Looking for advice…Pell Grant is exhausted, do not qualify for aid and i would be a returning student. I understand the Pell Grant is 6 yrs but when you are a single mother in school full time college takes longer. Especially when communicating with an advisor at PSU was incredibly difficult. I didnt have the guidance I needed and I was lost. Now 48 and hold an associates degree i would like to finish and gain my Bachelors in social work or in the field of housing, homelessness, domestic violence and law. Any information is greatly appreciated
@Wonder7 i would suggest you speak with your college. There are some that have programs for non-traditional students like you, and some have financial support for this. It’s worth asking.
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Do you know for a fact that you have used your entire lifetime eligibility for Pell? You can see by signing into your Federal Student Aid account. If you don’t have remaining eligibility, you’ll need to find a very low cost program and/or a program with financial aid that can make up for the lack of Pell. Focusing on schools that pledge to help adult returning students is wise.
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My question to you would be about your major. Are you absolute in your choice of a BS in Social Work? I ask because most employers would require a Masters degree in social work. That subject would require more financial support on your end. The pay is not much more than minimum wage.
I worked “pro bono”/volunteered at a very large homeless shelter where we had teams of Social Workers. They all had Masters degrees and were repaying very large school loans. Their pay was not sufficient enough, per their conversations with me, and several of them who asked about the ease of transferring into my field (No, not possible without another 4 years of schooling, a published thesis, and hospital internships.)
If you are going to finish your degree, you may want to look at your return on your investment of time and money, for that major.
As for financial support, you need to ask, at the university where you hope to attend, as @thumper1 suggested, some universities have funds for non-traditional students.
Because you are over 24 and independent, you may be able to procure government school loans with a FAFSA application.
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You could try and look at outside sources. The ones I’m thinking of come with strings attached but maybe they fit your situation. Your local career one stop center (unemployment office administering WIOA funds) can under certain conditions fund your degree. The same is true for vocational rehabilitation offices (in my state they are part of the Dept. of Labor). They have money for degree completion available for people with disabilities. What is considered to be a disability is a wide field, cases I know of that were approved, were approved for depression or Crohns disease for example.
This is pretty outside the box but, just maybe, this will work for your situation.
I’m going to tag @oldmom4896 . She might have some pearls of wisdom on getting a social work degree as a non-traditional student.
Another thing regarding funding…there are some employers who do help with college costs. Maybe research those as options also.
I got my MSW at a SUNY school. During second year, we got an influx of students with BSW who needed only one year to graduate as MSW.
I went to school with many who worked full-time along with doing fieldwork and classes, and with kids at home. It had to be very difficult for them, but they did it! Among them were people who worked for NYC’s child protective services agency and several got their degree paid for by the agency.
The agency I work for, a community-based mental health service agency, uses care coordinators with a bachelor’s degree in anything. The pay isn’t great but it’s M-F basically 9-5 and really good benefits, including tuition after a year (I believe). In NY at least, we have Empire State College, which awards self-directed bachelor’s degrees taking into consideration all kinds of work and life experience. Wherever you are, I would look for something like that if you want a bachelor’s ASAP. A BSW is another possibility if you can swing it.
Take a look at the website for the National Association of Social Workers (https://www.socialworkers.org) to see if you can find resources locally, and look up the accredited social work programs in your city and state and inquire. There are also many Facebook pages–do a search! Best of luck to you!
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Congrats on your plans to go back to school. Is your associates in general studies or in something specific? I agree with @oldmom4896, that sometimes the best tactic is to finish the bachelors going for the degree that will be easiest to finish given the credits you already have without worrying about the major.
For example I know somebody who finished up her bachelors in psychology. She wasn’t sure what she would do with it, but she had more credits in that direction. Then she got a job working to provide in-home behavior therapy for children with autism. Her employer is now paying for her to get a Masters (she chose an online program) in something to do with autism. The Masters will qualify her for management/leadership role and a big raise. She has a heart for low income parents and kids, so has always volunteered to be the one to take cases when the kid is living with his mom in a homeless shelter, domestic violence shelter, low income housing, or with parents who are also being treated for substance use disorders. So anyway, this exact career is not something she would have predicted, but it is in line with what she values.
Another person I know had a 2 year technical associates from years before. In culinary arts I think. She ended up completing a bachelors (again online) in Career and Technical Education, and they were super flexible in granting her credits. Now she has a job in a prison teaching women culinary skills so they have work skills when they get released. It’s a pretty good job with decent pay, benefits etc.
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This OP wants to finish their bachelors but doesn’t think they have any Pell eligibility left, and sounds like their ability to pay for college is limited. They are looking for ways to fund finishing a bachelors.
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Yes, sorry, I should have clarified. In each of my 2 cases above, the person’s employer paid for the online classes. In the first example for the woman to get her Masters, the second for the woman to get her 2+2 “completion degree” (she already had the first 2 years, and this online program was specifically set up to help people finish, and was an inexpensive in-state program, plus her employer paid.)
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