By Jeff Morrow

Nursing is a fulfilling career and offers many great career opportunities for those with the necessary education and skills. The decision to begin or continue your nursing education is a big one, and how you plan to pay for nursing school is an important element of that decision.

You shouldn't be discouraged in pursuing your goals by lack of funds. Public sources for financial aid include federal and state scholarships and loans, as well as work study programs. In addition, many nursing schools and universities have their own financial aid packages, while community groups and membership organizations offer special scholarships and loans.

There is one standard application that all colleges and universities require. It is called the FAFSA and it stands for "Free Application for Federal Student Aid." Submitting the FAFSA is the gateway to most of the financial aid that you will receive! When you complete and submit the FAFSA form, it means that you are applying for both federal and state need-based grants and loans, Federal college work-study, state merit scholarships, and institutional grants and scholarship programs.

You should not wait to find out if you are accepted into a program to fill out and submit a financial aid form. You can submit a FAFSA form anytime between January 1st and June 30th of the year you would like to attend school. Most school deadlines for financial aid fall somewhere between January and March (for September enrollment.) When shopping for financial aid, check the accreditation status of the nursing and the school's eligibility for aid. All accredited programs qualify for federal funding, but an institution may have limited access due to high default rates.

Grants

Federal grant programs provide funds that don't need to be paid back. The application process may be more difficult but the payoff is significant. When you apply to some schools with your FAFSA, they may consider you for grants.

Pell Grants offer substantial support, depending on your financial need. You should apply for Pell Grants as soon as possible after January 1, although deadline for application submission is May 1 for the fall semester.

Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG) are available to students with exceptional financial need and enrolled at least half-time in an eligible undergraduate program. The participating school determines the amount up to $4,000 a year.

Scholarships

If you can qualify for scholarships, this would be a great source of finance for your nursing education. Competition is tough, though. Professional associations for particular nursing specialties may offer scholarships to qualified persons. Other good sources are religious and other philanthropic organizations.

Nursing Scholarships

The most important rule for winning a nursing scholarship "is to apply," according to minoritynurse Web site. "Searching for scholarships and filling out applications is indeed time-consuming, but the hours invested can pay off in thousands of dollars." There are many private scholarships available for nursing students. Visit my-nursing-career.com for a list of over 750 scholarship just for nursing.

College Work-Study Programs

The federal program supports part-time employment in participating schools. The school provides you an on- or off-campus job paying at least the prevailing minimum wage and sets the number of hours to be worked.

To qualify you should submit completed applications early in the calendar year.

College Loans

There are low-interest college loans. These entail some commitment, but they also provide you with the means to accomplish your dreams. You usually apply at your chosen school.

Nursing Student Loan Program, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides loans up to $2,500 a year (freshman and sophomore) or $4,000 a year (junior and seniors). Repayment of these low-income loans begins 9 months after graduation, over 10 years at 5% interest annually.

Perkins Loans can lend up to $4,000 per year of undergraduate study. Repayment begins 9 months after graduation at 5% interest; you have up to 10 years to repay the loan.

Stafford Loans, PLUS Loans (Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students), and SLS Loans are loans you will have to arrange privately through banks and other lending institutions. These carry a maximum interest rate of 8.25%. Usually, there is a total loan limit of $23,000 for all 4 years of study.

Tuition Reimbursement

This is one strategy to take a stepped approach toward your career in nursing. You can start out as a CNA and then work and study for your LPN or RN. Your employer may offer a tuition reimbursement program if your course of study is in a field related to your job. Generally, an employer will require you to pay for your tuition up front and then reimburse your tuition expenses once you have met or exceeded the employer set academic standards which are often a "C" or higher or a "pass" in a pass/fail grading system. Employers will also use work status such as full or part time, and length of service when offering tuition reimbursement as a benefit to their employees.

Tax credits

The Lifetime Learning Tax Credit and the Hope Scholarship Tax Credit are the two most common tax credits for students. You can not receive both tax credits at the same time for the same person.

The Lifetime Learning Tax Credit can be claimed for qualified tuition and school-related expenses for each student in the taxpayer's family. The maximum credit a taxpayer may claim is $2,000. In other words, the credit is equal to 20 percent of the taxpayer's first $10,000 out of pocket tuition and related expenses.

The Hope Scholarship Tax Credit can be claimed for qualified tuition and school-related expenses for each student in the tax payer's family. The student must be enrolled half-time and be in either the first or second years of a post-secondary education program that will lead to a degree or certificate. The maximum credit a taxpayer can claim is $1,500 for each student in the family.

For the latest listing of loan, grant, and over 750 nursing scholarship resources to pay for nursing school, see www.my-nursing-career.com.

More Nursing Resources

• Student Loans: http://www.govloans.gov and http://wwwstaffordloans.com
• Grants: http://www.fsa4counselors.ed.gov/clcf/grants.html and about student aid in general at http://studentaid.ed.gov.

   

• Work-Study: Get more program information by visiting http://www.fsa4counselors.ed.gov/clcf/workstudy.html.

   

• The American Association of Colleges of Nursing may have scholarship information at their website: http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Education/financialaid.htm#aacnr
• Listing of ALL advertised nurisng jobs