How do you pay for school?

[mmh2]

I am curious about how people finance their educations. I feel a little uncomfortable asking such a personal question but...how do you all do it? I have 2 kids and work full time. My husband also works but his salary is not enough for me to quit work (or even really cut back) and go to school. I plan on starting pre reqs in the summer and can probably save for one class at a time while still feeding/clothing the kids and keeping the utilities on. BUT ...if I do them all that way it will take a long time! I know when/if I get into the program I will need to take out a loan to pay for school/life. I am almost 37 and would like to expidite the process. I know the kind folks at the local cc should be able to answer some of my questions, but I wanted to put it out there to all of you because you have all been so great! Is there such a thing as fin aid for part time students whose hubbies don't make the big bucks? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[tbell2]

My parents are loaning me the money for school and daycare so I can pay them back interest free. I will have to cover some out of pocket, but I don't want to owe them anymore than I need to. I did get one scholarship that helped!

[CrunchyMama, ASN, RN]

I have student loans. My husband makes about $60,000-$70,000/year and I don't have to pay anything until after I graduate.

[FLDoula]

Federal, unsubsidized student loans. I don't qualify for any other kind of aid. Not even a pencil. That may change this time around for next aid year. I am a part time Birth Doula/Lactation Counselor but I only take 2 clients per semester so my husband is really the only one bringing in an income. I'm looking at ramping up my doula business again to bring in more cash. We have 2 kids in college at UCF and fully support 2 households. The college kids also have student loans to cover their tuition/books but we cover their living expenses. It's tough...especially since my husband just had to take a new job at a double digit loss per year.

I'm in my 3rd semester of pre-reqs/co-reqs and am full steam ahead! :)

[Anne36, LPN]

Hello mmh2, I dont mind sharing at all. This has been a nightmare for me. I am 38 with 4 kids. Husband doesnt make enough to support us let alone pay for my school, but the FAFSA sure thinks he does. I do not work, just got my youngest into Kindergarten this year. I have from 9-4 everyday to either work making $8 an hour or do my classes and homework. I picked school because Im really going to need a decent income in a few years.

I have 1200 out of a student loan right now. I have about the same on a credit card, and am putting my next 2 classes on a credit card as well. I couldnt get a loan for last semester because my hubs was too much of a slacker to file taxes.

I wouldnt recommend this method to anyone, but after the next 2 classes I will be able to pick up some kind of a job to pay off my credit card, while I figure out if I am getting into a program or need more classes. (there are very few seats in the programs here)

[thatsthekeyRNC]

I started at a community college where a scholarship covered my tuition, I worked part time to pay for books and everything else (at that time I was still living with my parents, so I didn't need much money). Now I'm at a university and the same scholarship will pay for half of my tuition for two years. I also took out a student loan to pay for the rest of the tuition, books, rent, bills, etc. I also collect a small amount of unemployment because the company I worked for went out of business, so that pays for the groceries and smaller bills.

What's going to hurt me is that my last year here, I won't have my scholarship anymore so I'll have to get an even bigger loan to cover the full tuition. Hopefully I'll be able to get nursing specific scholarships by then.

I'm convinced it will all be worth it though! :-) Good luck!

[D.R.A.]

Anne36, I can relate. I'm not sure what your annual income is, but I was pleasantly surprised when I qualified for a full pell inspite of the fact that my spouse makes $38,000. Turns out, we're poor and I didn't even know it, lol!! In spite of the fact that we were always broke, hearing my husbands hourly wage against, lets say minimum wage, always made it sound as if we were millionaires! We recently discovered that our children qualify for state medical coverage, although we have opted to stay with our private coverage for now.

Good luck with school. I always like to remind people that many hospitals have loan repayment programs. So maybe you won't be stuck with alot of debt in the long run from student loans.

[guiltysins]

Well I still live with my parents so I don't have any bills and I don't have a job because I don't want to work while in nursing school. My school is about 24K a year not including books and such. I have student loans which come out to about 7500 a year and the rest is covered by grants and scholarships. I'm pretty lucky because if I didn't get the grant money (poor enough for full PELL and a NYS aid called TAP. That alone comes to about 10K) I'd never be able to pay for school. But books, equipment and whatever else I need comes out of my or I should say my parent's pockets.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I continue to work full-time while attending school full-time. People seem to think that you must quit your job while you are attending a nursing program, but some of us are able to manage full time employment and full time school at the exact same time.

I financed a portion of my tuition with a Stafford government student loan, and I am also making monthly cash payments to the school that I attend.

[Summers_Off]

I am in a VERY similar situation as you. I am working FT and have one kid. Hubby does not make enough for me to quit or cut back either. I am not in NS yet, but here's my plan. I plan to use savings for the first six months. Then I plan to use student loans for living expenses (they can be used for dependent care which is almost as much as our mortgage...seriously). Last, I plan to use a 401k loan to pay for living expenses. The only school I am applying to (and solely for this reason) has a 80% tuition forgiveness loan thing if you work FT for the hospital system after graduating. The other 20% will be paid by my parents (I thank God for such supportive parents who agree to this even though they are still paying the loans for my undergrad degree:down:) or a credit card. Oh, and I plan to work PT as a CNA while in school. It's very tenuous (and hubby is nearly paralyzed by the thought), but I trust that if God helps me get in, He will help me survive it financially. Consider using your 401k. Not ideal, I know (so please no lectures about this LOL), but if this is your dream as it is mine, we have to use all resources available! Best wishes! Let me know how things turn out. I love to hear about people in the same boat as me.

[jefang5]

I worked as much as I could and applied for pell grant and student loans. It still wasn't enough, but I managed to get by. Oh, I also qualified for food stamps after I had to quit my job in the next to last semester. It will all be worth it when I pass the boards!! Where there is a will there is a way.:grad:

[maiday]

I pay for school with the student loans, always have a balance owed because even the loans aren't really enough (private accelerated program) and I get the GI bill (former military) which lets us get by, my husband doesn't make enough to pay all the bills either and we have 1 two year old. Not sure what I'm gonna do once I graduate if I don't get a job right away... cross that bridge when I get there =)

[mmh2]

It is scary for sure! It is comforting to see how many of you are in the same boat and so motivating! I just told my husband that I plan to use the income tax return for school. He was decidedly not thrilled because he wanted to pay down the credit card but relaxed a bit when I pointed out that someday he may not need to work 2 jobs. How could he argue with that? :)