how are you paying for nursing school? or how do you plan to pay for nursing school?

[mashamontago]

anybody?

[dreamon]

I will only be doing pre-reqs come fall, so I have a little ways away to save up. But I plan to use my GI Bill wisely. (I signed up for a 30K bonus).

I wasn't worried too much about it before, but now as a recently divorced single mom out of the service- I need to be very careful allocating that money.

I hope I will qualify for some scholarships or grants along the way.

Also, I have a part-time job that pays more like a full-time one (cocktail waitressing) so when the curriculum gets thick, I can work 2 days and have enough to put towards my bills.

[jelorde37]

i work on the weekends as an LVN so i can pay for tuition for my adn, gas, bills, food. then i plan to work as an RN for two years while getting my BSN/CNOR/CRNFA. after that, i plan on going to PA school so i can prescribe and render better patient care in the surgical setting.

[Graduate2010, BSN]

How am I paying for LPN/LVN school? I am lucky enough to work for a local hospital that offers a $10,000 scholarship program and we also have tuition assistance/promissory note. Had I not waited I would have had to either get a private loan and fill out hundreds of scholarships.

**Money is out there you just have to look.**

Good luck to you!

:nurse:Stephanie

[ChristineN, BSN, RN]

I go to a private, hospital based program that allows you to go to school for free as long as you agree to work for that hospital (or any the other hospitals in the same system) following graduation for two years. Upon graduating, I'll have my RN diploma. They say it's a $14,000 value. :)

[dextera]

I've been quite good at saving money for the past 5 years, so I'm using that savings to pay for school. I'm also working (as a waitress) about 20 hours per week to cover basic living expenses. If and when school gets to be really intense, I will either cut back my work hours, or stop working altogether. At that point, I'll continue to live off of my savings, or take out a loan if I need to.

:typing

[angelz_kissus]

I am using scholarships from my state. When I left my husband I was on state assitance and they told me that the program I was interested in made me eligible for the state to pay. so I get the federal grants, the scholarships(to help me pay for my housing expenses and childcare), and then the state picks up the rest.but only the difference I don't get any left over monies.

I am no longer on state assistance and still as long as I turn in my class schedule and maintain a 2.0 GPA they will pay for everything including my books, lab fees, equipment, and uniforms. Go to your unemploment office or to your local community college they usually have the neccessary info. If you need more info let me know I have some links I can send to you too. ***** one note of caution .I used federal to pay for my basics and then the state to cover my clinicals and nursing so far It has only cost me $50 for the cost of the ACT because mine was so long ago

[COLPN]

I have Pell Grants, Federally Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans, as well a a big fat SallieMae loan with a ridiculous interest rate. Nice thing is I don;t have to pay them back till I'm out of school. I have a huge mortgage to pay while in school and only work 1 or 2 days a week if that. So I'm taking out loans to pay my loans...Not Smart. Hopefully it will all be worth it in another year or so.

I've had no luck with scholarships. Wrote a lot of essays and turned out to be a waste of time. Any pointers on how to get a scholarship??

[dee78]

I'm still trying to figure that out. At this point, I'm looking into private student loans for this summer's prereqs but my credit isn't good so I probably won't get the loan. My dad is just excited that I'm going back to school so if the loans fall through he will pay for these classes. I'm taking my CNA class this fall and I will probably start working at the hospital fulltime so they'll pay for my ADN. If not, I'm going to try to get a Stafford loan. I also plan on the hospital paying for my BSN and MSN. I don't mind making the commitment to them because they are only 10 miles from my house, the other hospitals are in the city (30-45 minute commute). I already make that commute and I'm tired of it.

[LaceyRN]

scholarships and student loans :)

[angelz_kissus]

I statred with the library and checked out books on writing scholarships essays. Sounds a little remedial but it helped me. And also went to Fast Web to see what was available. (there were a few that just required a picture or an alternate type essay that I had used in a class already)

I also had found out that some of the old companies I worked for had schorlarships for employees that had worked atleast 6 months, and several required some kind of volunteer service with no requirement on how long ago it was (which really helped me because I work full time and now school full time also, not much time to volunteer with 2 little ones at home) The key is be creative....

My libabry has a book called the Blue Book of scholarships it also helped alot.

My biggest resource though was the financial aid office in my community college. They helped with alot of scholarships I didn't know about all I had to do was ask ( DON'T wait however till the new semester starts that is when everyone applys for help and any college money is gone, start a few months in advance)

[charlottegirl]

SUCKS SUCKS (SUCKS, did I say?) that those of us who have a degree already don't qualify for grants???? Like, come and punish us for having worked hard??

I have a degree I earned 10 years ago .....I married at 21 and worked hard,then had 3 kids, and we divorced 4 years ago ....I get NO (NO) child support and I lost my job in the mortgage industry last fall. SO....if I had no degree and wanted to go back to get my BSN I would get grants. But because I worked hard and got a degree, no such luck!

Wonder what Obama, Hillary and that other guy would have to say?

[shygoofyone]

I already have an Associate's Degree (that I'm still paying for, mind you!), and too many credit hours to qualify for additional assistance...other than loans.

I got really lucky though. Parkland College uses the FACTS Tuition Management program. You pay $25 per semester, but can pay your tuition monthly, rather than in one bulk payment. Since I'm working full-time (or trying to), it's manageable, but...there are still some months where it's tight.