Need advice on private education loans--don't qualify for financial aid--HELP

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Specializes in PMHNP student.

Hi,

I don't qualify for financial aid because, although I have a 3.75 GPA, I have "too many credit hours" for attending a community college. I have managed to pay for 1st semester of nursing school with the last of my savings, but I'm about to run out of money and am very nervous! I only work 25 hours a week and just make $11--I honestly don't think I could handle working more than that due to having clinicals, school, and studying to do and am already busy 7 days a week. I can't find a job paying more than that and haven't got any other qualifications to get me more money other than a certification as a medication aide, which I am not sure how much that would help me. I applied for a Sallie Mae student loan and was approved; HOWEVER, it is a VARIABLE interest rate and there is no limit to how much the interest rate can vary, which makes me very nervous--I don't want to potentially end up paying twice the amount of my loan due to interest rates! I'm an older student (in my 40s), if that helps. Also, I've applied for every scholarship I could get my hands on but I've been denied for a handful of them and no word on the others.

I'm looking for advice on where I can look for a student loan in the private sector that has a fixed interest rate because I'm having trouble finding that--they all seem to be variable.

Thanks!!!!

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I believe almost all student loans in the private sector are with variable interest rate. I have Sallie Mae for my private undergrad student loans and even though the interest rate was variable, the highest it ever went to was 8/9% (which was still lower than my friend whose parents went to a bank to get the student loans ~12% and higher interest). Right now my Sallie Mae student loans are down to around 3% so it being variable isn't too bad depending on what you started with.

Good luck and I hope this info helps you

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Some private loans allow you to choose whether you want variable or fixed rate. Wells Fargo I know allows this. I chose fixed with wells Fargo

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i found this site with explanations for private student loans that i thought was really helpful. check it out: FinAid | Loans | Private Student Loans

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Specializes in PMHNP student.

Thanks for the comments, guys...Wells Fargo doesn't service the school I attend, so that's not a possibility. It's good to know, dbabklyn, that your Sallie Mae loan's interest rate hasn't gone up much. I guess I'll keep that in my mind as an option but keep looking for a fixed rate loan that services my school. :)

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Specializes in Med/Surg, OB/GYN, Informatics, Simulation.

Sadly that's what most loan companies are doing. I have a Sallie Mae and they're much better then the private loans from banks (one of my bank loans is at 12.75 % interest!) I know a lot of people that are getting slammed with interest in loans. However one thing to keep in mind when you graduate you can apply for a nursing consolidated loan which helps and there's scholarships and grants for nurses education so you can look into that as well.

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Specializes in PMHNP student.

Thanks, russodem. I have applied for every scholarship I can find already. However, I didn't know about the nursing consolidated loan after graduation--thanks for that tip!! I may go ahead with Sallie Mae.

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