loans and scholarships

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Hey all, so my school's tuition has gone up, that plus nursing lab fees will mean I'm looking at a $2,000 increase per semester to my tuition.

Questions: What if any loans have you all taken out? Is private better? Or the nursing student loan program (I haven't looked into yet)?

There doesn't seem to be an awful lot of scholarships? My college GPA has been 3.9 and I know so many have 4.0+ but I still thought it would have been good enough for some more scholarships. And I'm in Tri Beta national biology honors society. But my friend said there aren't many scholarships for nursing students because there's so many of us. I found a lot for students who are already RN's.

Anyway I just would like to ask what your loans and scholarships are please? (I hope this is ok to ask and not rude?! I just wanted to see if I should be more proactive or if I'm about where others are too) Thanks

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Is this your 1st degree? I would advise to try to stay away from private student loans if at all possible since they don't have as many repayment options and don't offer the same protection as do Federal loans....

If this is not your first degree, then scholarships and grants will be very limited but they are out there if you dig hard enough.. best to start at your schools financial aid office, ask someone in the school of nursing since many times they know of nursing specific scholarships, and ask the other students in the program.

Best of luck.

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Thanks! yes this will be my first degree

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Echo PP's advice - avoid private loans. There are many stories of people who have seen their original loan amount double and even triple due to predatory lending practices ... continuously increasing interest rates & draconian penalties for arrears. On the other hand, governmental loans (Federal & State) are much more controlled and have many options for students who may find themselves unexpectedly unable to make payments for a while. Also - there is built in 'loan forgiveness' for Federal loans ... anyone who works in a 'public service' job and makes 120 on-time payments. This includes a lot of nursing jobs.

Downside of any governmental loans.... default may mean you can't renew your nursing license, drivers license &/or receive any tax refunds.

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I agree to start at your school's financial aid office. Sometimes, with funds being so limited, they won't outright tell you about a scholarship that is available unless you know it by name and ask for it. (This is what happens at my school). So ask around with your nursing school classmates and see if they know of any scholarships tied to your school. This is how I found out about mine. Best of luck to you!

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This is my 2nd degree, and it's a graduate degree, so I have a whole different set of federal loans to choose from compared to you. But I would almost always recommend federal loans over private, especially in undergrad. Especially if you can qualify for subsidized loans. The interest rates are sometimes a little bit higher, but while the government WILL come knocking if you default on your loan, there are very generous deferment options available for federal borrowers. If you can't afford your private loan because you lose your job, there's very little option to negotiate a lower payment plan. To be honest, I've never met someone who took out private loans and was happy with their choice. Nursing loans I don't know much about, since my school doesn't offer much of them (only about $500 per student per semester worth) so I never really bothered checking them out.

As for scholarships: I'm normally pretty skeptical of the time and effort required to apply for scholarships requiring an essay or a whole lot of other hoops to jump through, given how small many of the awards are, and how many other students are competing. Scholarships are taxable, something I don't think a lot of people consider, and once taxes are taken out you might have been better off just working the hours that you spent writing an essay, gathering letters of recommendation, etc. At least work is certain to pay something, whereas scholarships can suck up a lot of time and effort and result in nothing. I am not a gamblin' man.

BUUUUUUT .. given how good your GPA is, and with this being your first degree, I think you should give it a shot! I wish I could point out a specific place to start, but check your school's financial aid office and/or website. Also, there are sometimes very unique scholarships out there tailored to students in very specific circumstances (scholarships for a student with a parent who worked in the coal mining industry, for example. Or to get even more specific, there's a very generous scholarship at my school for a female student of nursing who is from a certain county who demonstrates a desire to return to that county and work as a public health or school nurse). One last piece of advice .. try asking nursing students a year or two ahead of you if they know of a particularly helpful financial aid officer at your school. All financial aid officers are NOT created equally. Don't give up if you meet with one who isn't helpful, or is even actively UNhelpful -- it's been my experience that some financial aid officers are on a power trip, or are nice but clueless, and you sometimes have to hunt around for someone who is both nice and also knows what they're doing.

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