Loans To Live Off of While In School

law3576 · Jul 21, 2007

I live off my loans. I filled out the paperwork for FAFSA and then that gets sent to your school. They will give you paperwork back with the pell grant eligibility and also stafford loans. The stafford loans you have to pay back but those are what I use to live on. It's not a lot. I think I usually get a check for about 2000 after my tuition is paid for.

Jilaweez, BSN, MSN, RN · Jul 21, 2007

Maybe HRSA? http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/nursing/

I've read in some other posts they offer tuition aid and a monthly stipend, etc. in exchange for a specified amount of time working for an institution who is critically short staffed. I think the app. deadline for this year has passed already, though.

RainDreamer, BSN, RN · Jul 21, 2007

First fill out the FAFSA application and see what kind of government aid you qualify for. They tell you whether you qualify for grants or loans. The government loans are a lot lower interest rates than private loans, so the more government grants/loans you can get are the best bet.

http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/what010.htm

Whatever the difference is between the total amount of $ that you need for the semester/year and the amount the goverment is willing to give/loan you, you'll have to fund through private loans.

Chase has the Education One Student Loan program which are private loans that you can apply for. Once you apply and qualify for their loans, they will fund up to $30,000/year and/or up to $100,000 total for your education and/or living expenses. You can apply for whatever amount you want to (within the alloted limits I just described) and they will send the check directly to you.

http://www.chasestudentloans.com/

Like I said try to get as much government aid as you can, as the government loans have a MUCH LOWER interest rate than the private loans. It's also a lot easier to consolidate the government loans at a fixed lower interest rate than it is the private loans, as very few companies consolidate private loans. But even if you do consolidate the private loans, it'll be at a much higher interest rate. They're great in that they fund the rest of the money that the government won't fund, but just be tight with how much you borrow ... only borrow enough to get by.

As far as loans specific for nursing, you'll have to check with different hospitals. Some hospitals will pay for, or help pay for tuition if you commit a certain number of years to them upon graduating. As far as government programs for nurses, there is the NELRP which you can apply for after graduation. IF (and it's a big IF because there's a ton of applicants and only so much money to go around) you qualify, then they will pay off a certain percentage of your loans for 2 years of service to a qualified hospital.

http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/nursing/loanrepay.htm

Good luck!

babbz · Jul 29, 2007

"Whatever the difference is between the total amount of $ that you need for the semester/year and the amount the goverment is willing to give/loan you, you'll have to fund through private loans.

Chase has the Education One Student Loan program which are private loans that you can apply for. Once you apply and qualify for their loans, they will fund up to $30,000/year and/or up to $100,000 total for your education and/or living expenses. You can apply for whatever amount you want to (within the alloted limits I just described) and they will send the check directly to you.

http://www.chasestudentloans.com/"

Thank you so much for the info. The post was very informative. I get confused between private and federal gov't loans but you cleared this up for me. The disadvantage of gov't loans like Stafford is they offer very little for those who need a substantially higher loan amount. But it is good to start with them and then go on to private loaners. Thanks soooo much again!!