

Wow - what a pickle.

Based on OP's comments about that first school -- didn't attend the courses but still passed -- my spidey sense tells me that it was one of the notorious for-profit schools.... If that is the case, that "school" was obviously committing fraud by claiming that OP was not only attending but passing the "course". This should be reported to OP's state Attorney General. If OP does this, it may help her appeal for financial aid those funds were misappropriated by that "school".

I do echo PPs advice -- PLEASE avoid private loans at all costs. The interwebs are full of tales of woe - inability to pay, astoundingly high interest rates causing the total debt to increase at a rapid rate, etc.

AspiringNurseMW · Jul 31, 2014

Always always always file your FAFSA. Don't assume anything until you have done that at least. It seems odd that you could have maxed out financial aid in 2 years. FAFSA usually takes less than 1 week to get back an answer via e-mail and now that you are a independent student you qualify for larger amounts in Federal loans. After you get back your FAFSA go speak to someone in financial aid.

HippyMama · Jul 31, 2014

I'm so stoked to hear about the financial aid appeal for maximum units attempted. Once I find a way to get accepted into nursing school I will totally give it a go! And pray the appeal goes through too.

The University claims since I kept enrolling in classes, it was my mom signing me up as a minor, I was a participating student. I guess I passed classes just because they were pass fail and had no required graded assignments or something!? The school has since changed their grading policy to grades and each class requiring assignments. Also because my records are from over a decade ago they only have my grades on file, not nots from professors or attendance records.

i filled my FAFSA for the BSN program I was going to attend this fall which is how I found out about the old university transcript. The fin aid office said they could not complete my application till the admissions office got it. Then the admissns office told me it was academic dishonesty to not include it and I had 90 days to submit the official transcript or I would be barred from enrollment I was not able to come up with five grand and got barred, therefore dropping me from the nursing program this fall. Now I Can not reapply to that university due to the academic dishonesty.

Oddly I did my prerequisites st two different community colleges and my CNA training at a private tech school and none of them or their fin aid offices noticed the missing transcript!

Leonardsmom,LPN · Aug 1, 2014

Still a bit confused about the exact situation, the money that is owed to the university when you were a teenager, is that money that was loaned and is now being paid back or money that is owed directly to the university? Either way it does need to be paid back, even if it is just making small payments on it regularly. For the maximum time frame, through your schools financial aid office you can make an appeal to why you should receive financial aid.

Before you do that though you need to fill out a FASFA form if you haven't done so already. Once you have that done find out what information you will need to have for the maximum time frame appeal. I had to fill one out myself at the beginning of the summer for this upcoming year. Make sure you get all the information you need such as loan amounts that you already have out, meeting with an advisor if required and any other information needed. With my appeal I needed to explain why I felt that an exception should be made and my academic goals. I wrote these out in a word processing program and had someone else who I knew was strong in persuasive writing to read what I had wrote and give me any suggestions to help make my appeal stronger. Good luck with everything.

NurseGirl525, ASN, RN · Aug 1, 2014

You have another problem also. You have been kicked out of a school for academic dishonesty. I don't know of another school that will not look at that. That is a huge no-no. I also don't understand how you were 16 taking out a federal loan in your name? You should have had to be 18 to do that. So those loans should be in your mom's name. Me thinks there is more or this is not the story.

HippyMama · Aug 1, 2014

Thefedal loans are in my name even though I was a minor! About half my student loans that I'm making a low income based payment on are from that school. There is additional money owed to the school for expenses for the last term my mom signed me up when I did not get the loan from financial aid. Basically i just signed what my mom told me to without thinking or reading any of it. The school just billed me for a whole term and when that did not get paid finally dropped me. The school will not lease the transcripts unless the entire amount owed to the school is paid off. I could do a monthly payment plabut they say there is no exception to releasing payments after a certain amount of time if any money is owed.

I don't think the school for this fall that won't let me enroll has me down as being kicked out for academic dishonesty fortunately. I called a few times to get more details on m application and I was just told it was incomplete. When I log into my student portal it also says incomplete application and to get ahold of my admissions advisor. The term academic dishonesty has only been used vbally so I'm hoping it is not official, either way I can not go to this particular university.

How to pay for Nursing school: Student Nursing Scholarship + Financial Aid Links

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