Even if it doesn’t solve your problem today, this semester, or even this year, financial aid could prove crucial to your future as a nursing student. The cost of attending nursing school could prove too expensive to bear alone, so if you’re like the rest of us, you’re going to need help. Very few of us can bear the cost of school alone. That’s why you’re here. So let’s make your stay worthy.
The nursing school grant is funding that doesn’t require repayment, as with a school loan. There are over a thousand school grant programs available totaling over $400 billion dollars, and accessing those funds is somewhat an easy chore after applying to school and filing a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application. You can learn more about the FAFSA through http://www.fafsa.ed.gov.
Nursing scholarships are somewhat like grants in that they don’t require repayment either. Applying for them is very different from applying for a grant however since they’re awarded for things like academic achievements, community involvement, letters of recommendation, and more. As a result, nursing scholarships be can extremely competitive and strict requirements don’t make them any more easier to achieve.
A scholarship committee may require for example, a winner to commit to studying or working in a specific nursing field. It may even require a recipient to maintain a certain grade point average or join some sort of nursing association. Joining a nursing association could be one of the best moves you make prior to applying for a scholarship since the bulk of them have awesome leads on where to locate high paying financial aid programs. Other alternatives that are equally helpful include churches, local community groups, schools, and small and large businesses.
Work-study programs pay for a nursing student’s education while that student performs a job somewhere. Jobs range from teacher assistants to security, and they don’t necessarily have to be related to the nursing field that you’re studying. With sufficient financial need, you can participate in a work study program and fund a significant portion of your education at the same time. Check out http://www.fsa4counselors.ed.gov/clcf/workstudy.html if this sounds like a feasible approach.
School loans should be approached as a last resort since they have to be repaid – and repaid with interest. Unfortunately, they’re sometimes the only alternative. If you’re living within a certain income bracket, a school loan may be the only means in which you can pay for your nursing education. But — if you can look at a loan as an investment into your future, then you’ve already jumped over a significant emotional hurdle.
Let’s talk about the second hurdle – the interest. Loans accompany interest charges, but thanks to government regulations, interest is lower than that which accompanies other loans like car loans or home loans. And there’s more good news. As a nursing student, you won’t have to start your payment plans until six months after graduating.
The Stafford Loan is the most common student loan program and it encompasses both the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program and the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program. Private loans pay more, but at a cost. With a private loan, interest rears its ugly head as soon as it’s issued.
Now even though the Stafford Loan has to be repaid, it still requires an FAFSA form. This form helps determine eligibility and yes, it takes your credit score into account. If your credit score is over 650, your chances of getting a private loan are good. If not, you might need a co-signer.
If you’re under the age of 18 and you live with mom and dad, you might be able to fund your nursing education with a PLUS Loan. The PLUS loan is available through FFEL and Direct Loan programs and it works with the income of a student’s parents. It requires a good credit score just like with the Stafford Loan, but this is a yearly loan limited to school expenses and other received financial aid. But unlike with the Stafford Loan, payments begin 60 days after the loan is issued.
The Grad PLUS Loan is available to graduate and professional degree students and it operates the same way the PLUS loan operates. Check out http://www.govloans.gov and http://wwwstaffordloans.com for more information about these resources.
If you’re going to fund your nursing education with a loan, you’d better look into a few loan forgiveness programs – just to be on the safe side. Loan forgiveness programs forgive all or a portion of a loan in exchange for work. There’s no guarantee you’ll be able to pay back a school loan. With a loan forgiveness program, your performance as a working employee is accepted as payment. Loan forgiveness programs have been available for years, but more so now because of the economy.
Rising costs and a lack of sufficient employment really pushed government agencies to make these programs more and more accessible all across the nation. How much labor does it take to dent a loan? It can take just one year of nursing service to satisfy one year of student loan payments. Two great resources regarding this program are (1) http://www.finaid.org/loans/forgiveness.phtml and (2) http://www.staffordloan.com/repayment/federal-student-loan-forgiveness.php.
So how do you feel about what you’ve read so far? A little more confident? As you can see, you have some pretty good choices available. You don’t have to face nursing school expenses alone. There are plenty of resources to draw from. It just takes a little digging and for scholarship funds, a lot of writing. We can’t help with the writing part, but at least you now know where to start!
Related posts:
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.