Students asking for free money

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Upon browsing different nursing groups including this one, I have noticed a new trend...current or nursing students to be asking for money via goFundme. Why don't they apply for scholarships or for student loans the way most, if not all of us, did?

I really think its a self entitlement attitude they have, and no, I am not an old fuddy duddy. I worked part to full time to put food on the table whilst putting myself through nursing school with the help of my money, grants, loans and scholarships as I raised my kids. I am 40 years old now, and I EARNED what I have due to my hard work and yes, I did have hardships just like everyone else. But having put myself through school without asking anyone for free money such as goFundme has made me appreciate everything I have even more.

Yes, Scholarships are a form of free money but that required writing essays, gathering documents, putting packets together, rushing them to the post office before the deadlines, only to get turned down multiple times, but so what? Eventually one says yes, and the efforts pay off. But now people don't want to do any work for it and would rather put their face on the web to ask for a free ride?

I find this very annoying and a slap on the face for those of us that struggled, AND made it. I know I am being harsh and it sounds terrible, but I hope these people that ask strangers to fund their education simply by asking for free money fail school because they do not deserve to be nurses. I know many people that had deaths in the family or other crisis happen in their lives and they got through school by working or loans instead of playing victim and mooching off others. This is my opinion.

Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

I agree with jade; most financial aid is NOT covered; my fiancé was my gofundme for my last semester of nursing school and I

was working full time hours, have a mortgage, grown up bills, and the rest of my family could not afford the tuition, so I couldn't ask them; I wasn't eligible for need based scholarships because I wasn't a single mom, not on welfare; I had SSDI because I was disabled, but it STILL wasn't enough. :no:

I think asking for a last semester tuition isn't bad; asking for everything is a stretch, but I don't know whose life journey it is, and it isn't my judgement; there are people out there near homeless and are trying to get out there and make it, so I don't have an opinion of it.

Most of these sites I thought you have to pay these people back, so If one thinks they are getting a "free ride", well, TBH, nothing is "free". :blink:

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

Ah, the memories! That was a good thread. I wonder if that poster ever stopped telling people that their donations to her nursing school fund were tax deductible!

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Specializes in L&D.

I have 2 sides to this for one i feel like "it cant hurt to ask" and the bible does tell us we have not because we ask not.

On the other side I feel like no one should expect anything to be handed to them. I feel as if it is this idea of entitlement that has the millenials generation so screwed up! (I'm a millenial, too.) I saw a guy post on facebook a gofundme account asking for people to pay for his nasters degree and i just flat out asked him "Why dont you just work and take out loans like everyone else does?" He says he doesnt want debt. I told him he doesnt want a masters then.

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Specializes in L&D.

The gofundme accounts like that are extremely tacky to me though..

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
I have 2 sides to this for one i feel like "it cant hurt to ask" and the bible does tell us we have not because we ask not.

On the other side I feel like no one should expect anything to be handed to them. I feel as if it is this idea of entitlement that has the millenials generation so screwed up! (I'm a millenial, too.) I saw a guy post on facebook a gofundme account asking for people to pay for his nasters degree and i just flat out asked him "Why dont you just work and take out loans like everyone else does?" He says he doesnt want debt. I told him he doesnt want a masters then.

See, that's ridiculous. :no:

There's a difference of doing all you can to get assistance and it not being enough, but to flat out say "I don't want the debt", then you can't just come out and ask for money and you haven't at least went through all he avenues to get what you want. :no:

I wanted this particular poster to elaborate on this thread:

https://allnurses.com/nurses-rock/help-me-become-972244.html

I went to the GoFundMe site and saw the goal amount, which could be possible if they got a loan; I hope the OP comes back and elaborates if they are not eligible for loans, then I get it, otherwise they are better off getting a loan and completing their studies.

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I graduated high school in 1999, which is not that long ago (to me, anyway).

I've told this story before. I was accepted to three regional state universities during my high school senior year. The only way I would been able to afford tuition was through parental cosigners, but my parents refused to cosign or even provide information for FAFSA, which prevented me from obtaining subsidized federal student loans.

So you know what I did? I ended up attending the School of Hard Knocks (a.k.a. entered the low-wage workforce & learned through baptism by fire). Now I'm 33 with no student loan debt, a degree with a nice return on investment, a good job, and hope for the future. And I did it without extending my hand out for other peoples' dollars.

I graduated high school in 2000, and contrary to how we may feel, that was a long time ago. The political and fiscal position of this country has changed drastically since then and the amount of "free" aid has dropped significantly. You may have been able to finance your education on low wage employment, but tuition has increased far faster than the rate of inflation for a very long time.

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I agree that it's unseemly, but my suggestion is: if you don't like it, don't do it, and don't donate. Easy peasy.

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Nope. Won't fund a strangers education with my hard earned money just because they went through the trouble of setting up a web page asking for money. More power to 'em if they can find people willing to support them, but it won't be me.

Personally, I had to take out student loans for my AS (which I have since paid back in full) because my meager earnings at the time provided barely enough money to live, never mind pay for school. Paid for my BA as I went by working hard while going to school (at the job I was able to have thanks to my AS). And now paying back the 70 grand I had to borrow to complete my BSN. I appreciate my degrees that much more for having earned them and ultimately paying for them myself. But that's just my own perspective. Others can have their hands out looking for donations to pay for their schooling, they would just be wasting time looking in my direction with that empty hand.

With a BA and ADN and it was still another 70K just for the BSN?

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You should see these kind of crowdfunding as another kind of scholarship, it makes sense if you see it like that.

For those of you that keep saying that they had to work and save money to pay for school... Well I don't think that we are living in the 80's or 90's anymore. I worked a job that paid above minimum wage, and was able to save quite some money by sacrificing a bunch of things, no going out, not having a nice car. Well guess what? Even though I am going to a community college for my degree the Government wont give me the full Pell Grant, because it counts the previous year income, I have been getting close to no pell grand for 2 years now. So I have to use loans to cover the rest. And have been having to use my money to pay for living expenses.

Also the tuition at colleges has increased dramatically each year, while state money for it has gone down a lot. So no longer is possible to afford paying out of pocket for it, like in the olds days that some of the posters describe.

I haven't done any crowdfunding, or anything like that. But i am not gonna sit and criticize others who try to find a way to finance their education. People in this country spend money in the most random crappola there is out there, so what is $5 for a good cause? Isn't it better to help someone achieve their dreams whit a little less shackles in their ankles ( aka less debt) than buying that bag of chips during the Super Bowl for example??

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I went to school in the 80's but don't feel entirely out of touch since I have a kid in college at the moment.

I wonder what kind of money people are collecting?

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Specializes in PACU.

I see more of the self-entitlement when said students complain that no one donated to their fund or they didn't get as much as they wanted/needed.

I don't pay for others people's education before mine is paid for, sorry.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.

We did have just about the same thread awhile back. My opinion hasn't changed. While this is not something I would personally feel comfortable doing, if somebody chooses that route for financing and other people donate and actually fund that education...why not? School is expensive. The cost of an education has skyrocketed while available funding has decreased. There are worse things to ask for funding for than an education, so more power to these students.

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