How to Finance Your Nursing Degree Course
No matter how you look at it you’ll going to have to get some form of financial aid, scholarship or loan to pay your way through your nursing training. We know that’s hard so we look at all the options available.
With the cost of a nursing degree program being anywhere between anywhere between $5,000 for an associate’s degree with a community college to around $30,000 to $40,000 for a bachelors degree at a public or private university or college you’ll not only need to plan ahead but be aware of some of the financial help that’s available.
Federal Nursing Grants and Loans
Millions of dollars are available from the federal government in the form of grants which will help pay some of the fees. The great thing about grants are that they never have to be repaid so this really is free money if you qualify. Here are some of the more common grants that nursing students take advantage of :
- Federal Pell Grants – this is one of the most popular and can cover general student aid, work-study and loans but is designed to pay tuition expenses and fees, room and lodging as well as books and even childcare. There are alternative loans under this scheme. In 2009 over $25 billion was awarded to over 7 million students with the average award being $3,611 which was approximately 30% higher than in 2008
- An academic competitiveness grant may be available in your first year of $750 and second year of $1,300
- A SMART grant known as the Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent grant is awarded up to $4,000 and pursing a maths, technology or computer based course
- If you’re studying to become a teacher then the TEACH grant of up to $4,000 may be available
- Other grants and loans from the government worth investigating include the federal plus loan, campus based programs, federal supplemental educational opportunity grants who require exceptional financial support and low interest federal perkins loans
Nursing Scholarships
Many of the universities and colleges may offer some form of scholarship program whereby smaller amounts of money are awared to those in approved programs. Other types of scholarships are based upon if you live in the area of the university or if you have a real financial need. There are many scholarship awards available and it’s best to either search through the universities websites to see what’s on offer or look through some of the specialist website that cater for these types of financial awards.
Private Student Loans
If after you have gone through all the options you still need some form of financing or financial aid then perhaps the last piece of the puzzle is to look at private student loans. Generally you can take these loans out and you don’t need to start paying them back until you complete your course. There are many options but check the terms and conditions as well the interest rates on offer.
Applying for Financial Aid
With some of these aid programs you’ll have to not only have certain eligibility requirements but also complete many forms but it’s worth it in the end if you can get paid to study and cut the amount of money you need to find yourself. Certainly for some of the federal programs you need to have at least a cumulative 3.0 grade point average on a 4.0 scale.