Student Loans for people over 35

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I am currently attending Brookhaven College in Farmers Branch TX. I plan on applying to the nursing program in Spring of 08 which has a start of Summer.

I am struggling with the financial side of going to school. I work now, but do not have much in savings and I don't believe that I will have enough to live on through nursing school.

I've never gotten a student loan and when I searched on the internet trying to educate myself I was incredibly overwhelmed. It looked like that the Federal loans are only offered to young individuals straight out of highschool where they can look at the parent's financial status. I'm obviously way past that. In addition, it looks like all of the student loans including the private ones only pay for school cost, not for living expenses (which mine would be at the very least $1000 but if I remain living on my own, it could be around $2000).

I plan on working during this time, but I'm not sure if I can make that kind of money. Has anybody else been in this situation, and is there a way to take out a loan for living cost and do they offer them up with this kind of money?

Help me please.....A future scared nursing student!

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

Older students can definitely receive federal aid. If you are 25 years of age or older, you are simply no longer considered a 'dependent' student, so they base their decision on your income alone.

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Specializes in ICU.

your first step is to fill out the FASFA application. The government student loans are offerred to adult learners as well as the traditional college student. You'd be suprised, you probably do qualify for loans from the government. After you hear what they offer you, you can then look into private student loans.

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Does the government send the money straight to the school? If so, how do you pay your living expenses? I'm confident that once I am accepted that I can get one of the local hospitals to cover my school cost as long as I sign a contract with them. So, I'm not as concerned about the cost of school itself. It's all around paying my rent and car payment and such that has been flipping out right now.

Thanks -

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I too am worried about paying for everything. Unfortuantely we missed the FAFSAE cutoff deadline, so we won't be able to apply for a loan until at least January and it will apply towards next fall. However, you can still get a private loan to help you out.

What will you be doing for child care? That is my biggest cost for going to school. Do you have all your pre-req's done? A stafford loan will give you $3500 or so for your Freshman year at school and a bit more your sophmore year, but since Nursing is considered a 2 year degree, and actually takes about 3 years to get with pre-req's, you may run out of $ before you are done with school. Depending on how many pre-req's you need of course.

If one of the hospitals will pay your tuition through school, that will be a great help. I have not checked out the private loan route yet because they have a higher interest rate than the Stafford loan. I am going to try to make it through my first year w/o a loan so I can save my acutal loan for Nursing school when I will need it most! Especially for the child care factor!!!

As for how the loan is paid (to you or the school), I am not sure yet. I think it is something like a loan for home building. You have it in a seperate checking account and you can draw the funds for about anything, but you should verify this as again, I am not sure on it yet.

Chantel

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You can fill out a FAFSA anytime - I believe even retroactively for the school year - it covers both Fall and Spring or whatever the 'school year' encompasses. The early deadline is the best for free/grant money, but loans are made all year around. Fill out the FAFSA, make sure to include your school(s) that you either are attending or plan on attending and then make an appointment with the school financial aid office. They are or should be prepared to answer any questions that you have as well as offer options on how to pay for school. It also may be a good idea to write down any questions that you have prior to going to the financial aid office. Good luck!

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Specializes in ER/Ortho.

I am an older student, and get financial aid. As the others were saying fill out your Fafsa and visit your financial aid advisor. Because of your age you are an independent and will actually be eligible for more money. The first thing they will do is see if you are eligible for any grants. You never know you might be depending on your income, dependents etc. Then you can apply for Stafford loans. There are two kinds of Stafford loans one is subsidized where the government pays the interest, and the other is unsubsidized and you pay the interest. You are able to apply for both of these at the same time. They do not base these on your credit, and anyone who has not had one in the past and defaulted on it will get it. After you find out about the grants you must tell your financial aid advisor you are interested in Stafford loans and attend an informative loan session. You need to hurry and get your Fafsa filled out because it takes a while. Some of the grant monies are first come first serve, and they only give loan sessions before and right after the beginning of the semester.

If this is not enough you can also apply for private student loans through banks. These they base on your credit or you must have a cosigner.

You can get approved for work study at the college you will be attended. They approve you for a certain $ amount for the year. You look through a book and pick the job you want, are interview and hired for that job. You just work a few hours here and there and that will give you extra money up to the $ amount you were approved for. This is really good because your already at the school (easy to get to classes and job), get to meet new people at your college, and can learn the ends and outs of things. Again the early bird gets the best jobs.

Once your accepted into a nursing program there are grants that will pay for the entire program depending on your state. Again ask your financial aid advisor.

Another option that I have heard many people talk about. They get a job in a hospital while doing pre reqs and after a year of employment some hospitals pay for them to go to nursing school.

When you get financial aid they take out the money they are owed, and put the remaining money on a debit card through chase bank (Dallas county community college), or electronically transfer it to your bank account which ever you choose.

I am a divorced mom with three dependents and I qualify for about 4000 in grants a year, and 8000 in loans. This of course is not enough to live on, but it pays for all of my classes, and books and gives me an extra $800 a month to help supplement so I am not as overworked and stressed out so I can concentrate.

Good luck!!!! There are lots of ways, and if you want to go to nursing school there is a financial way to do it.

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you can fill out a fafsa anytime - i believe even retroactively for the school year - it covers both fall and spring or whatever the 'school year' encompasses.

here is why i say you can't get aid this year. i got this from the fafsa website

"

federal student financial aid deadlines

the 2006-2007 school year (july 1st, 2006 - june 30th, 2007):

  • the deadline for filing fafsa on the web and renewal fafsa on the web applications was july 2, 2007. these applications are no longer available. "

edit - after posting this, i see you are right. i need to fill out my fafsa now for 2007 - 2008 school year!!! thanks!

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Ya, I guess I need to look at that as well. I wonder what happens if you are currently a full time employee making decent money, but plan on quitting once I am accepted into nursing school. I don't want to apply in January and then not get the money until the Fall. That would do me NO good! UGHHHH!! This is all so frustrating!:uhoh3:

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You can always update your FAFSA too. I just filled mine out. Took less than an hour! I highly doubt I will be approved for any grants or anything as my expected family contribution is just over 10,000. (is that yearly?) If it is a yearly expected contribution then OUCH!

Anyways the website says it will only take 3-4 days to process. This is because I already had my PIN so I could electronically sign the form. At least now I will (possibly) have some aid for next semester when I will really need it!!!

Thanks for the information and making me look again at the FAFSA website. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have filled out my FAFSA app this year!!!

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I agree with the other posts. The first thing you should do is fill out the FASFA and speak to your financial aid advisor at school. I am also 34 and needed aid. I didn't qualify for any grants, but I did get a Stafford loan. My advisor also told me I will qualify for a Pell grant in Jan.

Good luck to you!

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How do you inquire at a hospital to see if they will pay your tuition if you sign a contract? There is a hospital right in town that I plan to work at (only one in the area) and will definitely work there for a few years after I graduate. I don't work at the hospital now, so who would I ask about this without sounding dumb? It'd be just the best thing if they'd pay for my school!

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