Older Students and Loans

Tallulahbelle · Dec 21, 2007

Also, if someone could point me in the direction of a good resource for loans for nursing school, that would be very much appreciated since I am completely in the dark about any of this.

JCHRN2B · Dec 21, 2007

:)hey. i am 33 and i just went back to school. i did take out a loan with sallie mae. i am very happy with this loan. i researched several loans and i really liked the sallie mae. you can defer your payments till you graduate. that was a feature i really liked. it helps to not have an extra payment when jobless. i did work full-time as an x-ray tech till i started nursing school. i was going to school during the day, so it was hard to work at my doctor's office. go to salliemae.com, i think it is called a tuition answer loan. i hope this helps. i just finished up my 1st semester in nursing school. i really enjoyed it. are you going into nursing? it is demanding. i felt like they threw so much stuff at me last semester, but i made it. i passed all of my classes with b's. i was proud. anyway, i hope this helps you. good luck with school.

have a merry christmas!

:ball:jch

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Dec 21, 2007

I was 23 when I returned to school, but I dealt with things that 'older people' in society commonly grapple with. I was single with a house, a mortgage, living independently from my parents, working full-time at the same factory for 3 years, and carrying a small amount of credit card debt.

I made the decision to attend a private, full-time LVN program in 2004. Since my credit history was solid, I was able to finance the entire $20,000 tuition with a Sallie Mae private career training loan. Since I worked 12 hour shifts at my factory job, I had to resign. Since the LVN program was 12 months, I lived that year off unemployment checks. When the unemployment compensation ended, I had to drain out my savings account.

Thank goodness I passed NCLEX when I did, because I was down to my very last $2,900 in savings, which would have only lasted another month or two.

Tallulahbelle · Dec 21, 2007

I guess my other issue is that my credit history is not good at all heh. I assume there are other people in this position.

I have read into Stafford Loans but they barely cover living expenses which is really disheartening. I know Sallie Mae is wonderful but for someone with a bad credit history, I am assuming I wouldn't qualify.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Dec 21, 2007

I guess my other issue is that my credit history is not good at all heh. I assume there are other people in this position.
I have read into Stafford Loans but they barely cover living expenses which is really disheartening. I know Sallie Mae is wonderful but for someone with a bad credit history, I am assuming I wouldn't qualify.

People with credit problems usually qualify for Sallie Mae loans, albeit at less attractive rates than their good-credit counterparts.

lifesacomedy · Dec 21, 2007

Hi there,

I'm 27 and have just returned to school full-time. I am working part time nannying for one little girl, but that doesn't fully support our mortgage, car payments, prior student loans, or bills.

I, too, took out a Sallie Mae loan. They are easy to work with, and from what I hear, if you are disciplined with your money while in school and "live like a student" you will be able to pay them off pretty quickly when you get out of school.

I am only taking out the loans I need to live a modest life. I am not counting on getting any payback when I emerge from school, although there are quite a few reimbursement programs and grants that can help. Knowing this only boosts my desire to keep a high gpa in Nursing school to keep my options open.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

love-d-OR · Dec 22, 2007

Have you looked at astrive student loans. I dont think your age should be a problem, my dear friend is 50 years old and a senior in nursing school. She funded her way through loans, so Im sure it can be done for you too. Finally, I did not know that you could be denied a student loan offered by the school if you had bad credit.

nurz2be · Dec 22, 2007

Hello,
If there is a forum better for these question, feel free to point me to it as well!

ASTRIVE

CHASE

SALLIE MAE

These are all three reputable student loan companies. If you have less than perfect credit, if you can muster a co-signor, your interest rate will lower. I used Chase. All of these you can postpone, defer, all payments until 6 months after your graduation. Also with these companies, there is no early payback penalty. If you start paying these back quickly you will lower these interest considerably. So, don't let that scare you away from going to school or getting a loan to lessen the load of having to work full time along with going to school, as that can be very hard, doable, but hard. With the federal loans the schools always fill out for each individual, which is minimal compared to my schools tuition, and the addition of my loan, I am able to not work and it doesn't put a strain on my family. I limit how much over I take out, above and beyond my tuition. The monies are sent directly to you from each of these companies and you put the money where you need it. You can get up to 40,000 per school year from each of these companies and they require minimal effort on your part. You have to send proof you are in or have been accepted to a school, reported taxes usually for the last 2 years, and fill out a few pages of normal contact info. Anyways, good luck with school and finding a company to do your business with.

Tallulahbelle · Dec 22, 2007

Thank you all so much for the information so far!

I feel a little more hopeful now :). I just hope that with my bad credit I will still be able to get approved with any one of these companies.

tonyal · Dec 24, 2007

I'm 35 started back to school last year. i work weekends and use stafford loans I took out the subsudised(?sp) and unsub. this lets me take full time classes and stiil have a bit left after books and supplies.with bad credit you can't get approved for much I have found.