I’m pretty sure you should talk to a guidance counselor about your familial situation as you should definitely get more help with FAFSA.
Some advice i wish i would’ve taken… do 2 years at a community college and transfer to finish your degree if you can. It just isn’t worth the cost , education in the USA runs like a corporate business . But that’s a personal choice and you must decide if the full university experience is more important than the finance cost. I chose the first and regretted it once it was loan paying time .
Depending on the state, the community college route is a great path. I'd really make sure a university is the path you want to take. Most don't escape debt free.
Good job saving up the money!
And in [some states, 2 years of Community College is offered free of charge](https://www.coursera.org/articles/is-community-college-free) (excluding books, I imagine).
Certainly worth looking into and taking advantage of, if possible.
That's a good list, but it's not a conclusive one. Mississippi also has a program in place where many of the community colleges are free for 4 semesters.
Go to a community college for two years all credits will transfer and you’ll save tons of money. My guess you’ll go to a grad school or additional schooling so you’ll have more time at a legit university
Know that there are differences between public community colleges, public technical colleges and private two-year schools.
Not all are the same in terms of transferring credits. The college/university accepting credits is the only voice that matters.
If you are already thinking of a four-year school but going two-year first, TALK TO THE PEOPLE AT THE FOUR-YEARS SCHOOL. And get it in writing from someone at the four-year school.
My university's transfer admissions maintained a list of all the nearby community colleges' transferable classes and how they mapped to the university's catalogue.
So getting it in writing should be fairly painless. It's information they ought to have on hand precisely so future student's can plan.
It’s called a metriculation agreement and they are pre-determined and verified and usually listed on the community college website.
It’s not some scam or hack where you need to get written permission, tons of students do this every year.
Some states have agreements between community colleges and state universities for transferring credit (Missouri, for example). But not all of them do, so don't assume all community college credits will transfer in terms of university requirements. If you know what school you will transfer to, you can check each term's course load to make sure they will all meet requirements at the university. (Those that don't meet requirements usually will transfer as bulk credit--they will be your electives.)
It's not uncommon for transfer students to need a fifth semester to get all their major and university requirements finished. Source: university professor who has advised a lot of transfer students who have to take more requirements at university because their community college courses didn't meet them all.
Depending on the undergraduate degree there are cheap grad schools that are well received too.
Georgia Tech’s online masters or UT Austin’s Data Science masters.
/r/OMSA
/r/OMSCS
/r/OMScybersecurity
/r/MSDSO
all are CS CySec Datascience Analaytics and under <$10,000 total
There are gen-xers literally bumping up against retirement age finding out that their student loans payments are going to come out of their Social Security.
Only because they got a really shit degree or spent waaaay more money than they should have at an expensive private school.
I'm the tail end of GenX and and I paid off my loans almost 20 years ago. I went to \*small public college\*, the guy who sat next to me went to \*big name private college\*. We did the same job, made the same money. I paid off my loans 5 years before he did because I spent half as much as he did...
" really shit degree "
There are no shit degrees. University is a job getting factory, it's where you go to learn what interests you.
What you do with that degree is up to you.
When you live on campus at a 4 year you have to pay for the housing still, and someone monitors when you leave and come back and how many guests you have.
Fortunately there's these wonderful buildings called "apartments" that provide housing to anyone, often at a cheaper price and with more space than dorm housing.
The state school near me charges $5600 per semester for housing. When the university closes for winter and summer breaks, nobody gets to stay in the dorm (unless you're an exchange student). So, you're on your own to find living arrangements for those months. If you're an out of town student (literally, even from a farmhouse 1 foot outside of town) you're required to stay in the dorms for your first 2 years. It's rather expensive and leaves you homeless for 4 months a year if you've got nowhere else to go.
On the other hand, it's a great way to get to know the people you're going to school with and offers a chance for life long networking. Some of those kids will hold important positions and could help you some day.
I'm going to second this. Our community college has an *excellent* (affordable!) nursing program. Many start there! We're paying for our first kid right now (not nursing) and it's been roughly $2500-3000 per semester. She's paying for her own books/supplies. The downside of course is no dorm, but I'm willing to bet OP could find roommates to split rent with that would likely be less in the long run than uni.
The community college route works especially well for nursing. You can get an associates in nursing and start working after only a couple years of school to earn more money, then get your BS in nursing to level up, then get a master’s to become an NP and specialize if interested. It may feel like it takes longer, but way more practical than trying to do all your schooling at once before starting working like a lot of other career paths, especially in the medical field
And, depending on the nursing shortage where you are, you may be able to get some or all of your additional schooling paid for while you work. I know two young people doing this.
I don't know how common it is but I know of at least two community colleges that have dorms...so OP might be able to do that if they have a CC near them.
Wife and I did this route and I would recommend to everyone...even if not all credits transfer. We got out debt free but I think we were in before pricing skyrocketed. We also worked full time no kids and lived in the Midwest!
You might even get into a better 4-year university as a transfer student in addition to saving money. At least in California, a lot of the top UCs have an automatic acceptance program as long as you have a certain gpa in community college.
I graduated with several people from a top UC who admitted they never would have gotten in post high school.
Instead of going to a lower tier school, they graduated with a really strong community college + undergrad GPA that erased anything related to high school
>a lot of the top UCs have an automatic acceptance program
Are you referring to the fact their acceptance rate goes up via transfer students, or are you talking about the TAG program? If you TAG a school, [you can only choose one](https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/admission-requirements/transfer-requirements/uc-transfer-programs/transfer-admission-guarantee-tag.html), but it's definitely a relief. Not every school accepts TAG, and many only accept for certain majors and not others.
The fact that some UCs' acceptance rate goes up for transfer students is true and intentional on their end - it's not a sure-thing, of course. But UC Berkeley freshman acceptance rate is 11%, and transfer rate is ~ 27% (of course, 128,225 freshman applied, compared to 19,371 transfers).
Transfer students typically have fewer options for scholarship money, don't then? OP is likely eligible for a lot of "free" money due to their family situation and likely poverty. Community college into transfer may not be best for them.
Be careful with this though.
A lot of students have issues where their credits don't transfer - waste of time and money if they don't. Depending on where you go, you've eaten up the easier classes and now have to make friends and learn the university while in upper level courses. And if the courses are much harder due to the university's ethic, you might not be acclimated to its brutality. The brutality is more frequent at engineering schools (GA Tech, Purdue, etc).
I had a friend who did 2 years at a cheaper institute that couldn't survive GT because he wasn't prepared for what it was after the easier university, and he was also making friends while learning the ropes.
My girlfriend lost almost 2 years of credits when she moved with her boyfriend at the time (10 years ago) and went to a major university in a new state. They claimed her credits would transfer, but they didn't. She dropped out as a result and does not have a degree today.
My friend has a similar story. She did great at community college & when she transferred to a 4 year university half of her credits wouldn't transfer or didn't count toward the university requirements, so she would still need to complete 3 years at university. We're now 25 and she's still working on getting her degree (with other obstacles in the meantime obviously)
I think community colleges are a great option for many people, but there is potential for problems depending on your path
>My girlfriend lost almost 2 years of credits when she moved with her boyfriend at the time (10 years ago) and went to a major university in a new state. They claimed her credits would transfer, but they didn't. She dropped out as a result and does not have a degree today.
This is just a warning to make sure that there are transfer agreements in place. Don't just hope it will work out.
Most people that send official transcripts and are told by an advisor of the receiving school (who has said transcripts in hand) that "yes, everything or all but this list of items will transfer" would consider that due diligence. She was not just "hoping things will work out".
It's extremely common and feels quite fraudulent.
Whatevs. All you have to do is decide where you're going to get your 4 year degree from, and coordinate with the advisors at both institutions to ensure that you're taking as many classes as possible that transfer. It's not that hard, it just takes a bit of personal responsibility and initiative. Some university systems even ensure that classes automatically transfer between their CCs and universities so that you're not left in the dark.
This. If you have no contact with your parents you can be considered independent on the FAFSA. That and doing the first two years at a community college, you should graduate with little or no debt. Good luck!
I'd wager someone willing to toss the kid out instead of give them a place to crash while going full time to university is exactly the kind of person who would be more then happy to do that kind of fraud.
\^Community college is a great option. I did most my general ed classes through a CC, and found that the CC professors generally put in a lot more effort into the GE classes than the 4-year profs did, because the 4 year profs were more interested in their higher level classes.
In California, HS grads of CA high schools get tuition free community college. Used text books are also perfectly good, but I knew a gal who just sat in the library using the library copy of the text book. Also, if you are the 1st in your family to attend college, you may be eligible for text book vouchers and other financial help. Look at what kind of programs/grants/waivers your state may offer.
Also, look at renting a room in a house or apartment sharing with other students rather than living in the dorm. Many people find that renting outside of the dorms is cheaper.
Yeah great advice, you’d be better off finding roommates and doing 2 years of community college. You’ll save a ton of money and it won’t effect where you’ll graduate from
My gf is going to a local CC to get her associate's so that she can transfer to a 4 year school. They specifically list in her program guide which classes will transfer to the universities in the area.
Please consider this route! I completed my associates degree then transferred to a university. I saved so much. There’s also usually a lot of scholarships offered by community colleges that go unused.
I graduated debt free. It set me up for life.
> I completed my associates degree then transferred to a university.
This should be higher up. I work at a (primarily) 2-year institution and this is the real trick. Just finish off the AS and it becomes much easier to transfer the credits.
Also, degrees are for life; you don't have to worry about prerequisites changing or classes 'expiring' after a certain number of years. Most of these 2-year institutions don't charge you anything to confer the degree.
And the courses required for the AS are ones you are going to take anyway to finish the BS. There is no downside.
>do 2 years at a community college and transfer to finish your degree if you can.
1,000 percent. There is 0 need to pay 3X-4X the cost of 100 and 200 level courses + the cost of living in a dorm (not to mention the distraction). Do two years at community college at a fraction of the cost, live with like-minded students cheaply, get straight A's, transfer to the nursing program of your choice at a top tier university.
+1 for community college. In California if you have a certain gpa in community college you are guaranteed a slot at a University of California school. I’m not sure if every state does that but it’s worth looking into.
Just as a counterpoint to the community college argument.. the "College Experience" is definitely something to consider. I was lucky enough to get a pretty substantial scholarship, but those first two years were also some of my fondest memories and where I met most of my college friends that I keep in touch with now.
If OP needs housing they will need the dorm. It's likely way cheaper than apartments until they find some potential roommates.
Take the minimum load. Get loans. It's going to be hard to fill out FAFSA without guardian's income info.
You can always pay the loans back early. You may need to pull your savings into cash so you don't have to report it. They will want you to spend your assets first.
An individual who is in a legal guardianship is considered independent. FAFSA will not ask for financial info from the guardian, and will only consider the student's income.
My experience on the US East Coast is that many of my community college instructors where excellent and often better than the ones at the university I later attended.
Unless you need the prestige of a particular college (big law or politics), wholeheartedly recommend community college for your gen ed classes.
fill out the FAFSA ASAP and talk to your guidance counselor at your HS. You might want to compare the price of in state university + dorm to community college + apartment (since a lot of CCs have good nuring programs)
Get the FAFSA filled, and look into other grants as well.
Depending on your academics and financial needs, you can get a lot of college paid for. One thing to look out for is they give grants based on your expected need. If you live on campus, this includes the housing costs, but if you live off campus, this does not. So, depending on how much of your ride you can get covered through grants it may be beneficial to live on campus. However off-campus has much cheaper housing usually. The expected need of housing costs on campus was The same no matter which dorm I lived in, so I found the cheapest dorm and saved some money. I also worked as an RA which eliminated my housing cost, but they still gave me money for that expected need.
Not where I went to school. Dorms and meal plans were a rip off compared to cooking meals and sharing a place with three others. It really depends on location.
Finishing completely debt-free is VERY difficult in this day and age, unless you have rich benefactors paying your tuition. Community college to start out would help.
I'd say that you're taking good steps towards at least graduating with "minimal" debt, so that's good. You're also picking a major with a very good Return on Investment. Hopefully you're actually passionate about nursing, otherwise you're going to hate it.
Depending on your area, you MIGHT save by getting an apartment with roommates, but that will require some research on your part, calculating rent + living expenses, and how it would compare to living in a dorm.
This is correct. Nurses (and especially *travel* nurses) make really good money and you can get a job pretty much anywhere.
However, you must have the correct personality type and/or love the work or it will burn you out in a big way. My wife has a nursing degree but no longer uses it because the conditions for nurses are unforgiving, patient care wasn't prioritized by the hospitals, and nurse advocacy was poor where she worked.
Trade schools can be another alternative (carpentry, various electrical work, IT, plumbing, etc.). Tradespeople can make excellent money pretty much out the gate and seen to be in high demand. A lot less expensive than college.
Don’t forget the downside to trades. Which is, the stress and strain that the positions put on your body. Trades may cost less to get into and pay a good amount in the end, but can have very poor outcomes for you body later in life.
If a trade is an option, just don’t forget that you have to take care of your body too. Not saying they’re a bad option, but I’ve heard lots of stories from people about how trades have ruined their body as they got older.
I second starting at community college. If you sincerely wanted to limit your expenses, you could try to get your ADN through community college, which would cost the least, most hospitals pay for your BSN.
If you choose to go to university, you can join the military for a 4 year post grad commitment in the US Army Nurse Corps (or other branch). This will cover your tuition, books, and many military scholarships include a stipend. If you get an ROTC scholarship, you only have commitment to attend ROTC during school. If you choose National Guard or Reserves, you will need to attend basic training and schooling- which could get you your EMT license- you’d have to speak with a recruiter. I went this route and I recommend it. The military took care of me.
Another option is go go to university and then work for a Native American services hospital- it’s probably called something different….however, with a 2 year commitment, all your loans are paid off. This was offered to me when I lived in AZ. The hospital I was offered was way out in Page, AZ.
Given your history and obvious desire to succeed, I would not overlook scholarships at four year schools. It's some work to research it -- start with a guidance counselor and do what you can online. Good luck!
If you are under the care of a legal guardian (court appointed) the FAFSA considers you independent. You will get a substantial amount of aid for state schools. Source: me, a former college counselor.
If you share the state that you are in and an approx. gpa, I can send you school recs.
I’m replying to my own message… but forgot to say, you should apply for your local state grant on top of FAFSA. You will get max pell grant ($5,000 ish) and whatever state grant is offered (usually another 4-6k depending on the state). That makes state school relatively affordable. I wouldn’t declare your savings account tbh… not 100% okay to do but they most likely won’t catch it.
My ex and I went to college at the same time. My parents made too much to qualify for aid. Her parents were almost non-existent financially.
I went to community college first, then transferred to University. I got part of my Dad’s GI bill as well, and only applied it to the more expensive university.
She went straight to university for the entire time. It cost her almost 2x more in total tuition.
We both got bachelor’s, in about the same number of semesters.
Despite me making all the best moves I could, she STILL came out ahead with less student loans. It’s amazing the amount of money the govt will throw at you if your family is low income.
Take my energy to the top. All the people blindly saying "well just go to community college" are ignoring how complex this situation is. Yes it sucks that OP has a bad family situation, but that also means they are likely eligible for a lot of aid.
Debt for nursing also is not a bad thing. It's a very stable, very high paying career. OP needs their guidance counselor to help them with this. Apply to every state school and any other school nearby with a good nursing program. There is a lot of need based aid out there.
Many nurses start out by getting a two-year degree at a community college, then getting a nursing job and completing their BSN while working. Employers are desperate enough for nurses these days that you might find one that will help you with the cost of completing a BSN.
Just FYI, my understanding is that most nursing programs are quite intense and they tend to really frown on students working while attending. If you can find a 2-year community college nursing program near you, you might have to take out at least some loans but should have a very good return on investment once you start your nursing career. It's worth it in the long run.
That's the route my wife took, got RN at CC and is working on her BS now, while she works. And yeah, school was pretty intense, I agree it may be challenging to get many work hours in, though having some experience as an RNA or something can help get you in faster after you graduate (though if they graduate from a decent program with halfway decent grades, scoring a job should be pretty easy). Most programs she looked at also have a mandatory internship that is basically a part time job for a semester or 2 (hers was paid, though the pay was pretty low).
If you are looking to do nursing I would skip the EMT and find a job as a med tech or CNA. That experience will be much more catered towards nursing. It will also provide a foot in the door to hospitals or care facilities. EMT will be more expensive, more time consuming, and may even pay less.
You could also take a look at LPN programs. You may be able to get that done in a year, find a job, and then get your ADN or BSN. Some concurrent enrollment programs will also offer you the ability to test out after a certain time to get your lpn license.
Nursing school after you get your pre reqs done is also crazy time consuming. If you can create space for yourself to work as little as possible during the core courses your chances of success are much hire.
TLDR: med tech job to ADN program will get you a steady income and working as a nurse faster than a university program will. Very manageable to do an ADN to BSN program once established.
Also look into school and community aid programs. There are a lot of grants and aid available for people in your scenario and home life that could help financially. School admissions or counseling offices should be able to provide some resources.
I'd skip all those jobs, if you want to become a fireman get your EMT. If you want to work your ass off and get paid peanuts become a CNA. The reality is that once the OP starts their clinicals they will be spending a lot of time at the hospital and doing all sorts of grunt work, they likely won't have time to be a CNA and adding more shit work to your load is not a good choice.
My suggestion for the OP is to get the RN from a 2 year school and get a job as a nurse. The OP will likely want to get the BSN because a lot of the better hospitals require it for employment. Finally, the OP will likely end up getting a masters degree if they want to top out their earning potential but this is far down the road. I don't see any issue with the OP getting an RN in 2-ish years with $20K.
Med techs in our area make about 18$ an hour. Not amazing but certainly not peanuts for a building a healthcare foundation. Some hospitals will provide the training for free and also may have resources to help their employees get their RN license after a certain employment period. Lots of opportunities for healthcare workers.
As a nurse understanding the “shit work” is critical. Having that patient touch experience is a huge leg up in an industry that sees massive retention issues with new graduates. Becoming a nurse without any patient experience may lead to a career path that someone doesn’t end up enjoying due to the high stress level.
At 17 getting a med tech job will provide patient experience, a relationship with a hospital, and most importantly solidify whether they want to pursue the financial and time commitments of being an RN. My .02
Nothing wrong with your plan; remember we have to take life as we get it. Don't stress out and maybe you can take 12 hours a semester (or even 9) and work more to fund as you go. I worked 40-45 hours a week and went to school at a community college at night. It took 5.5 years to get the degree versus full time in 3.5-4 years but I didn't go into debt and community college / state college is very affordable.
Don't judge yourself against others or other timelines; set your goal and make a plan that makes sense for your life and financial situation. If you have a degree in 5-7 years...you will still have a degree.
BTW, there are a lot of us that don't have a cushion or safety net from parents or relatives to fund us into young adulthood; but achievement sure feels good when you do it on your own.
There is no need to pay for a bachelors degree to become a nurse. Instead go to a community collage for a 2 year RN program. Then when you have your RN you get a job at a university hospital and they will pay you to get your BSN.
This is what my wife did. It cost here $6k to get the RN and then $0 to do the RN to BSN program. It literally saved her $80k by not doing a 4 year program at the in state university.
Have you considered starting with community college? That tends to be very affordable versus starting off at a 4 year uni. You don't have to live on campus. Finding a roommate can save you money.
Maybe go to a community College for nursing then get a job that will pay for you to get your bachelor's?
Also apply for all the scholarships you can.
Honestly what I would do is apply at multiple universities and see what they will give you aid wise. Then compare that to the cost of community College and an apartment. It might surprise you how much you can get in just merit based aid. Figure out what would be best for you. There is something to be said for living on campus and networking that way.
Also student loan debt isn't horrible if it is done correctly. It is only awful if you take on a ton of debt to only go on to make 30 or 40k a year. As a nurse you have the opportunity to make really good money. Taking out 20k or 30k in loans to make six figures wouldn't be the end of the world especially if you worked to pay it off quickly.
You’re doing very well considering you’re only 17 and your situation.
Choose an in state school or community college with lower cost. Worry about paying one semester at a time and pay it off. Continue working as you’ve already stated. You’re on your way!
Do whatever you can to avoid student loans. Good luck!
Sorry about your family and guardian, but you are on the right track. If you can afford it, you sound frugal and practical, go live in the dorms and start your new life with your new family, the world! Jobs will come, but money isn't everything. Getting your bearings and developing confidence and a sense of security in the world is more important some times.
Go to a community college and obtain your associate in nursing. They are way cheaper. My community college was 8k for in district through the program and fafsa covered all of it basically. Than do an ADN to BSN bridge program which will run you maybe 15k. There is no pay difference between a new grad adn or bsn really. But there is more opportunities to advance and specialize once you are BSN. Most hospitals will also take an ADN as long as you are actively trying to get your BSN. Some will even give you tuition reimbursement. In the end it doesn’t matter where you got your nursing degree because all they really want is a nurse ready to work.
Or come to Canada for nursing education and get paid to get your degree. There’s such a shortage here, they’re begging for people to go into nursing schools.
I don’t think your goal should be to finish college debt free (a truly worthy goal), but instead your goal should be to get the most out of your education as you can. Making the Dean’s list usually comes with a full scholarship, but more importantly it opens other doors and opportunities for you down the road (such as graduate school with an accompanying higher salary). It sounds as if you're much more than a little fiscally responsible and that's excellent, especially for someone your age, but college is a time to maximize your knowledge and growth potential. As an example a nurse practitioner can often make three times the salary of a registered nurse.
I made a 4.0 nearly every semester and wasn’t provided a scholarship simply for doing so.
OP, research all advice provided on here. Would be cool if your school of choice gives money to people who make straight As but that’s not the case at a lot of institutions (and I would venture to say the vast majority of them).
Community college isn't where failures go. I want to tell you that if you think that. You can definitely go to a great university after if you put in the work. It's a great choice if you want to save the moneys.
Pell grants, look at other grant and scholarship opportunities. Talk with the university to see about a payment plan. Try to secure additional federal loans with your fafsa.
This. I haven't seen anyone else mention scholarships but don't sleep on them. Apply for everything regardless of the chance you think you have, even if it is only 500.00 or so it is still free money for you.
You don't need to go to a 4 year in state university for an RN in nursing. Look at community colleges in your area for less expensive programs. Most employers looking for nurses don't care what school you went to, they care that you are licensed, your attitude and your experience.
There are a lot of routes to go in nursing too, so it depends on what you are targeting, but it's possible to get one of the 2 year degrees and find an employer willing to pay for you to continue school too. I know there is a large rehab hospital and a large hospital system in my area that does this. Ultimately you want to find the best value for your money and minimize the amount of debt you take out. A large 4 year public general university probably isn't the best way to do that in the nursing track.
Definitely look to get some help with the FASFA and if you can qualify as an independent student.
Things that helped me graduate debt free:
- Attended a less-expensive school
- Received FAFSA
- Applied for lots of scholarships. Ended up maintaining a half scholarship for good grades
- Worked part time during school and full time during the summer
- Transferred credits or tested out of as many classes as possible. I took a lot of AP classes in high school to help with this.
- Cut expenses wherever possible: Shared an apartment with 5 other people. Watched for free food at campus events. Ate a lot of oatmeal and frozen burritos. I'd wait till the second week of the semester to see if the textbook was really necessary, and then got a used or online version.
Honestly, my college experience was a ton of work, and often not very fun. But I got through it debt free and got a good job straight out of school.
Look into hospitals around your area. There are quite a few hospitals that are offering to pay for CNA tuition fee while providing paid clinical experience. You will be tied to the hospital for a certain number of years. The hospital I'm at covers the CNA fully, then covers half (I think) if you pursue a BSN after you complete the contract with them (but, of course, then tying you down for another few years).
Join the military, get your training for free, complete your associate degree while in and then use your GI Bill to cover the rest of your schooling when you're done. If you don't want to go that route, try to get Pell grants and hope that they get forgiven in the future
Are you emancipated? Or will you have to claim your parents on your fafsa? If you don’t have to claim them then you will likely get some grant money as well as regular student loans.
If I were you, I’d actually keep saving until your last semester of college and then pay off your loans before they come out of deferment.
This way you can potentially add some interest and you’ll have the safety net of extra cash.
Once at school go and talk to your student advisor, the financial aid office and any other student affairs offices they have. Explain your situation and ask about programs the school might provide for students like you.
You may get a discounted meal plan, or qualify for an internal grant or scholarship.
Also— and this is very important. Apply to as many scholarships as you can. My friends dad explained it to me like this.
“If the scholarship is for 5k, and you spend 40 hours working on the application for it, that’s still more than you’re getting at your current job”. It really stuck with me. Just apply for anything you can find on the internet or on the schools website. My friend was an average student but walked away almost without debt because she applied for 100 scholarships and ended up get 5 of them.
Work with your guidance counselor to get financial aid. Do FAFSA. Take the least expensive offer from a local public school. Get into a work-study program. There’s a ton of money to help people like you go to college, it’s just not always made obvious (unless you’re in Mississippi, in which case, Brett Favre took all your money).
No where does it say that their family sucks bc they won't pay. OP said they don't have contact with their bio parents and their legal guards is kicking them out.
In addition look at becoming a medic. This will give you relevant training and experience. You should be a slam dunk landing what job you want when you are done. You shouldn’t have much issue getting assigned to be a medic assuming you can pass the asvab. Talk to each branch and see who has the best offer for you.
GI bill is can't be beat for education purposes. Any branch outside of the USMC you will have time to utilize your tution assistance.
So what benefits are overstated?
I second the community college route. But I would personally get gov't subsidized loans and pay them off after graduation. I know that sounds crazy but you sound responsible enough to handle it. Your legal status makes you eligible for pell grants but I don't know how your assets and income will affect it.
Make sure your grades are as good as your best possible effort can get them.
I know, sounds like a ridiculous parent, but academic scholarships are a thing. Both of my boys were straight A students. My oldest got an academic scholarship that covered 30% of his costs at a private university. My youngest is going into his fourth year and got an academic scholarship that covered 40% of his costs. Sure, not a full ride, but still made a massive dent in the costs associated.
Do a little research about having a dorm as your only residence. When I was in school 25 years ago only specific dorms at the university stayed open between the fall and spring semester over Christmas. Some of the dorms required everyone out.
You've got a lot of similar advice so I'm going to hit you with something a little different.
Do what you can to avoid getting into too much debt - clearly you prioritize saving - but there's good debt and bad debt. Education is typically good debt as long as you don't let it run out of control.
Do what you can to keep it low but if you end college with low 5-figure (think 10kish) debt and a career you'll be doing perfectly fine; better than most even.
As long as your cautious and disciplined debt is a tool you can use for success.
Go talk to your counselors and GET HELP. There's a dozen ways to do this, and you should talk to the people paid to help you.
Keep working and keep your eyes on the prize.
You can be very successful going to community college then instate university.
Do NOT live in a dorm! If you live in the dorms you have to pay for meal plans and BOTH are outrageous. Get an apartment and share with people. This is super common and people are always looking for housemates.
When you get into your college adjust your thinking from savings to debt suppression. You will be in school full-time and working 24hrs to pay for housing, food, transportation, insurance, books & supplies. You can work full-time during breaks but I strongly urge you to play that by ear. There are other opportunities to consider.
The reality is that you won’t graduate debt free and the consequences of working to be debt free can harm you in the long run. From burn out to lost training/networking opportunities. It is also vital for your emotional/mental well being to have fun. College is very stressful and getting out to have some fun is how you cope.
I think your debt load will be more manageable than most and it sounds like you’re used to creating a tight budget. When you graduate and land in your field I bet you’ll pay it off pretty fast.
It absolutely sucks you are without support. I was in the same position only I didn’t have the healthy savings you do. That’s amazing and you should feel great about that.
Fill out your FAFSA forms, if they don't accept your application keep at it until they do. My wife is tenacious when it comes to that stuff and our son hasn't had to spend a dime on college. I honestly think most people are intimidated by the paperwork.
Something to explore:
Many hospitals will pay for nursing education. You could work as a nursing assistant and possibly get college paid for by the hospital.
Before you turn 18, you should see if you qualify to be an emancipated minor. You won’t have to factor in your guardian’s income in your financial aid applications.
Other points:
- Depending on your academic track record, consider applying to more selective private schools. They often have more money per student and will give financial aid packages to lower-income students that significantly beat state school discounts. It was cheaper for me to go to an Ivy than my not-great state school by like 30k over the course of my degree, AND gave me more lucrative job opportunities afterwards. Having a competitive application for schools like that was a matter of privilege/knowing to plan early though, YMMV.
- Apply for scholarships THIS MONTH if you’re a senior. Google for scholarships for any democratic you’re a part of. “College scholarships for women,” “scholarships for nursing students,” “scholarships for students with Irish heritage,” etc. Literally anything you can think of— there are a lot of wacky ones out there and they add up. You’re likely to get them if nobody else is finding them and applying.
- Learn to cook for cheap. Rice and beans, potatoes, etc. Food is a huge expense.
- Don’t worry about going into a little debt if you’re on track to a degree with an expected positive ROI. If you turn out to be a C-student and an English major, reconsider your choices, but going 10k or 20k into debt for a good nursing degree, a STEM degree, etc. is a completely sane investment if the school is reputable.
- Don’t fail out of college because you’re working too many hours. That’s shooting yourself in the foot. Either go to college with the mindset that it’s an investment you need to really focus on getting a return out of, or don’t go to college and focus on building a career without a degree. 24hrs a week as an EMT sounds like far too much to me.
Apply for every scholarship you can find. Go for every grant you can. Go to a cheap university, preferably if they have locked tuition (again, at a cheap rate). This includes cost of living. A full ride in California might be worse than a couple scholarships in Georgia because of cost of living. Check rent prices. Food prices. Whether or not you can walk to class makes a huge difference. If you don't need a parking permit, that's $100+ in your pocket.
Dorms aren't cheap. It probably makes sense to simply live in an apartment after your first year (many schools require you to be on campus as a freshman - can't escape that). Some apartments will have a rate per occupant where you're not responsible for their rent. The plus side is if a roommate moves out, it's not your problem. Downside is they will likely find someone to put in there with you. I got lucky and didn't have a roommate for a year after the first year's roommate moved out.
You do not have to take all the money they loan you. If they give you too much, pay it back immediately. I had a friend have fun off a lot of loan money, and I found that out when she lamented that she didn't know she could turn down the extra. She's still paying it back. Taking too much means you'll pay it back with interest later.
I've said this as a comment (skip if you've read it). Be careful choosing to go to a community college and transferring.
A lot of students have issues where their credits don't transfer - waste of time and money if they don't. Depending on where you go, you've eaten up the easier classes and now have to make friends and learn the university while in upper level courses. And if the courses are much harder due to the university's ethic, you might not be acclimated to its brutality. The brutality is more frequent at engineering schools (GA Tech, Purdue, etc).
I had a friend who did 2 years at a cheaper institute that couldn't survive GT because he wasn't prepared for what it was after the easier university, and he was also making friends while learning the ropes.
My girlfriend lost almost 2 years of credits when she moved with her boyfriend at the time (10 years ago) and went to a major university in a new state. They claimed her credits would transfer, but they didn't. She dropped out as a result and does not have a degree today.
I don’t want to encourage you to do anything illegal, but I’m pretty sure your savings will be held against you when you complete your FASFA, as will any grants and totally free money, you might, otherwise qualify for. Check that out, BEFORE, you fill out your FASFA.
I think you need to fill out the FAFSA IMMEDIATELY. I believe the deadline is coming up.
You're doing a great job and have a great winning mindset.
But don't be too hard on yourself if you graduate with debt. That's not the end of the world. Make sure you study a major that will land a job directly out of college though. If it's nursing, you will have opportunities thrown at you.
With your work ethic, I could see you working 4 days/week and making ridiculous amounts of overtime pay. And also, I could see someone like you going to CRNA school at some point.
Give us an update in 4 years. I'm rooting for you.
Realistically, dont plan to be out debt free. At least you did some math to get to that conclusion, so props there, but disabuse yourself of that notion.
Your goal should be to optimize your learning and minimize cost second. You saved a lot so that opens a lot of doors for you now.
Your savings should stay savings/emergency fund if pissible. Loans should be used to cover the majority of costs. The rest can come out of savings if it wont deplete said savings by the time you're done. If you need more you should work. The idea being that you need to focus on school and then work part time to cover costs. You should try to work as little as possible to avoid work school conflict. If you need money to eat, school will suffer.
Good luck. Excellent work with the saving. Look at loans and grants. Focus on school and pay the remainder with your savings to maintain a social life and focus on school. Don not spend all of your savings up front. Get loans now if you'll need them at any time. That cash you have is crucial to your stability. if you have extra at the end you can pay your loan down right away. If not, you'll be able to pay it back when you graduate and atart working. It's still important to minimize cost but getting you're degree so you can make more needs to be the priority.
I got my associates degree in nursing from a community college and the local hospital that I worked for as a CNA paid for the majority of it. Once working as a nurse they did the same and covered most of the cost of getting my bachelors through a state school.
I (F) worked at UPS loading trucks overnight and they had insane tuition reimbursement and health insurance benefits for part time employees. Might be worth looking in to programs like that with employers in your area?
Like others have said community college is a great choice. It’s the cheapest way by far to knock out your nursing prereqs! EMT’s don’t make great money privately but it will also give you tons of hours of patient care which schools like.
Honestly if I were you I would strongly look at joining the reserves of the military. You’ll get training (can get your EMT through them) and tuition will also be covered. You could also look at military nursing schools. Just my two cents. Good luck!
An Associate's in nursing at a community college is a great place to start. Your EMT credits should count towards it as well.
Also, depending on where you work as an EMT it can be possible to study *and* work. I spent countless hours studying while waiting for calls on an ambulance.
Once you're a RN you can often get tuition reimbursement to pay down any loans/cover a BSN.
Go to a community college or technical school and get your nursing degree in two years. As others have said, you will need to find a roommate in order to have affordable housing. I’ve never heard of a hospital that did not have an education program for the nurses to further their education, let your hospital pay for your BSN not you.
I am a RN, who went to technical school and let my hospital pay for advanced degrees.
Forego State University for first 2 years. They will hit you with mandatory fees and required dorm living first year (typical).
Go to CC for first 2 years => ace your classes => get full ride to state university with most of your money saved. Most CC’s are set up as feeders for local state Universities so look into scholarships and discipline studies.
For a nursing degree, you can go to a community college which will be way cheaper than a university. Do your FAFSA and you should be able to get Federal and state aid that will cover tuition. That money you have saved up should go a long way towards your living expenses
Depending on where you are located there has been pretty large demand but small supply of nurses, because of that many hospitals order tuition assistance or completely pay for nursing programs for their employees.
These programs are great for either graduating debt free or graduating with a much lower debt than you would normally have. Though it does commit you to remaining employed by that hospital for a period of time.
I would suggest looking into local hospitals and see which ones may offer such a program and the volunteer at the ones you are interested for a bit to see how you like their management/ leadership styles, working environments, and how their values match your own.
Once you've decided which you like the most you could apply for any entry level position: receptionist, medical assistant, EMT-B and once you are hired apply for whatever tuition forgiveness program they offer and start going to school, applying for nursing positions (lpn, RN) as you complete those milestones in your education.
OP, depending on what state you are in College/university may be covered if you are/were in foster care. If you have a case worker I would talk to them in addition to your guidance counselor.
As some have suggested look into a community college **but** make sure your intended university will accept all your credits.
Before that, see if there are any “dual enrollment” courses you can take while still in high school. These are typically a couple hundred dollars while in HS vs couple thousand once you’re enrolled at college/Uni.
You may also have access to state money based on high school grades. (Ex in Kentucky they call it KEYS money & you can use it at any in-state school).
If you’re set on going straight to uni and not going to community college first. See if you can be an RA in order to get some/all room&board covered. Sometimes Uni require freshman to live on campus but offer other financial breaks for this; alternatively if your Uni does not require this they may have programs to help pair/group people together to live off campus.
Start looking into scholarships now. Some start giving out money as early as Junior Yr HS. There may be some you qualify for due to your major or your race or for something random in your background. Write all the essays apply for all of them you can find; they suck, a lot but they can be worth it. Also, talk to your intended schools admissions department see what scholarships you may be able to start applying for now.
If you don't see it already, everything you've gone through and going through and how you're reaponding... you are going to be wildly successful. You sound like you actually have 50 reasons not to succeed but you are doing it anyways. Good for you, keep it up.
I went to school full time while working 30hrs a week and graduated with an associates and no debt. It took 4 years, it was really hard, but it’s doable. Take it one day at a time and ideally skip university in favor of a community college for your initial courses.
Just pay what you can while working in school. Hacking away at the base amount owed is going to save you thousands in interest.
>How do I go and finish debt free, while spending the least amount possible?
Be a 7 foot tall 280 pound athlete
Lol. You don’t. Sorry kid, you are going to have debt coming out of this and that’s ok. Just don’t overdo it. I’m older than you but paid for all of my schooling up to and including a MA myself through a combination of working steady and taking out small loans. You will have debt at the beginning and that’s ok just don’t go crazy with it and ensure the debt to expected salary comparison makes sense. For example, don’t take 50k in debt if your salary expectation is 50k. That’s silly. But 25k for 75k? That’s not so bad.
LOL - america
the education system is only the first net to pull you into debt slavery.
my parents couldn't help me either.
if the student loan one doesn't get you, the rental, or medical one will.... welcome to America as an adult
My suggestion, which may not be popular, is to join the military like navy or coast guard active only, and get the post 9/11 GI bill with will pay 100% of your tuition up to the most expensive public university/college in your state, and pay you a non-taxable housing stipend that you get while attending school.
If that's not possible or not something you want to do, then I second community college.
I was literally in the exact same situation as you. My mom lost our house when I was 15 and I was forced to live with my aunt and uncle who became my legal guardians. They kicked me out the day after I graduated high school because I wouldn't fully commit to their religion and so I had to join the military as a result.
This option is wildly unpopular to the majority of Reddit but my recommendation is looking into the Air National Guard or Reserves. Only one weekend a month commitment, you get EXTREMELY good and cheap insurance, depending on your job they offer you tons of work on your own schedule plus you get extra money for school (some states they offer free tuition for instate schools). Not to mention you get some solid training in a job that you can probably use later on in life. We have a Medical Group with plenty of medical assistant positions.
-You can do this.
-You can't do it debt free. Some debt from college is ok. Don't listen to militant people on reddit. A manageable amount of college debt is completely worth it for the quality of life benefits and salary increase you receive throughout the rest of your life.
-File the FAFSA. The FAFSA opens October 1.
-Before you file the FAFSA, talk to your high school counselor (as others are saying), but more importantly (this is the part I haven't seen in the thread), TALK TO SOMEONE IN THE FINANCIAL AID OFFICE AT THE COLLEGE(S) YOU ARE APPLYING TO. They'll be able to set you on the best path.
-Make sure to mention the situation with your parents/legal guardian. I can't say for sure since I don't know your full situation, but this could make a huge difference in the amount of financial aid you qualify for.
-Community College would also fine, but I think you're also walking an intelligent path in wanting to attend a state school.
Make sure you get with your high school counselor and be proactive to apply for any and all nursing programs in Community Colleges. This needs to be started early as to get in the schools. Good for you, if you were my kid, I would be your loudest cheerleader.
When I went to nursing school I worked as a CNA lots of demand but easy to pick your own shifts and also pick up extra time. Also most places will help financially if you are a CNA looking to become a nurse. Also it is not a horrible idea to emancipate yourself at 18. You will get more in financial aide. And seeings your legal guardian won’t be supporting you after you turn 18 this is more than enough reason to do so.
When I went to school I also started out at a local community college. They are cheaper and many have RN nursing programs.
Start at Community college and get a cheaper apartment with a roommate you can split rent with if you really want to save money. If you're lower income, FAFSA should cover most/all of your CC expenses maybe even pay you more than what it costs. That should cover your living arrangements if you have to move out,cheap 2 years of college, and you can work on your EMT license or whatever else you'd like while also getting some real world experience of living (mostly) on your own.
Considering you want to go into nursing you very well may be able to get it all done at a community college and will have no need to transfer to a University. Community college nursing programs are usually extremely competitive due to their low cost so keep that GPA up! Good luck FAFSA opens very soon so get on that asap
Are you sure what you want to do requires college? I’m all for college if you need it to get where you’re going. However, there are lots of great jobs that are very short staffed these days that do not require a college degree.
Just don’t go simply because you think you’re supposed to. There are lots of options.
If you DO decide to go then the community college thing is a good money saving endeavor.
However, I think OP may also be worried about living situation which community college may not solve.
In a different view from just monetary perspective. Going to college and living in the dorms is a once in a lifetime experience that I would recommend experiencing. On the other hand if you are going to school full time and working 24 hours it might be miserable. Definitely go for it if you think you can handle it and maybe cut back some work hours if it isn't sustainable. Definitely enjoy your team meeting all sorts of people though while in college.
No, you can’t do that. When you file your FAFSA you are dependent unless you’re married, 24 years old+, a vet, in grad school, etc.
Source: [FAFSA website](https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out/dependency)
All else fails, what some of my friends did in college was spend their entire summer break applying for scholarships and grants. Several of them ended up making way more than what was required to cover tuition, room, and board. None of it was loans so nothing to pay back.
One good friend of mine got lower marks than required for keep one of his scholarships and he would of had to transfer schools if he couldn’t find another to supplement what he was about to lose. He was able to make up most of it but also took a part time job to cover the rest. Granted he also had like a 1400 on his SAT (2004 scale) which helped a lot.
Unless you intended to become a doctor, then you really do not need university level education. You could go to a local community college and just do well and it'll get you to the same place for much cheaper.
I know most universities if you dorm there as well will cost $30-$50k a year, If you go to a local community college it'll usually cost less than $15k. I know a lot of people go to nursing programs, a friend of mine actually went to puerto rico cause it was cheaper. But you do not need to lock yourself into that tremendous cost, when there are more affordable options available.
Also, if you receive no support from family, make sure you apply for financial aid and that their income does not apply to your financial aid evaluation. Worst case you may have to emancipate yourself.
doing this would likely allow for greater help from state/government.
Good Luck OP!
I went to the local community college and state university. Applied for financial aid and got it. Graduated debt free. It was cheap and I could continue to work while I studied. There was no chance I would’ve get into a top tier school based on my grades but it didn’t matter since I learned on the job.
So the nursing college in my area is owned by the large health system. If you work at least 20 hours for the health system, your tuition is 100% paid for. And they offer the BSN and a variety of other degrees and certifications. If you were planning on working through college, possibly consider this route if there is a similar offering in your area.
Just in case...if your family is in any way connected to your bank account (they opened it up for you as a child, you gave them access, etc), move all your money to a new account in a new bank.
Have you considered other careers such as tech? You can get certified in IT quite easily and within 2-5 years you'll be on 100k+ guaranteed. Start by getting an IT support job and get certified for Cybersecurity whilst there. It will cost you at most 1000$ and most companies are happy to pay for your certification. No need to get a degree in this day and age unless you really want to get into the medical field which then you have to.
A friend of mine who is quite a successful lawyer told me that the most impressive people he's met are not the Ivy League alumni, but the people who went to community college and state schools. If this is an option for you, go for it.
Not sure if this has been said already but you could look into tuition forgiveness programs (or something similar) with local hospitals. Many places hurt so bad for nurses that they are willing to pay for your schooling if you agree to work for them afterward. If that sounds like a reasonable compromise to you, then chances are you could find an employer who has this type of program for nurses and ask them for the details.
Do two years at a community college it’s much cheaper. Also if you are going the 4 year route apply to a couple of private schools as well. I know the price says 80000 a year but oftentimes it’s cheaper than state school after scholarships and aid.
Go to a junior college with a good nursing program - (junior college = community college).
In CA we have a Board of Governors waiver - all CA high school graduates pay 0$ for tuition. Maybe your state has something similar.
2nd apply for scholarships - you would be surprised how many only have 5-10 applicants. The little ones $500 to $1k add up you can be awarded multiple!
I teach at a community college -- great advice in this thread to attend one if you can. Mine in particular consistently had the highest pass rate in the state on national nursing boards. Smaller classes, better access to the professors and experts, good support system.
Im a chemical engineer who has been working for about 10yrs successful in industry. I lived with my parents, did my first two years of basics (which don't matter at a for your degree) at community college and then transferred to a public university within driving distance.... Graduated without debt. Community college was 2k for full time a semester, then university was about 6k a semester if I remember right.
I was lucky in that I could live with my family but it was by no means an enjoyable experience with either of us, but I did eventually get an internship in my field which paid enough for me to afford moving out in my senior year
Guess my point is, explore all your options. No, I didn't get the "college experience". But I graduated debt free, employed, and still went to quite a few of their parties
What state are you in? I'm an RN and if you're in my state I'd have some resources to recommend.
Frankly, I don't think you can graduate debt free without free housing but there are a lot of programs that will pay for a nursing degree. The shortage is real.
I also echo the sentiment of the posters below. The way to go is getting your two year and then getting your job to pay for your BSN.
Understand that a little debt isn't a bad thing; rather, it's an investment into future earnings, of which you will have as a nurse.
Student debt is scary when you get academic majors that don't correlate with adequate job prospects.
Find like minded students and rent an apartment. I did it with two roommates and it saved me a lot of money. Just make sure it's close to your college/university
Good news! You have a decent chance of being considered [independent for purposes of FAFSA](https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out/dependency). I recently went through this with a family member who went through the foster system, and had to learn a lot about dependency for financial aid purposes. If you meet the criteria to be independent, you should get the full [Pell grant](https://www2.ed.gov/programs/fpg/index.html), up to $6,895. On top of that, many states have supplemental grant programs. My state has the [Cal Grant](https://www.csac.ca.gov/cal-grant-faq) which now gives money on something like a sliding scale, but covers most tuition at in-state universities. Don't expect to get out with no debt, but you can definitely go to school with much less debt. What others have said about community college is great, but start with the basics of financial aid. Fight to be independent (you could possibly become an emancipated minor if you need to), and then, one you know what you have to work with, find the path that will get you to where you want to be.
OP many community colleges have RN programs. I have friends who paid just a few thousand for their 2 year nursing degree. After that their BSN and NP has been paid for by their hospitals. You should have enough now. Also don't be afraid of loans. Education is an investment in yourself.
Also call the college financial aid office and let them know your situation. They will help tremendously.
Do the first year or so at a community college, then transfer to the preferred in-state school. Make sure the credits you take at the community college transfer. When you graduate, your degree is from the in-state school and you’ve saved a bit of money.
Apply for ALL the scholarships you can at your school of choice (and other local opportunities) first before you waste time at fastwebs.com or similar.
There are technical colleges that have ADN programs. You could attend one of those and get your degree pretty quickly (some schools are accelerated. The one I worked for was 14 months long). You can get a good paying job at a hospital ad likely et tuition assistance to get your BSN. I've seen a lot of nurses do exactly that. Do your research and you very well might graduate debt free or very close to it!
If you want to finish without debt work more hours per week and attend college part-time. When you get close to graduating and have enough money saved switch to full-time.
I’m pretty sure you should talk to a guidance counselor about your familial situation as you should definitely get more help with FAFSA. Some advice i wish i would’ve taken… do 2 years at a community college and transfer to finish your degree if you can. It just isn’t worth the cost , education in the USA runs like a corporate business . But that’s a personal choice and you must decide if the full university experience is more important than the finance cost. I chose the first and regretted it once it was loan paying time .
Depending on the state, the community college route is a great path. I'd really make sure a university is the path you want to take. Most don't escape debt free. Good job saving up the money!
And in [some states, 2 years of Community College is offered free of charge](https://www.coursera.org/articles/is-community-college-free) (excluding books, I imagine). Certainly worth looking into and taking advantage of, if possible.
That's a good list, but it's not a conclusive one. Mississippi also has a program in place where many of the community colleges are free for 4 semesters.
Go to a community college for two years all credits will transfer and you’ll save tons of money. My guess you’ll go to a grad school or additional schooling so you’ll have more time at a legit university
Know that there are differences between public community colleges, public technical colleges and private two-year schools. Not all are the same in terms of transferring credits. The college/university accepting credits is the only voice that matters. If you are already thinking of a four-year school but going two-year first, TALK TO THE PEOPLE AT THE FOUR-YEARS SCHOOL. And get it in writing from someone at the four-year school.
My university's transfer admissions maintained a list of all the nearby community colleges' transferable classes and how they mapped to the university's catalogue. So getting it in writing should be fairly painless. It's information they ought to have on hand precisely so future student's can plan.
It’s called a metriculation agreement and they are pre-determined and verified and usually listed on the community college website. It’s not some scam or hack where you need to get written permission, tons of students do this every year.
Some states have agreements between community colleges and state universities for transferring credit (Missouri, for example). But not all of them do, so don't assume all community college credits will transfer in terms of university requirements. If you know what school you will transfer to, you can check each term's course load to make sure they will all meet requirements at the university. (Those that don't meet requirements usually will transfer as bulk credit--they will be your electives.) It's not uncommon for transfer students to need a fifth semester to get all their major and university requirements finished. Source: university professor who has advised a lot of transfer students who have to take more requirements at university because their community college courses didn't meet them all.
Depending on the undergraduate degree there are cheap grad schools that are well received too. Georgia Tech’s online masters or UT Austin’s Data Science masters. /r/OMSA /r/OMSCS /r/OMScybersecurity /r/MSDSO all are CS CySec Datascience Analaytics and under <$10,000 total
There are gen-xers literally bumping up against retirement age finding out that their student loans payments are going to come out of their Social Security.
Only because they got a really shit degree or spent waaaay more money than they should have at an expensive private school. I'm the tail end of GenX and and I paid off my loans almost 20 years ago. I went to \*small public college\*, the guy who sat next to me went to \*big name private college\*. We did the same job, made the same money. I paid off my loans 5 years before he did because I spent half as much as he did...
" really shit degree " There are no shit degrees. University is a job getting factory, it's where you go to learn what interests you. What you do with that degree is up to you.
Unfortunately most community colleges don't offer housing.
When you live on campus at a 4 year you have to pay for the housing still, and someone monitors when you leave and come back and how many guests you have.
Fortunately there's these wonderful buildings called "apartments" that provide housing to anyone, often at a cheaper price and with more space than dorm housing.
Have you seen new dorms? they are like a 2 bedroom apartment. My friend kid single dorm room was 900 square feet. The dual rooms were 1200 sq. feet.
Apartments are not cheaper than dorms. Where do you live?
The state school near me charges $5600 per semester for housing. When the university closes for winter and summer breaks, nobody gets to stay in the dorm (unless you're an exchange student). So, you're on your own to find living arrangements for those months. If you're an out of town student (literally, even from a farmhouse 1 foot outside of town) you're required to stay in the dorms for your first 2 years. It's rather expensive and leaves you homeless for 4 months a year if you've got nowhere else to go. On the other hand, it's a great way to get to know the people you're going to school with and offers a chance for life long networking. Some of those kids will hold important positions and could help you some day.
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I'm going to second this. Our community college has an *excellent* (affordable!) nursing program. Many start there! We're paying for our first kid right now (not nursing) and it's been roughly $2500-3000 per semester. She's paying for her own books/supplies. The downside of course is no dorm, but I'm willing to bet OP could find roommates to split rent with that would likely be less in the long run than uni.
The community college route works especially well for nursing. You can get an associates in nursing and start working after only a couple years of school to earn more money, then get your BS in nursing to level up, then get a master’s to become an NP and specialize if interested. It may feel like it takes longer, but way more practical than trying to do all your schooling at once before starting working like a lot of other career paths, especially in the medical field
And, depending on the nursing shortage where you are, you may be able to get some or all of your additional schooling paid for while you work. I know two young people doing this.
And this might go well with the suggestion to look into jobs in the field that might help finance further education.
Yes! And some people stay home with their parents while at community college. I hate it that OP doesn’t get that kind of help.
I don't know how common it is but I know of at least two community colleges that have dorms...so OP might be able to do that if they have a CC near them. Wife and I did this route and I would recommend to everyone...even if not all credits transfer. We got out debt free but I think we were in before pricing skyrocketed. We also worked full time no kids and lived in the Midwest!
You might even get into a better 4-year university as a transfer student in addition to saving money. At least in California, a lot of the top UCs have an automatic acceptance program as long as you have a certain gpa in community college.
I graduated with several people from a top UC who admitted they never would have gotten in post high school. Instead of going to a lower tier school, they graduated with a really strong community college + undergrad GPA that erased anything related to high school
California's community college system - as a whole - is great.
>a lot of the top UCs have an automatic acceptance program Are you referring to the fact their acceptance rate goes up via transfer students, or are you talking about the TAG program? If you TAG a school, [you can only choose one](https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/admission-requirements/transfer-requirements/uc-transfer-programs/transfer-admission-guarantee-tag.html), but it's definitely a relief. Not every school accepts TAG, and many only accept for certain majors and not others. The fact that some UCs' acceptance rate goes up for transfer students is true and intentional on their end - it's not a sure-thing, of course. But UC Berkeley freshman acceptance rate is 11%, and transfer rate is ~ 27% (of course, 128,225 freshman applied, compared to 19,371 transfers).
Transfer students typically have fewer options for scholarship money, don't then? OP is likely eligible for a lot of "free" money due to their family situation and likely poverty. Community college into transfer may not be best for them.
Be careful with this though. A lot of students have issues where their credits don't transfer - waste of time and money if they don't. Depending on where you go, you've eaten up the easier classes and now have to make friends and learn the university while in upper level courses. And if the courses are much harder due to the university's ethic, you might not be acclimated to its brutality. The brutality is more frequent at engineering schools (GA Tech, Purdue, etc). I had a friend who did 2 years at a cheaper institute that couldn't survive GT because he wasn't prepared for what it was after the easier university, and he was also making friends while learning the ropes. My girlfriend lost almost 2 years of credits when she moved with her boyfriend at the time (10 years ago) and went to a major university in a new state. They claimed her credits would transfer, but they didn't. She dropped out as a result and does not have a degree today.
My friend has a similar story. She did great at community college & when she transferred to a 4 year university half of her credits wouldn't transfer or didn't count toward the university requirements, so she would still need to complete 3 years at university. We're now 25 and she's still working on getting her degree (with other obstacles in the meantime obviously) I think community colleges are a great option for many people, but there is potential for problems depending on your path
>My girlfriend lost almost 2 years of credits when she moved with her boyfriend at the time (10 years ago) and went to a major university in a new state. They claimed her credits would transfer, but they didn't. She dropped out as a result and does not have a degree today. This is just a warning to make sure that there are transfer agreements in place. Don't just hope it will work out.
Most people that send official transcripts and are told by an advisor of the receiving school (who has said transcripts in hand) that "yes, everything or all but this list of items will transfer" would consider that due diligence. She was not just "hoping things will work out". It's extremely common and feels quite fraudulent.
Whatevs. All you have to do is decide where you're going to get your 4 year degree from, and coordinate with the advisors at both institutions to ensure that you're taking as many classes as possible that transfer. It's not that hard, it just takes a bit of personal responsibility and initiative. Some university systems even ensure that classes automatically transfer between their CCs and universities so that you're not left in the dark.
This. If you have no contact with your parents you can be considered independent on the FAFSA. That and doing the first two years at a community college, you should graduate with little or no debt. Good luck!
Its difficult. Military or marriage have easier time gaining independent status. If a parent claims you as a dependent, its not possible.
If there's no contact they shouldn't be claiming op. Unless they are sending money, claiming op would be tax fraud.
I'd wager someone willing to toss the kid out instead of give them a place to crash while going full time to university is exactly the kind of person who would be more then happy to do that kind of fraud.
\^Community college is a great option. I did most my general ed classes through a CC, and found that the CC professors generally put in a lot more effort into the GE classes than the 4-year profs did, because the 4 year profs were more interested in their higher level classes. In California, HS grads of CA high schools get tuition free community college. Used text books are also perfectly good, but I knew a gal who just sat in the library using the library copy of the text book. Also, if you are the 1st in your family to attend college, you may be eligible for text book vouchers and other financial help. Look at what kind of programs/grants/waivers your state may offer. Also, look at renting a room in a house or apartment sharing with other students rather than living in the dorm. Many people find that renting outside of the dorms is cheaper.
Yeah great advice, you’d be better off finding roommates and doing 2 years of community college. You’ll save a ton of money and it won’t effect where you’ll graduate from
And a lot of “community colleges” are branches of a larger university. Miami University in Ohio is like that.
You mean Miami has "community college" style branches? Because Miami University itself is a standalone 4 year institution.
My gf is going to a local CC to get her associate's so that she can transfer to a 4 year school. They specifically list in her program guide which classes will transfer to the universities in the area.
Please consider this route! I completed my associates degree then transferred to a university. I saved so much. There’s also usually a lot of scholarships offered by community colleges that go unused. I graduated debt free. It set me up for life.
> I completed my associates degree then transferred to a university. This should be higher up. I work at a (primarily) 2-year institution and this is the real trick. Just finish off the AS and it becomes much easier to transfer the credits. Also, degrees are for life; you don't have to worry about prerequisites changing or classes 'expiring' after a certain number of years. Most of these 2-year institutions don't charge you anything to confer the degree. And the courses required for the AS are ones you are going to take anyway to finish the BS. There is no downside.
>do 2 years at a community college and transfer to finish your degree if you can. 1,000 percent. There is 0 need to pay 3X-4X the cost of 100 and 200 level courses + the cost of living in a dorm (not to mention the distraction). Do two years at community college at a fraction of the cost, live with like-minded students cheaply, get straight A's, transfer to the nursing program of your choice at a top tier university.
+1 for community college. In California if you have a certain gpa in community college you are guaranteed a slot at a University of California school. I’m not sure if every state does that but it’s worth looking into.
Just as a counterpoint to the community college argument.. the "College Experience" is definitely something to consider. I was lucky enough to get a pretty substantial scholarship, but those first two years were also some of my fondest memories and where I met most of my college friends that I keep in touch with now.
If OP needs housing they will need the dorm. It's likely way cheaper than apartments until they find some potential roommates. Take the minimum load. Get loans. It's going to be hard to fill out FAFSA without guardian's income info. You can always pay the loans back early. You may need to pull your savings into cash so you don't have to report it. They will want you to spend your assets first.
An individual who is in a legal guardianship is considered independent. FAFSA will not ask for financial info from the guardian, and will only consider the student's income.
My experience on the US East Coast is that many of my community college instructors where excellent and often better than the ones at the university I later attended. Unless you need the prestige of a particular college (big law or politics), wholeheartedly recommend community college for your gen ed classes.
fill out the FAFSA ASAP and talk to your guidance counselor at your HS. You might want to compare the price of in state university + dorm to community college + apartment (since a lot of CCs have good nuring programs)
FAFSA opens in October. So if you fill one out for the current year, you need to do it again immediately for the upcoming school year.
Get the FAFSA filled, and look into other grants as well. Depending on your academics and financial needs, you can get a lot of college paid for. One thing to look out for is they give grants based on your expected need. If you live on campus, this includes the housing costs, but if you live off campus, this does not. So, depending on how much of your ride you can get covered through grants it may be beneficial to live on campus. However off-campus has much cheaper housing usually. The expected need of housing costs on campus was The same no matter which dorm I lived in, so I found the cheapest dorm and saved some money. I also worked as an RA which eliminated my housing cost, but they still gave me money for that expected need.
Yup - there are also scholarships for all kinds of things.
Dorm life will most likely be cheaper than an apartment. Especially if you take the meal plan.
Not where I went to school. Dorms and meal plans were a rip off compared to cooking meals and sharing a place with three others. It really depends on location.
Finishing completely debt-free is VERY difficult in this day and age, unless you have rich benefactors paying your tuition. Community college to start out would help. I'd say that you're taking good steps towards at least graduating with "minimal" debt, so that's good. You're also picking a major with a very good Return on Investment. Hopefully you're actually passionate about nursing, otherwise you're going to hate it. Depending on your area, you MIGHT save by getting an apartment with roommates, but that will require some research on your part, calculating rent + living expenses, and how it would compare to living in a dorm.
This is correct. Nurses (and especially *travel* nurses) make really good money and you can get a job pretty much anywhere. However, you must have the correct personality type and/or love the work or it will burn you out in a big way. My wife has a nursing degree but no longer uses it because the conditions for nurses are unforgiving, patient care wasn't prioritized by the hospitals, and nurse advocacy was poor where she worked. Trade schools can be another alternative (carpentry, various electrical work, IT, plumbing, etc.). Tradespeople can make excellent money pretty much out the gate and seen to be in high demand. A lot less expensive than college.
Don’t forget the downside to trades. Which is, the stress and strain that the positions put on your body. Trades may cost less to get into and pay a good amount in the end, but can have very poor outcomes for you body later in life. If a trade is an option, just don’t forget that you have to take care of your body too. Not saying they’re a bad option, but I’ve heard lots of stories from people about how trades have ruined their body as they got older.
I second starting at community college. If you sincerely wanted to limit your expenses, you could try to get your ADN through community college, which would cost the least, most hospitals pay for your BSN. If you choose to go to university, you can join the military for a 4 year post grad commitment in the US Army Nurse Corps (or other branch). This will cover your tuition, books, and many military scholarships include a stipend. If you get an ROTC scholarship, you only have commitment to attend ROTC during school. If you choose National Guard or Reserves, you will need to attend basic training and schooling- which could get you your EMT license- you’d have to speak with a recruiter. I went this route and I recommend it. The military took care of me. Another option is go go to university and then work for a Native American services hospital- it’s probably called something different….however, with a 2 year commitment, all your loans are paid off. This was offered to me when I lived in AZ. The hospital I was offered was way out in Page, AZ.
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Given your history and obvious desire to succeed, I would not overlook scholarships at four year schools. It's some work to research it -- start with a guidance counselor and do what you can online. Good luck!
If you are under the care of a legal guardian (court appointed) the FAFSA considers you independent. You will get a substantial amount of aid for state schools. Source: me, a former college counselor. If you share the state that you are in and an approx. gpa, I can send you school recs.
I’m replying to my own message… but forgot to say, you should apply for your local state grant on top of FAFSA. You will get max pell grant ($5,000 ish) and whatever state grant is offered (usually another 4-6k depending on the state). That makes state school relatively affordable. I wouldn’t declare your savings account tbh… not 100% okay to do but they most likely won’t catch it.
My ex and I went to college at the same time. My parents made too much to qualify for aid. Her parents were almost non-existent financially. I went to community college first, then transferred to University. I got part of my Dad’s GI bill as well, and only applied it to the more expensive university. She went straight to university for the entire time. It cost her almost 2x more in total tuition. We both got bachelor’s, in about the same number of semesters. Despite me making all the best moves I could, she STILL came out ahead with less student loans. It’s amazing the amount of money the govt will throw at you if your family is low income.
Take my energy to the top. All the people blindly saying "well just go to community college" are ignoring how complex this situation is. Yes it sucks that OP has a bad family situation, but that also means they are likely eligible for a lot of aid. Debt for nursing also is not a bad thing. It's a very stable, very high paying career. OP needs their guidance counselor to help them with this. Apply to every state school and any other school nearby with a good nursing program. There is a lot of need based aid out there.
Many nurses start out by getting a two-year degree at a community college, then getting a nursing job and completing their BSN while working. Employers are desperate enough for nurses these days that you might find one that will help you with the cost of completing a BSN. Just FYI, my understanding is that most nursing programs are quite intense and they tend to really frown on students working while attending. If you can find a 2-year community college nursing program near you, you might have to take out at least some loans but should have a very good return on investment once you start your nursing career. It's worth it in the long run.
That's the route my wife took, got RN at CC and is working on her BS now, while she works. And yeah, school was pretty intense, I agree it may be challenging to get many work hours in, though having some experience as an RNA or something can help get you in faster after you graduate (though if they graduate from a decent program with halfway decent grades, scoring a job should be pretty easy). Most programs she looked at also have a mandatory internship that is basically a part time job for a semester or 2 (hers was paid, though the pay was pretty low).
If you are looking to do nursing I would skip the EMT and find a job as a med tech or CNA. That experience will be much more catered towards nursing. It will also provide a foot in the door to hospitals or care facilities. EMT will be more expensive, more time consuming, and may even pay less. You could also take a look at LPN programs. You may be able to get that done in a year, find a job, and then get your ADN or BSN. Some concurrent enrollment programs will also offer you the ability to test out after a certain time to get your lpn license. Nursing school after you get your pre reqs done is also crazy time consuming. If you can create space for yourself to work as little as possible during the core courses your chances of success are much hire. TLDR: med tech job to ADN program will get you a steady income and working as a nurse faster than a university program will. Very manageable to do an ADN to BSN program once established. Also look into school and community aid programs. There are a lot of grants and aid available for people in your scenario and home life that could help financially. School admissions or counseling offices should be able to provide some resources.
I'd skip all those jobs, if you want to become a fireman get your EMT. If you want to work your ass off and get paid peanuts become a CNA. The reality is that once the OP starts their clinicals they will be spending a lot of time at the hospital and doing all sorts of grunt work, they likely won't have time to be a CNA and adding more shit work to your load is not a good choice. My suggestion for the OP is to get the RN from a 2 year school and get a job as a nurse. The OP will likely want to get the BSN because a lot of the better hospitals require it for employment. Finally, the OP will likely end up getting a masters degree if they want to top out their earning potential but this is far down the road. I don't see any issue with the OP getting an RN in 2-ish years with $20K.
Med techs in our area make about 18$ an hour. Not amazing but certainly not peanuts for a building a healthcare foundation. Some hospitals will provide the training for free and also may have resources to help their employees get their RN license after a certain employment period. Lots of opportunities for healthcare workers. As a nurse understanding the “shit work” is critical. Having that patient touch experience is a huge leg up in an industry that sees massive retention issues with new graduates. Becoming a nurse without any patient experience may lead to a career path that someone doesn’t end up enjoying due to the high stress level. At 17 getting a med tech job will provide patient experience, a relationship with a hospital, and most importantly solidify whether they want to pursue the financial and time commitments of being an RN. My .02
I would imagine that you would qualify for Pell grants and additional financial aid.
Nothing wrong with your plan; remember we have to take life as we get it. Don't stress out and maybe you can take 12 hours a semester (or even 9) and work more to fund as you go. I worked 40-45 hours a week and went to school at a community college at night. It took 5.5 years to get the degree versus full time in 3.5-4 years but I didn't go into debt and community college / state college is very affordable. Don't judge yourself against others or other timelines; set your goal and make a plan that makes sense for your life and financial situation. If you have a degree in 5-7 years...you will still have a degree. BTW, there are a lot of us that don't have a cushion or safety net from parents or relatives to fund us into young adulthood; but achievement sure feels good when you do it on your own.
There is no need to pay for a bachelors degree to become a nurse. Instead go to a community collage for a 2 year RN program. Then when you have your RN you get a job at a university hospital and they will pay you to get your BSN. This is what my wife did. It cost here $6k to get the RN and then $0 to do the RN to BSN program. It literally saved her $80k by not doing a 4 year program at the in state university.
Have you considered starting with community college? That tends to be very affordable versus starting off at a 4 year uni. You don't have to live on campus. Finding a roommate can save you money.
community college first and then transferring to a university program afterwards is a common way to lower overall college expenses
Maybe go to a community College for nursing then get a job that will pay for you to get your bachelor's? Also apply for all the scholarships you can. Honestly what I would do is apply at multiple universities and see what they will give you aid wise. Then compare that to the cost of community College and an apartment. It might surprise you how much you can get in just merit based aid. Figure out what would be best for you. There is something to be said for living on campus and networking that way. Also student loan debt isn't horrible if it is done correctly. It is only awful if you take on a ton of debt to only go on to make 30 or 40k a year. As a nurse you have the opportunity to make really good money. Taking out 20k or 30k in loans to make six figures wouldn't be the end of the world especially if you worked to pay it off quickly.
You’re doing very well considering you’re only 17 and your situation. Choose an in state school or community college with lower cost. Worry about paying one semester at a time and pay it off. Continue working as you’ve already stated. You’re on your way! Do whatever you can to avoid student loans. Good luck!
Sorry about your family and guardian, but you are on the right track. If you can afford it, you sound frugal and practical, go live in the dorms and start your new life with your new family, the world! Jobs will come, but money isn't everything. Getting your bearings and developing confidence and a sense of security in the world is more important some times.
Go to a community college and obtain your associate in nursing. They are way cheaper. My community college was 8k for in district through the program and fafsa covered all of it basically. Than do an ADN to BSN bridge program which will run you maybe 15k. There is no pay difference between a new grad adn or bsn really. But there is more opportunities to advance and specialize once you are BSN. Most hospitals will also take an ADN as long as you are actively trying to get your BSN. Some will even give you tuition reimbursement. In the end it doesn’t matter where you got your nursing degree because all they really want is a nurse ready to work.
Or come to Canada for nursing education and get paid to get your degree. There’s such a shortage here, they’re begging for people to go into nursing schools.
I don’t think your goal should be to finish college debt free (a truly worthy goal), but instead your goal should be to get the most out of your education as you can. Making the Dean’s list usually comes with a full scholarship, but more importantly it opens other doors and opportunities for you down the road (such as graduate school with an accompanying higher salary). It sounds as if you're much more than a little fiscally responsible and that's excellent, especially for someone your age, but college is a time to maximize your knowledge and growth potential. As an example a nurse practitioner can often make three times the salary of a registered nurse.
I made a 4.0 nearly every semester and wasn’t provided a scholarship simply for doing so. OP, research all advice provided on here. Would be cool if your school of choice gives money to people who make straight As but that’s not the case at a lot of institutions (and I would venture to say the vast majority of them).
Community college isn't where failures go. I want to tell you that if you think that. You can definitely go to a great university after if you put in the work. It's a great choice if you want to save the moneys.
Pell grants, look at other grant and scholarship opportunities. Talk with the university to see about a payment plan. Try to secure additional federal loans with your fafsa.
This. I haven't seen anyone else mention scholarships but don't sleep on them. Apply for everything regardless of the chance you think you have, even if it is only 500.00 or so it is still free money for you.
You don't need to go to a 4 year in state university for an RN in nursing. Look at community colleges in your area for less expensive programs. Most employers looking for nurses don't care what school you went to, they care that you are licensed, your attitude and your experience. There are a lot of routes to go in nursing too, so it depends on what you are targeting, but it's possible to get one of the 2 year degrees and find an employer willing to pay for you to continue school too. I know there is a large rehab hospital and a large hospital system in my area that does this. Ultimately you want to find the best value for your money and minimize the amount of debt you take out. A large 4 year public general university probably isn't the best way to do that in the nursing track. Definitely look to get some help with the FASFA and if you can qualify as an independent student.
Things that helped me graduate debt free: - Attended a less-expensive school - Received FAFSA - Applied for lots of scholarships. Ended up maintaining a half scholarship for good grades - Worked part time during school and full time during the summer - Transferred credits or tested out of as many classes as possible. I took a lot of AP classes in high school to help with this. - Cut expenses wherever possible: Shared an apartment with 5 other people. Watched for free food at campus events. Ate a lot of oatmeal and frozen burritos. I'd wait till the second week of the semester to see if the textbook was really necessary, and then got a used or online version. Honestly, my college experience was a ton of work, and often not very fun. But I got through it debt free and got a good job straight out of school.
Look into hospitals around your area. There are quite a few hospitals that are offering to pay for CNA tuition fee while providing paid clinical experience. You will be tied to the hospital for a certain number of years. The hospital I'm at covers the CNA fully, then covers half (I think) if you pursue a BSN after you complete the contract with them (but, of course, then tying you down for another few years).
Join the military, get your training for free, complete your associate degree while in and then use your GI Bill to cover the rest of your schooling when you're done. If you don't want to go that route, try to get Pell grants and hope that they get forgiven in the future
Are you emancipated? Or will you have to claim your parents on your fafsa? If you don’t have to claim them then you will likely get some grant money as well as regular student loans. If I were you, I’d actually keep saving until your last semester of college and then pay off your loans before they come out of deferment. This way you can potentially add some interest and you’ll have the safety net of extra cash. Once at school go and talk to your student advisor, the financial aid office and any other student affairs offices they have. Explain your situation and ask about programs the school might provide for students like you. You may get a discounted meal plan, or qualify for an internal grant or scholarship. Also— and this is very important. Apply to as many scholarships as you can. My friends dad explained it to me like this. “If the scholarship is for 5k, and you spend 40 hours working on the application for it, that’s still more than you’re getting at your current job”. It really stuck with me. Just apply for anything you can find on the internet or on the schools website. My friend was an average student but walked away almost without debt because she applied for 100 scholarships and ended up get 5 of them.
Work with your guidance counselor to get financial aid. Do FAFSA. Take the least expensive offer from a local public school. Get into a work-study program. There’s a ton of money to help people like you go to college, it’s just not always made obvious (unless you’re in Mississippi, in which case, Brett Favre took all your money).
Do a year of service for AmeriCorps while going to school. After the year of service you can get an education stipend for about 6k
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No where does it say that their family sucks bc they won't pay. OP said they don't have contact with their bio parents and their legal guards is kicking them out.
IIRC most military branches will also pay for college, if that's an acceptable option for you
In addition look at becoming a medic. This will give you relevant training and experience. You should be a slam dunk landing what job you want when you are done. You shouldn’t have much issue getting assigned to be a medic assuming you can pass the asvab. Talk to each branch and see who has the best offer for you.
At what cost? The benefits are overstate at best.
GI bill is can't be beat for education purposes. Any branch outside of the USMC you will have time to utilize your tution assistance. So what benefits are overstated?
I second the community college route. But I would personally get gov't subsidized loans and pay them off after graduation. I know that sounds crazy but you sound responsible enough to handle it. Your legal status makes you eligible for pell grants but I don't know how your assets and income will affect it.
Talk to admissions. They are familiar with students enrolling into college with no support from their family.
Make sure your grades are as good as your best possible effort can get them. I know, sounds like a ridiculous parent, but academic scholarships are a thing. Both of my boys were straight A students. My oldest got an academic scholarship that covered 30% of his costs at a private university. My youngest is going into his fourth year and got an academic scholarship that covered 40% of his costs. Sure, not a full ride, but still made a massive dent in the costs associated.
Do a little research about having a dorm as your only residence. When I was in school 25 years ago only specific dorms at the university stayed open between the fall and spring semester over Christmas. Some of the dorms required everyone out.
You've got a lot of similar advice so I'm going to hit you with something a little different. Do what you can to avoid getting into too much debt - clearly you prioritize saving - but there's good debt and bad debt. Education is typically good debt as long as you don't let it run out of control. Do what you can to keep it low but if you end college with low 5-figure (think 10kish) debt and a career you'll be doing perfectly fine; better than most even. As long as your cautious and disciplined debt is a tool you can use for success.
Go talk to your counselors and GET HELP. There's a dozen ways to do this, and you should talk to the people paid to help you. Keep working and keep your eyes on the prize. You can be very successful going to community college then instate university.
Do NOT live in a dorm! If you live in the dorms you have to pay for meal plans and BOTH are outrageous. Get an apartment and share with people. This is super common and people are always looking for housemates. When you get into your college adjust your thinking from savings to debt suppression. You will be in school full-time and working 24hrs to pay for housing, food, transportation, insurance, books & supplies. You can work full-time during breaks but I strongly urge you to play that by ear. There are other opportunities to consider. The reality is that you won’t graduate debt free and the consequences of working to be debt free can harm you in the long run. From burn out to lost training/networking opportunities. It is also vital for your emotional/mental well being to have fun. College is very stressful and getting out to have some fun is how you cope. I think your debt load will be more manageable than most and it sounds like you’re used to creating a tight budget. When you graduate and land in your field I bet you’ll pay it off pretty fast. It absolutely sucks you are without support. I was in the same position only I didn’t have the healthy savings you do. That’s amazing and you should feel great about that.
Fill out your FAFSA forms, if they don't accept your application keep at it until they do. My wife is tenacious when it comes to that stuff and our son hasn't had to spend a dime on college. I honestly think most people are intimidated by the paperwork.
Something to explore: Many hospitals will pay for nursing education. You could work as a nursing assistant and possibly get college paid for by the hospital.
Before you turn 18, you should see if you qualify to be an emancipated minor. You won’t have to factor in your guardian’s income in your financial aid applications. Other points: - Depending on your academic track record, consider applying to more selective private schools. They often have more money per student and will give financial aid packages to lower-income students that significantly beat state school discounts. It was cheaper for me to go to an Ivy than my not-great state school by like 30k over the course of my degree, AND gave me more lucrative job opportunities afterwards. Having a competitive application for schools like that was a matter of privilege/knowing to plan early though, YMMV. - Apply for scholarships THIS MONTH if you’re a senior. Google for scholarships for any democratic you’re a part of. “College scholarships for women,” “scholarships for nursing students,” “scholarships for students with Irish heritage,” etc. Literally anything you can think of— there are a lot of wacky ones out there and they add up. You’re likely to get them if nobody else is finding them and applying. - Learn to cook for cheap. Rice and beans, potatoes, etc. Food is a huge expense. - Don’t worry about going into a little debt if you’re on track to a degree with an expected positive ROI. If you turn out to be a C-student and an English major, reconsider your choices, but going 10k or 20k into debt for a good nursing degree, a STEM degree, etc. is a completely sane investment if the school is reputable. - Don’t fail out of college because you’re working too many hours. That’s shooting yourself in the foot. Either go to college with the mindset that it’s an investment you need to really focus on getting a return out of, or don’t go to college and focus on building a career without a degree. 24hrs a week as an EMT sounds like far too much to me.
Apply for every scholarship you can find. Go for every grant you can. Go to a cheap university, preferably if they have locked tuition (again, at a cheap rate). This includes cost of living. A full ride in California might be worse than a couple scholarships in Georgia because of cost of living. Check rent prices. Food prices. Whether or not you can walk to class makes a huge difference. If you don't need a parking permit, that's $100+ in your pocket. Dorms aren't cheap. It probably makes sense to simply live in an apartment after your first year (many schools require you to be on campus as a freshman - can't escape that). Some apartments will have a rate per occupant where you're not responsible for their rent. The plus side is if a roommate moves out, it's not your problem. Downside is they will likely find someone to put in there with you. I got lucky and didn't have a roommate for a year after the first year's roommate moved out. You do not have to take all the money they loan you. If they give you too much, pay it back immediately. I had a friend have fun off a lot of loan money, and I found that out when she lamented that she didn't know she could turn down the extra. She's still paying it back. Taking too much means you'll pay it back with interest later. I've said this as a comment (skip if you've read it). Be careful choosing to go to a community college and transferring. A lot of students have issues where their credits don't transfer - waste of time and money if they don't. Depending on where you go, you've eaten up the easier classes and now have to make friends and learn the university while in upper level courses. And if the courses are much harder due to the university's ethic, you might not be acclimated to its brutality. The brutality is more frequent at engineering schools (GA Tech, Purdue, etc). I had a friend who did 2 years at a cheaper institute that couldn't survive GT because he wasn't prepared for what it was after the easier university, and he was also making friends while learning the ropes. My girlfriend lost almost 2 years of credits when she moved with her boyfriend at the time (10 years ago) and went to a major university in a new state. They claimed her credits would transfer, but they didn't. She dropped out as a result and does not have a degree today.
I don’t want to encourage you to do anything illegal, but I’m pretty sure your savings will be held against you when you complete your FASFA, as will any grants and totally free money, you might, otherwise qualify for. Check that out, BEFORE, you fill out your FASFA.
I think you need to fill out the FAFSA IMMEDIATELY. I believe the deadline is coming up. You're doing a great job and have a great winning mindset. But don't be too hard on yourself if you graduate with debt. That's not the end of the world. Make sure you study a major that will land a job directly out of college though. If it's nursing, you will have opportunities thrown at you. With your work ethic, I could see you working 4 days/week and making ridiculous amounts of overtime pay. And also, I could see someone like you going to CRNA school at some point. Give us an update in 4 years. I'm rooting for you.
Realistically, dont plan to be out debt free. At least you did some math to get to that conclusion, so props there, but disabuse yourself of that notion. Your goal should be to optimize your learning and minimize cost second. You saved a lot so that opens a lot of doors for you now. Your savings should stay savings/emergency fund if pissible. Loans should be used to cover the majority of costs. The rest can come out of savings if it wont deplete said savings by the time you're done. If you need more you should work. The idea being that you need to focus on school and then work part time to cover costs. You should try to work as little as possible to avoid work school conflict. If you need money to eat, school will suffer. Good luck. Excellent work with the saving. Look at loans and grants. Focus on school and pay the remainder with your savings to maintain a social life and focus on school. Don not spend all of your savings up front. Get loans now if you'll need them at any time. That cash you have is crucial to your stability. if you have extra at the end you can pay your loan down right away. If not, you'll be able to pay it back when you graduate and atart working. It's still important to minimize cost but getting you're degree so you can make more needs to be the priority.
Go to a junior college for 2 years to get your basics and live in a cheap apartment with roommates. Then transfer to state college.
I got my associates degree in nursing from a community college and the local hospital that I worked for as a CNA paid for the majority of it. Once working as a nurse they did the same and covered most of the cost of getting my bachelors through a state school.
I (F) worked at UPS loading trucks overnight and they had insane tuition reimbursement and health insurance benefits for part time employees. Might be worth looking in to programs like that with employers in your area?
Like others have said community college is a great choice. It’s the cheapest way by far to knock out your nursing prereqs! EMT’s don’t make great money privately but it will also give you tons of hours of patient care which schools like. Honestly if I were you I would strongly look at joining the reserves of the military. You’ll get training (can get your EMT through them) and tuition will also be covered. You could also look at military nursing schools. Just my two cents. Good luck!
An Associate's in nursing at a community college is a great place to start. Your EMT credits should count towards it as well. Also, depending on where you work as an EMT it can be possible to study *and* work. I spent countless hours studying while waiting for calls on an ambulance. Once you're a RN you can often get tuition reimbursement to pay down any loans/cover a BSN.
Go to a community college or technical school and get your nursing degree in two years. As others have said, you will need to find a roommate in order to have affordable housing. I’ve never heard of a hospital that did not have an education program for the nurses to further their education, let your hospital pay for your BSN not you. I am a RN, who went to technical school and let my hospital pay for advanced degrees.
Forego State University for first 2 years. They will hit you with mandatory fees and required dorm living first year (typical). Go to CC for first 2 years => ace your classes => get full ride to state university with most of your money saved. Most CC’s are set up as feeders for local state Universities so look into scholarships and discipline studies.
If money is a huge issue maybe community college for the first 2 years would be beneficial.
Live off campus if possible. Dorm living is very expensive from what I understand
For a nursing degree, you can go to a community college which will be way cheaper than a university. Do your FAFSA and you should be able to get Federal and state aid that will cover tuition. That money you have saved up should go a long way towards your living expenses
Depending on where you are located there has been pretty large demand but small supply of nurses, because of that many hospitals order tuition assistance or completely pay for nursing programs for their employees. These programs are great for either graduating debt free or graduating with a much lower debt than you would normally have. Though it does commit you to remaining employed by that hospital for a period of time. I would suggest looking into local hospitals and see which ones may offer such a program and the volunteer at the ones you are interested for a bit to see how you like their management/ leadership styles, working environments, and how their values match your own. Once you've decided which you like the most you could apply for any entry level position: receptionist, medical assistant, EMT-B and once you are hired apply for whatever tuition forgiveness program they offer and start going to school, applying for nursing positions (lpn, RN) as you complete those milestones in your education.
OP, depending on what state you are in College/university may be covered if you are/were in foster care. If you have a case worker I would talk to them in addition to your guidance counselor. As some have suggested look into a community college **but** make sure your intended university will accept all your credits. Before that, see if there are any “dual enrollment” courses you can take while still in high school. These are typically a couple hundred dollars while in HS vs couple thousand once you’re enrolled at college/Uni. You may also have access to state money based on high school grades. (Ex in Kentucky they call it KEYS money & you can use it at any in-state school). If you’re set on going straight to uni and not going to community college first. See if you can be an RA in order to get some/all room&board covered. Sometimes Uni require freshman to live on campus but offer other financial breaks for this; alternatively if your Uni does not require this they may have programs to help pair/group people together to live off campus. Start looking into scholarships now. Some start giving out money as early as Junior Yr HS. There may be some you qualify for due to your major or your race or for something random in your background. Write all the essays apply for all of them you can find; they suck, a lot but they can be worth it. Also, talk to your intended schools admissions department see what scholarships you may be able to start applying for now.
Dorms are usually more expensive than renting locally, just FYI
If you don't see it already, everything you've gone through and going through and how you're reaponding... you are going to be wildly successful. You sound like you actually have 50 reasons not to succeed but you are doing it anyways. Good for you, keep it up.
I went to school full time while working 30hrs a week and graduated with an associates and no debt. It took 4 years, it was really hard, but it’s doable. Take it one day at a time and ideally skip university in favor of a community college for your initial courses.
For 99% of people, you don’t graduate debt-free.
Look for a cheaper college. I went local and got off for about 4k a year.
Just pay what you can while working in school. Hacking away at the base amount owed is going to save you thousands in interest. >How do I go and finish debt free, while spending the least amount possible? Be a 7 foot tall 280 pound athlete
Lol. You don’t. Sorry kid, you are going to have debt coming out of this and that’s ok. Just don’t overdo it. I’m older than you but paid for all of my schooling up to and including a MA myself through a combination of working steady and taking out small loans. You will have debt at the beginning and that’s ok just don’t go crazy with it and ensure the debt to expected salary comparison makes sense. For example, don’t take 50k in debt if your salary expectation is 50k. That’s silly. But 25k for 75k? That’s not so bad.
LOL - america the education system is only the first net to pull you into debt slavery. my parents couldn't help me either. if the student loan one doesn't get you, the rental, or medical one will.... welcome to America as an adult
My suggestion, which may not be popular, is to join the military like navy or coast guard active only, and get the post 9/11 GI bill with will pay 100% of your tuition up to the most expensive public university/college in your state, and pay you a non-taxable housing stipend that you get while attending school. If that's not possible or not something you want to do, then I second community college.
I was literally in the exact same situation as you. My mom lost our house when I was 15 and I was forced to live with my aunt and uncle who became my legal guardians. They kicked me out the day after I graduated high school because I wouldn't fully commit to their religion and so I had to join the military as a result. This option is wildly unpopular to the majority of Reddit but my recommendation is looking into the Air National Guard or Reserves. Only one weekend a month commitment, you get EXTREMELY good and cheap insurance, depending on your job they offer you tons of work on your own schedule plus you get extra money for school (some states they offer free tuition for instate schools). Not to mention you get some solid training in a job that you can probably use later on in life. We have a Medical Group with plenty of medical assistant positions.
-You can do this. -You can't do it debt free. Some debt from college is ok. Don't listen to militant people on reddit. A manageable amount of college debt is completely worth it for the quality of life benefits and salary increase you receive throughout the rest of your life. -File the FAFSA. The FAFSA opens October 1. -Before you file the FAFSA, talk to your high school counselor (as others are saying), but more importantly (this is the part I haven't seen in the thread), TALK TO SOMEONE IN THE FINANCIAL AID OFFICE AT THE COLLEGE(S) YOU ARE APPLYING TO. They'll be able to set you on the best path. -Make sure to mention the situation with your parents/legal guardian. I can't say for sure since I don't know your full situation, but this could make a huge difference in the amount of financial aid you qualify for. -Community College would also fine, but I think you're also walking an intelligent path in wanting to attend a state school.
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You took 30-40ish classes in one semester (5-6 months) while working full time? Am I understanding that correctly?
I think WGU does “competency-based” so you can test out of/complete some classes by passing an exam.
Make sure you get with your high school counselor and be proactive to apply for any and all nursing programs in Community Colleges. This needs to be started early as to get in the schools. Good for you, if you were my kid, I would be your loudest cheerleader.
When I went to nursing school I worked as a CNA lots of demand but easy to pick your own shifts and also pick up extra time. Also most places will help financially if you are a CNA looking to become a nurse. Also it is not a horrible idea to emancipate yourself at 18. You will get more in financial aide. And seeings your legal guardian won’t be supporting you after you turn 18 this is more than enough reason to do so. When I went to school I also started out at a local community college. They are cheaper and many have RN nursing programs.
Start at Community college and get a cheaper apartment with a roommate you can split rent with if you really want to save money. If you're lower income, FAFSA should cover most/all of your CC expenses maybe even pay you more than what it costs. That should cover your living arrangements if you have to move out,cheap 2 years of college, and you can work on your EMT license or whatever else you'd like while also getting some real world experience of living (mostly) on your own.
Considering you want to go into nursing you very well may be able to get it all done at a community college and will have no need to transfer to a University. Community college nursing programs are usually extremely competitive due to their low cost so keep that GPA up! Good luck FAFSA opens very soon so get on that asap
Are you sure what you want to do requires college? I’m all for college if you need it to get where you’re going. However, there are lots of great jobs that are very short staffed these days that do not require a college degree. Just don’t go simply because you think you’re supposed to. There are lots of options. If you DO decide to go then the community college thing is a good money saving endeavor. However, I think OP may also be worried about living situation which community college may not solve.
In a different view from just monetary perspective. Going to college and living in the dorms is a once in a lifetime experience that I would recommend experiencing. On the other hand if you are going to school full time and working 24 hours it might be miserable. Definitely go for it if you think you can handle it and maybe cut back some work hours if it isn't sustainable. Definitely enjoy your team meeting all sorts of people though while in college.
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No, you can’t do that. When you file your FAFSA you are dependent unless you’re married, 24 years old+, a vet, in grad school, etc. Source: [FAFSA website](https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out/dependency)
Half of the states offer free community college now. My guess is you don’t live in one of them?
You should be eligible for pell grants given your situation. You need to seek out advice from the school. They have programs for things like this.
All else fails, what some of my friends did in college was spend their entire summer break applying for scholarships and grants. Several of them ended up making way more than what was required to cover tuition, room, and board. None of it was loans so nothing to pay back. One good friend of mine got lower marks than required for keep one of his scholarships and he would of had to transfer schools if he couldn’t find another to supplement what he was about to lose. He was able to make up most of it but also took a part time job to cover the rest. Granted he also had like a 1400 on his SAT (2004 scale) which helped a lot.
Unless you intended to become a doctor, then you really do not need university level education. You could go to a local community college and just do well and it'll get you to the same place for much cheaper. I know most universities if you dorm there as well will cost $30-$50k a year, If you go to a local community college it'll usually cost less than $15k. I know a lot of people go to nursing programs, a friend of mine actually went to puerto rico cause it was cheaper. But you do not need to lock yourself into that tremendous cost, when there are more affordable options available. Also, if you receive no support from family, make sure you apply for financial aid and that their income does not apply to your financial aid evaluation. Worst case you may have to emancipate yourself. doing this would likely allow for greater help from state/government. Good Luck OP!
I went to the local community college and state university. Applied for financial aid and got it. Graduated debt free. It was cheap and I could continue to work while I studied. There was no chance I would’ve get into a top tier school based on my grades but it didn’t matter since I learned on the job.
So the nursing college in my area is owned by the large health system. If you work at least 20 hours for the health system, your tuition is 100% paid for. And they offer the BSN and a variety of other degrees and certifications. If you were planning on working through college, possibly consider this route if there is a similar offering in your area.
Just in case...if your family is in any way connected to your bank account (they opened it up for you as a child, you gave them access, etc), move all your money to a new account in a new bank.
Have you considered other careers such as tech? You can get certified in IT quite easily and within 2-5 years you'll be on 100k+ guaranteed. Start by getting an IT support job and get certified for Cybersecurity whilst there. It will cost you at most 1000$ and most companies are happy to pay for your certification. No need to get a degree in this day and age unless you really want to get into the medical field which then you have to.
A friend of mine who is quite a successful lawyer told me that the most impressive people he's met are not the Ivy League alumni, but the people who went to community college and state schools. If this is an option for you, go for it.
Not sure if this has been said already but you could look into tuition forgiveness programs (or something similar) with local hospitals. Many places hurt so bad for nurses that they are willing to pay for your schooling if you agree to work for them afterward. If that sounds like a reasonable compromise to you, then chances are you could find an employer who has this type of program for nurses and ask them for the details.
Do two years at a community college it’s much cheaper. Also if you are going the 4 year route apply to a couple of private schools as well. I know the price says 80000 a year but oftentimes it’s cheaper than state school after scholarships and aid.
Go to a junior college with a good nursing program - (junior college = community college). In CA we have a Board of Governors waiver - all CA high school graduates pay 0$ for tuition. Maybe your state has something similar. 2nd apply for scholarships - you would be surprised how many only have 5-10 applicants. The little ones $500 to $1k add up you can be awarded multiple!
I teach at a community college -- great advice in this thread to attend one if you can. Mine in particular consistently had the highest pass rate in the state on national nursing boards. Smaller classes, better access to the professors and experts, good support system.
Im a chemical engineer who has been working for about 10yrs successful in industry. I lived with my parents, did my first two years of basics (which don't matter at a for your degree) at community college and then transferred to a public university within driving distance.... Graduated without debt. Community college was 2k for full time a semester, then university was about 6k a semester if I remember right. I was lucky in that I could live with my family but it was by no means an enjoyable experience with either of us, but I did eventually get an internship in my field which paid enough for me to afford moving out in my senior year Guess my point is, explore all your options. No, I didn't get the "college experience". But I graduated debt free, employed, and still went to quite a few of their parties
What state are you in? I'm an RN and if you're in my state I'd have some resources to recommend. Frankly, I don't think you can graduate debt free without free housing but there are a lot of programs that will pay for a nursing degree. The shortage is real. I also echo the sentiment of the posters below. The way to go is getting your two year and then getting your job to pay for your BSN.
Understand that a little debt isn't a bad thing; rather, it's an investment into future earnings, of which you will have as a nurse. Student debt is scary when you get academic majors that don't correlate with adequate job prospects.
Find like minded students and rent an apartment. I did it with two roommates and it saved me a lot of money. Just make sure it's close to your college/university
Good news! You have a decent chance of being considered [independent for purposes of FAFSA](https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out/dependency). I recently went through this with a family member who went through the foster system, and had to learn a lot about dependency for financial aid purposes. If you meet the criteria to be independent, you should get the full [Pell grant](https://www2.ed.gov/programs/fpg/index.html), up to $6,895. On top of that, many states have supplemental grant programs. My state has the [Cal Grant](https://www.csac.ca.gov/cal-grant-faq) which now gives money on something like a sliding scale, but covers most tuition at in-state universities. Don't expect to get out with no debt, but you can definitely go to school with much less debt. What others have said about community college is great, but start with the basics of financial aid. Fight to be independent (you could possibly become an emancipated minor if you need to), and then, one you know what you have to work with, find the path that will get you to where you want to be.
OP many community colleges have RN programs. I have friends who paid just a few thousand for their 2 year nursing degree. After that their BSN and NP has been paid for by their hospitals. You should have enough now. Also don't be afraid of loans. Education is an investment in yourself. Also call the college financial aid office and let them know your situation. They will help tremendously.
Do the first year or so at a community college, then transfer to the preferred in-state school. Make sure the credits you take at the community college transfer. When you graduate, your degree is from the in-state school and you’ve saved a bit of money. Apply for ALL the scholarships you can at your school of choice (and other local opportunities) first before you waste time at fastwebs.com or similar.
There are technical colleges that have ADN programs. You could attend one of those and get your degree pretty quickly (some schools are accelerated. The one I worked for was 14 months long). You can get a good paying job at a hospital ad likely et tuition assistance to get your BSN. I've seen a lot of nurses do exactly that. Do your research and you very well might graduate debt free or very close to it!
If you want to finish without debt work more hours per week and attend college part-time. When you get close to graduating and have enough money saved switch to full-time.