So lost and confused here

Published

Ok lol. Here I sit at home trying not to spoon my brains out with a soup spoon from my confusion. I have been wanting, for quite a while now, to attend school and obtain my degree in registered nursing. *cheers from the bleachers* I start with signing up and then seeing my biggest roadblock, how do I afford going to school? I looked into scholarships and grants out the wazoo, also thought about attending a cheaper college to get my pre-reqs out of the way and then attend the University that offers the actual courses to obtain my degree as an RN. Either way I seen myself flying too high with the cost of schooling and started to actually think about not going to school at all and just get a dead end job and be happy with that.

Then a family friend offered some information I didn't know about. "How about you sign a contract with a hospital and they pay your way through school?" "they do that!!??"

But oh yes they do and I had no idea. now I am sitting here waiting to find out which hospitals in my area actually offer this to students wanting it. I'm also kind of intimidated by further information I found that the contract you sign is to basically pay off the tuition they fork out for you to go to school. So after you graduate and you give them the 4 or more years you agreed to, the pay you make is half going back to them to pay off the tuition they gave you for school. To me even this bump in the road is worth it if I can have my education. But I'm still lost as to how the school you go to gets the money from them... maybe I just need a new brain here.... if anyone around the Austin, TX area knows of any hospitals that offer this kind of tuition assistance.... I would really appreciate the info.

That's what I did. I went online, filled out a fafsa, which you have to do to even get a loan from the Dept. of Ed. Go to your college of choice and visit the financial aid department. It's pretty overwhelming to try to figure it all out for yourself. You just have to put that first foot forward. Hospitals all have different tuition plans. Like another poster said, call the HR department at the one's in your area. I know that the Baptist Hospital in San Antonio has a diploma program. There are many options. Good luck!!

They have this in Florida too. They don't pay for your pre-reqs tho'. In return you have to sign a contract with them for a minimum of 2 years. You have to check around the local hospitals though because they all give back different amounts of money. what you can do and its what I did is i finished my pre-reqs at a CC and after being shut down by a Public University I applied at Private Universities and got accepted into both. They tend to have more Financial Aid available than Public Universities. I know that at Barry University which is where I will be starting in January(fall was already full), they take off your tuition of $11,215 a semester, $1400 for being a commuter student(off campus resident) and whatever GPA you have they take off some more money. I have a 3.0 and they took off $5400 off my tuition, which is adjustable if my GPA changes. other than that im really lucky becasue I have my dad paying for my Nursing School! I LOOOOOVE MY DADDY!!!So you just have to look around and see what is available to you. Good Luck! :)

Specializes in NICU.

It just depends on the hospital as to how it is set up. There is a hospital in the town that I currently work in that will pay your tuition as long as you promise to give them a semester worked for every semester you go to school (regardless of what type of medical degree you want). They do not require any extra money out of your check- just your time. However, the hospital I want to work for doesn't offer any program like this, so I will be paying out-of-pocket. I got Stafford loans (these are not based on income or credit, so you should qualify simply becasue you are a student - you do not begin paying them back until you graduate or unless you drop out and there is a grace-period of approx. 6 mos. before you must begin repayment - interest rates are extremely low as well and the good news - you can use them towards prereqs!) to help pay for tuition because we do not qualify for much in pell grants due to income. I am going to echo some above advice: Speak with your school's financial advisor and check with all of the hospitals that you would be willing to work at to see what type of programs they have, if any. Where there's a will, there's a way. :) You can also do a search on stafford loans and FAFSA to see what is available.

I've wanted to go to nursing school for the past three and half years, and have always used the excuse that I don't have the money, or I can't go to school full time, it was always something. But as I continued to sit behind my desk day after day and deal with the unending boredom of accounting I decided to do something about what I want.

Although I am looking into Grants and Scholarships, I'm being proactive and getting student loans. It's well worth the investment in my eyes as long as it's what you want. It goes back to the saying, if there's a will there's a way. Many of the different hospitals in my area have lots of programs but as previously stated in other posts, you normally have to be an employee for six months prior to consideration as far as paying for the education in advance, or agreeing to work for the facility while in school, maintaining the grades, and some other extras they throw in there.

Personally, I've chosen a hospital that has a tuition pay back program. If I sign a promissory note with them after I get out of school, (which doesn't look like it will be for somewhere around three years) for two years, they pay back $10000.00 for four years of service they pay back $20000.00. So again there are plenty of options and you can definitely do it, as long as you want to work for what you want. Sorry to be so wordy, but I've gotten fed up with all my excuses and have done sooooooooo much research to ensure that I can do what I want and make myself happy. Just exploree all your options! :)

Two years for ten grand? That's brilliant! I've worked crappy low paying jobs for two years. I'd be willing to do that myself.

I think I'll start burning up the phone lines!

Well I found ALOT of hospitals here, only found a few that actually advertise the program on their website, but I mean a few is better than none=) I found one that I am really interested in but it only refers to doctors and such so I'm not 100% if they offer for nursing, but I am going to take the advice on the stafford loans..... and the whole community college advice as well. I was looking into the communtiy college for my pre-reqs to begin with, they have a 6,000 dollar difference in there semester tuition payments than the college I will be attending for the RN courses because I am not a resident of this state as of yet it is going to cost me quite a bit.

I am still hoping to talk to a hospital and hear they will also cover my two years of pre-reqs, but I'm not going to hope too much on it considering. I am trying to get all of this done within the next week- two weeks, I am also trying to get a job... but before I get one I want to have all my school stuffs done and out of my way this way I am not fighting with an employer to get time to go and get it done. But I thank everyone for your advice and like I said before all of it is greatly appreciated. Thanks again.

Specializes in PeriOp, ICU, PICU, NICU.

It is a very good idea what your family members suggested, but the reality is that is is not as easy as it sounds to find a place like that. Also, along with it comes contracts which you must fulfill in order to avoid repaying them back. Look into it, but make sure you know what you are getting into.

Good luck :)

do you guys think 27,000 loan from sallie mae will worth the LVN program i am taking? its 27k coz i get something from them on check every quarter i think thats why its that expensive.

Specializes in Medical-Surgical, Education, Community Health.

I went to a small college just south of San Antonio called Coastal Bend College. Even though I was 'out of district' the whole program cost me only 6K. I also was able to have it fully paid for by the Texas Workforce and was able to use the loan money for living expenses. Their program also has no waiting list, and getting into the program is no problem once you pass the entrance test. Much cheaper than the 27K. The only bad part is that it is a 30-45 minute commute from San Antonio.

Dave

do you guys think 27,000 loan from sallie mae will worth the LVN program i am taking? its 27k coz i get something from them on check every quarter i think thats why its that expensive.

Where are you located? That seems expensive. My entire fours years at my BSN program with tuition and books is only 40k with no aid.

How do people end up paying so much for school? I know, I only paid 5k for my B.S. Are schools taht expensive now a days? I only graduated 3 years ago.

+ Join the Discussion