A Student’s Guide to Financial Aid
Lisette Hilton

Nursing school is expensive, especially given the clinical component. But nurses are at an advantage when it comes to getting financial assistance. The shortage has opened the door for nursing students — whether they’re getting a degree out of high school or pursuing an advanced degree.

Elaine Graf, RN, PhD, research and funding coordinator at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, says there are many options for people who want to pursue nursing educations.

High School Students Thinking About a Career in Nursing

High school students should check with their school counselors about local foundation grants for nursing and apply for them. “Here in Illinois, we have the Aurora Foundation that provides scholarships and grants for students to go into different fields. The colleges may have specific grants that were donated by former graduates to support tuition needs. Students need to check into those options,” says Graf.

High school students should also check and see if with their parents’ employers might provide scholarships for employees’ children. But realize, Graf says, that these perks usually come tied to some sort of employee commitment. A high school student who accepts a loan from an institution might have to work at that institution for years or pay back school costs. According to Graf, some hospitals are offering to pay for students’ last years of education in return for them working for a set number of years after graduation. Before accepting the money, students should make sure that the institutions paying their educations are the kinds of places at which they’d like to spend the next few years of employment.

Graf says nurses should shop around for schools because some offer better financial aid options than others. “Almost all of the federal grants and scholarships are issued through schools of nursing. So, I, as a US citizen can’t apply to the federal government for a trainingship in nursing, the trainingships are provided to the schools. If the school doesn’t apply to have scholarships or trainingships, then they’re not provided to that school,” she says.

Undergraduate nurses are eligible to apply for the federal Pel Grant at schools that offer the program. Other federal options include low-interest loans. As of December 2003, the interest rate on the Stafford Loan, available through the government, was 2.82, according to Kristie Smith, MEd, coordinator of financial aid, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing.

Nurses who think they can only afford a two-year undergraduate education in nursing should think again, Graf says. Some of the four-year programs provide the best scholarship programs and other financial options. “It’s really the four-year programs that are going to have more access to new grants,” she says.

While most scholarships are based on financial need, there are some based on simply driving up the numbers of nurses in the workforce.

For Nurses Who Want Additional Education

Nurses in the workforce often find that their current employers will foot at least part of their education bill via a tuition scholarship. “Ours is $5,000 a year for all full-time employees, just to further their education,” says Graf. “And it’s prorated for employees who are part-time.”

Typically with tuition scholarships, employees pay for their tuitions upfront, then are reimbursed from their employers. Employees should be aware that some tuition scholarships come with a commitment from the employee that he or she will work at an institution for a specific time period.

Smith says that at Vanderbilt’s graduate nursing program, loans are the main source of financial aid.

Applying for government loans (the ones with traditionally the best interest rates) is a simple process. Nurses complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form to apply for the government’s Stafford loan. Smith says that the actual amount that a student can borrow in the federal program is $18,500. Of that, $8,500 is a subsidized, which means the government pays the interest while the student is in school. The rest, $10,000 in unsubsidized, meaning that the government does not pay interest while the students is in school and the interest does start accruing.

“We also offer a private loan through at Vanderbilt Sallie Mae. The interest on that loan is dependent on the student’s credit or if that student has a cosigner. The difference on the private loan is you’re not guaranteed the money because it has to be approved by the lender,” says Smith.

Persistence Will Increase Your Chances of Getting Funding

Many students do not go far enough in their pursuit of financial aid, Graf says. “Finding the money requires a hunt, and then it requires persistence in filling out applications.”

Lisette Hilton is a freelance healthcare reporter, specializing in covering local, national, and worldwide news for nurses, pharmacists, physicians, and other allied health professionals.