At 40 With A Family, How Can I Afford To Go To Nursing School Full-time?
My wife has a $12/hour career and we have limited savings. Will financial aid help me with more than books, tuition and supplies? I know there are possible grants and scholarships out there, but those are limited and only 'maybes'. Am I able to use the loans that are available for living expenses, etc.? Job choices, opportunities and growth potential are all limited here in Vermont, so the career stability and life experiences that have given me a broad exposure to nursing have led me in that direction. But going back to school will take me out of the family income pool for 2-3 years. This is the only part that has me apprehensive.
November 20th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
my husband is the only income coming into our house and he makes $10 per hour and we manage to do just fine with a family of 4. Most people cant live on $22,000 a year….we are considered below poverty level but we always have food on the table and our bills are always paid never late…..but I have a higher financial advisor and his name is GOD…..have you tried getting a grant at the local college…that is if you have a local college….I wanted to be a medical transcriptionist and heard I could get a grant at out local college….
November 20th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Move to a different state (my town hired the entire class of nurses from two different schools, California). Nurses are short supply. Next year, apply for the FAFSA, you will probably get most of paid for by the government and not need a loan (which is again covered by the FAFSA regardless of income). Do not become a LVN, most LVNS quit nursing because their pay is terrible and conditions bad. RN is the only way to go.
November 20th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
go to http://www.futuresinnursing.com. Most states have nursing schools in the hospital and they will cover all costs if you agree to stay with them for 2 or 3 years after you graduate. Good Luck
November 21st, 2009 at 12:26 am
You can get several thousand dollars a semester for student loans, and you might be able to get other loans for a shortage field that will be cancelled once you graduate and work. I got $5700 in loans and about $1700 in grants per semester when I was in college, and I had two children. You should be able to get the same amount because you are not a “dependent” for anyone else and you are supporting your own “dependents”.
The loans are specifically for living expenses, too (it’s in the small print), so you can definitely use it for anything you need!!! I reccomend getting them. You may hate getting a loan, but when you are working and getting a paycheck you earned, you waon’t mind paying it off. I definitely don’t.
And at the end of school, I would reccomend “consolidating” the loans over 30 years, if you get enough loans to do that, and then pay them off early. Usually when you graduate, the loans must be repaid in 10 years, but you can consolidate them and lower your monthly payment and spread it out. If you keep making the higher payment, though, you’ll pay less interest. But either way is fine. And don’t worry, even if you have hard times after you graduate, they will work with you if you just let them know what’s going on. GO for it!!
November 21st, 2009 at 4:34 am
http://iefa.org ——-> International Students on the web < -------http://www.about.com --->Great search engine and information site for everything < ---http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml --> Dept. of Education for any questions<–http://www.fastweb.comhttp://www.gocollege.comhttp://collegeboard.comhttp://www.scholarships.comhttp://www.walmartfoundation.org…
1 800 FREE 411
This is free from any phone including cell phones in the U.S.
November 21st, 2009 at 6:46 am
Please fully investigate what a Nursing Degree, at any level, will mean to you. Using financial, spiritual, and any other metric imaginable must lead most people to reject a nursing career these days.
My brother-in-law became a Licensed Practical Nurse after he returned from his tour as a Medical Corpsman (Marines) in Vietnam. He finally gave up his post-Vietnam-Conflict [sic] nursing jobs: Horrible hours, hospital administrators who knew nothing except how to count beans, emotional burnout, etc. etc. etc.
He is now in Industrial Safety, an area in which his nursing education and experience definitely come in handy. He currently works at a coal-fired power plant, a job he really loves. The hours are long there, also, but not nearly as bad as when he was a nurse. U.S. regulatory requirements (OSHA, etc.) make this field wide-open; there aren’t enough qualified workers to go around. Low supply and high demand mean good jobs with good pay; I have been complaining to him lately that he has more dollars than sense (cents, ha ha). And he says his bosses, industrial (plant) administrators, are heads-and-shoulders more competent than most hospital administrators.
Plant Safety jobs are everywhere, even more widely-spread than nursing. He got his Associate’s Degree in Industrial Safety at about your present age, and has never looked back. It was easier to get, too!
I hope this helps! Good Luck!