I'm in! How am I going to pay for this?!

ShannonW · Aug 4, 2009

Congrats! I assume you got in to ITT Tech?

Not everyone qualifies for financial aid - it depends your income, etc. Even if you do qualify for financial aid grants, grants (like the Pell, MI Educational Opportunity, etc) might not cover it all, so you may want to or have to take out some student loans. If you can, definitely go for the subsidized loans (so you won't have to worry about interest until you graduate or leave the school). If that still doesn't cover it, ITT might offer some sort of work-study program.

You might want to complete/submit your FAFSA (fafsa.ed.gov) before even talking to the financial aid dept - they'll tell you to do that anyway.

This article/page seems to have a wealth of helpful info about financial aid available at ITT Tech.

neonatal_nurse · Aug 4, 2009

Try to inquire if there are scholarship grants in your school. There are times when they don't advertise it. Ask people in the academe- like your dean if they are offering one.

When I was in nursing school I was lucky enough to be selected for a half, which then became a full scholarship given by our college. The scholarship was offered by some successful alumni of the college. It was announced by our Guidance counselor (who is now my good friend) to us students. Nobody really paid much attention to it, I heard just a few passed the requirements. When I got the scholarship, my classmates were regretting that they didn't apply for it.

Just be resourceful. If this is really for you, God will make a way.

Good luck! :)

RNpatterson · Aug 4, 2009

Which school? What's the cost that you're looking at? Traditional program or accelerated. If it's accelerated you automatically won't qualify for unsubsidized loans but unless you are pulling in 100K+ you'll probably get some federal funding of sorts.

If that doesn't work, then you can always consider private loans although the interest rate is a little higher... but I've heard of the nightmare stories of people not getting their funding in order and had to drop out of the program because of it.

There are other options, too. Check into scholarships at your school. Again, if it's second career there isn't much money available, but there's always some. At U of M they keep their books of scholarship info at the libraries so that might be good place to start at your school.

Look into other scholarships and grants online; they're there but sometimes you really have to look for them.

Coruscatedgirl · Aug 4, 2009

Thank you all for your help. I will keep you posted on my progress. I guess the first thing I should do is fill out a FAFSA form?

RNpatterson · Aug 4, 2009

FAFSA is definately the first thing you need to take care of. Everything else will help you fill in the gaps. :)

boat · Aug 5, 2009

Congratulations!

Yes, get that FAFSA completed. The report from the FAFSA will be sent to your school and they will send you a letter to inform you as to what you qualify for.

Don't panic if you don't qualify for anything. I didn't. I had to get an unsubsidized loan, I still don't have to pay it back until after school is completed so that's fine. If you have the will, there is a way.

The FAFSA process may take a few weeks at least though.

Best of luck to you!