Hello,

I will be starting a Nursing program at a Junior College in August, and have a few questions on obtaining a student loan.

When should i apply for the loan? I spoke with someone at the school and she said that they do not start loan apps until August and thats when I start school. I believe she may be referring to the gov't loans.

I already have a Bachelors degree, and the nursing program I will being going into will be for an AA degree. I am not going to be a grad student, so what am I considered on paperwork?

I will work part time, but I have a lot of credit card debt, and a mortgage that I will need help covering - which is why is mainly why i will need the loans. I am pretty sure I will end up having to getting a private loan, but I only want to take out as little as possible, because next year my income will show as much less, since I will not have worked full time in the past year and hopefully this will help me get more gov't loans for my last year in nursing.

my credit score is mid to lower 600's and I do not have a co-signer.

Any advice would be helpful!!

Thank you!

Get a FAFSA in ASAP! You would be eligible for federal aid!

I'm probably going to be in a similar situation in a year. I am finishing my bachelor's and going back for a two year program in Dental Hygiene. I was under the impression that most federal financial aid was excluded from you if you already had a bachelor's. Is this not true?

Stafford loans are still available to students pursuing a second degree.

I also have my BS and going to CC for nursing program. Even thought my EFC was over 10k - I still qualified for both Sub and UnSub student loans. I paid cash for the summer and fall term (completing my pre reqs) then apply in April and start in Fall 2010 and that's when I'll need the loans. So to answer your question, yes you can get student loans. I might end up not getting loans and just putting it on a credit card with 0%apr and pay it off because student loan interest rates are at 5% and I still have 26k debt from my BS (grad 2005).

Remember Nursing School has alot to do with building your clinical skill set.

You will be required to finish a prescribed amount of hours in a hospital and many hospitals use this as an opportunity to lure you into employment. Your current job will be your last priority in nursing school, some schools have made guidelines strongly discouraging students from working during school. I knew one person who left a 100k job once the community college nursing program totally consumed his schedule, sadly enough he left his job and then failed out of the program.

You must fully shift into nursing school from the begining. The OP needs to realize an APN program is nothing like your bachelors degree program. Its an all or nothing situation. You will have to give up everything in your schedule to survive. On the other hand I have known some really smart students who have survived the program and a pregnancy, so I would not fully put it past a person to have other obligations, but I would nodd my head at them and applaud them at graduation. I would just advise you to plan very carefully before you begin.

I would also recommend that you seek out a student who is a few classes away from the end of the program. Find out when the class meets and hang out in the hallway. Put yourself where they are and you will have a chance to ask a few questions. The information they can provide can save you from making the mistakes that cost so many people their nursing career. Remember every encounter you have with a nursing teachers and administrators is a test of your social, cognitive and physical skills. Your questions about the program must be super quick and to the point. There is such thing as a stupid question in a nursing program. Plan your face time with nursing staff as if you were interviewing for a job. I would recommend avoiding the teachers for small questions. Use the conselers or their marketing person at first, thats what they are there for, however you will at some point need the nursing staff, hopefully you need them to sign applications for funding, so map out what you need from them and then go and get it.

I might have gotten a little off topic, but nursing school funding is very specific to the state you live in. I live in California. I would recommend the OP add a location to your post.

There are alot of different programs in California to pay nursing students.
http://www.oshpd.ca.gov/HPEF/ADN.html

I would start by seeing what students at your school say about surviving the financial aspect of school. All nursing students struggle, plan for it.

You might get some Stanford but will still need private loan for the Nursing Program
please don't go with Salliemae if you have to take a private loan...try credit union or with your personal banker..

I am in the same boat almost...trying to get into nursing school already have a bachelors degree. Once you have a bachelors degree you do not qualify for grants....sucks big time. Some...very few scholarships are out there. Loans are about the only option.

Lots of the 2 year nursing programs dont qualify for some of the loans and scholarship programs which sucks as well.