Financial Aid

[CatsMeowParticipant]

OK, I’m one of those spoiled kids whose parents paid for college. Now I want to go back for my BSN (nursing). I can complete my prerequisites part-time at a community college, but then I’d like to do the accelerated program which I could complete, full-time, in 15 months. Obviously I would have to quit my job to do so.

I’m looking at paying for it with a combination of scholarships and loans. There’s a HRSA scholarship that pays for EVERYTHING and gives a monthly stipend, but they award it to the students with the most “need”…. and I can’t prove that I have “need” because my FAFSA is always going to be based off my previous year’s tax returns. Since I’m working now, I can’t demonstrate need, EVEN THOUGH I will have zero income if/when I become a full-time student.

Does anyone here know a way around this, or know what my options are? I’m not even sure what loans I would qualify for given my current EFC. I’m pretty ignorant given that I’ve never had to pay for college before.

Help!

[KristinaParticipant]

The only thing I really know about is the FAFSA. My parents pay for my college in addition to scholarships from my school, that change based on need. My dad made twice as much last year than he did this year, so the FAFSA for this year doesn’t reflect how much we need, and my school was about to give me nothing. My advisor at school told me that as long as I sent a letter to appeal that decision, with solid proof of my dad’s current income, that the school would take note of that, and make a decision based on that. So they ended up giving me a lot more in scholarships once they read my appeal. I’m not sure if that would work for the program you are applying for, but I know many places will take into account that the FAFSA is not always reflective of someone’s current situation for when they enter, and I would definitely recommend talking with some sort of financial advisor-even better if you can talk to someone at the place you want to go full-time.

[CatsMeowParticipant]

So… are Stafford Loans based on EFC also? Are loans available through the school? Can I do this without taking out private loans? I’m seriously clueless.

But that appeal letter thing makes me feel a LOT better. I’m especially worried about being considered for scholarships if they look at my current FAFSA. Maybe I can attach a letter to the applications asking them to consider me regardless of current EFC?

[KristinaParticipant]

I’m kinda clueless about loans too, but Stafford loans are based on EFC, and I think the maximum for a year is $6,500 right now. Pell grants (and I think there is also Perkins) are available from the government when you’re at a low enough EFC, but I don’t know if you could convince the government about your FAFSA not reflecting your situation in school, because I only worked with my school when I made my appeal. I’m always chosen for verification for the FAFSA because my dad owns his own business, and so I always have to prove further my situation to the government, so maybe going through the verification process with the FAFSA might help, I don’t know. But I know there is a number on the FAFSA website to call and they can probably help you with what you could do in your situation.

[rachelParticipant]

So the way I understand it, the subsidized stafford loans are based on income, but the unsubsidized ones aren’t. So you should be able to take out as many loans as you want, you just might end up having interest accruing on them. But I’d take Kristina’s suggestion and talk to someone in financial aid at the school you’d be attending. They’ll know better how to navigate all that.

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