<p>My D attended her U for 3 years. This past year, she would up having to take medical withdrawals during both semesters, resulting in all W's for the year (Mental health issues that seemed resolved for second semester, but then in April hit hard and fast resulting in another hospitalization - her school was very understanding and helpful and concerned.) Now she has come home, and we think it would be best for her, when she is feeling healthy again, to take courses at the local cc for a career path that can lead to a job quickly...she is very interested in getting an RN now, maybe starting with medical assisting. My question is this: if we pay for a couple courses at the cc without using fin. aid, just so she can see if this choice is the right one, will that hurt her at all? If some of her gen ed courses transfer, but then she needs a year and a half for the RN, does that forever mean she can't get aid if she later wants to complete her bachelors? She was a political science major and has most of her credits in that except for gen eds. I don't want her to stay completely out of school until she is ready to finish a BA. She needs the stimulation, and the chance to meet people her own age too. She is extremely disappointed to know she can't return to her U, but we just lost a year financially, and can't afford to allow her to return. She'll have to do that on her own dime some day. How do we figure out the best path to take where FA is concerned?</p>
<p>I encourage you to go into pursuing an ADN with eyes open. It is very often not a real two year program. Yes, the nursing classes take two years, but students must often spend a year pursing the prereqs before being admitted. If your daughters gen eds do not include anatomy and physiology or microbiology, she may find herself looking at 3 years of school. Nursing, even at the associates level, is a high pressure program with lots of high stakes testing. Don’t pass? Don’t progress. And that quick job? Maybe not. Nurses have always been able to find jobs pretty easily in my state, but even then, a new nurse will not be hired at the hospitals without a BSN. I’m not trying to sound like a Debbie Downer or trying to dissuade someone from pursuing a passion, but . . . Just pointing out that you may not be looking at 2 years and a quick job. Look into the specific program and area hiring. Ask the cc where thier new grads are getting jobs.</p>
<p>Aid is a much trickier question. While state/fed aid has clear rules, institutions can do as they please with their own money. While I think it very unlikely that a class or two at a cc, that you pay for OOP, will affect her eligibility, she will most likely run into maximum hours issues (SAP) with three years of undergrad and then at least two of an ADN.</p>
<p>Agree with ordinarylives. Nursing programs are very intense. I graduated from an ADN program about 5 years ago. My cohort started with 48 students and only 30 graduated. Most washed out in the first year, but there were also a few who couldn’t make the cut at the very end. It was heartbreaking. I went to an expensive private school because the local cc’s had long wait lists for the nursing programs. All required microbiology and a full year of A&P with lab as prerequisites. Nursing programs are high pressure environments, and so is working as a new nurse!</p>
<p>Thank you for your replies so far. We understand the nursing programs can be tough, but that is why she thought if she started with medical assisting, that might be a way to have a starter job in the field and she could decide from there whether to pursue it or not. I am more concerned about the fin. aid aspect down the road. If we pay for cc out of pocket, not using any fed loans (which is all she qualifies for) does the whole SAP thing regarding time still count? It feels like we know tons of people who go to school for multiple degrees, to pursue new fields, etc. So, is this just limited if you use fed. fin. aid? If you pay oop, can you go to school as much as you’d like? Her first loans will start having to be paid, so we are hoping she can find a job in the fall that feels fulfilling and useful and gives her at least the income to pay loans while she lives at home, etc. We know several medical assistants who love their jobs, as well as RN’s who are not as academically talented as my D and they made it just fine. Who knows, A BSN could be in the future if it’s something she really feels motivated for, or maybe not. We just wonder if the time she already spent in college receiving fin. aid loans will now limit her future choices. She is really going through a period of huge personal changes and getting to know herself all over again. Goals are very different now for her than what she thought she wanted 2 years ago.</p>
<p>I am not sure if SAP rules vary slightly from school to school… Kelsmom?</p>
<p>Each school has SAP rules posted on their website or in the catalog… Here are the ones for where I teach as a reference: <a href=“Financial Aid and Scholarships - JMU”>Financial Aid and Scholarships - JMU;
<p>It appears here that if a student does not transfer the credits to JMU, and did not use aid to pay for those classes taken elsewhere (which would be using up the lifetime loan limit), that they could still meet SAP. If I am reading things correctly.</p>
<p>If she were to at some point want to pursue a second Bachelor’s degree, I think as long as she has not used up her lifetime loan limit she still could qualify for aid <a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2013/04/04/learn-how-to-pay-for-a-second-bachelors-degree”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2013/04/04/learn-how-to-pay-for-a-second-bachelors-degree</a></p>
<p>Your issue with loans will be hitting the aggregate limit. I didn’t,t mean to imply your daughter wasn’t academically gifted enough to be a nurse but that the program might take longer than she expected, which if she is depending on federal loans, will have some fin aid ramifications. At max annual loans, a dependent student will hit the aggregate limit in just over 4 years. </p>
<p>Thanks. If we now begin paying off her stafford/direct loans, then if she wants to return to school and use fin. aid loans again will she be able to take more because she has paid down her loan balance? This is all so overwhelming to figure out, since life is often messy and not as neat as rules and regs are written! I really appreciate all the feedback!</p>
<p>That I don’t know. There’s a poster named kelsmom who probably does know the answer. Although she now works with grad students, she was a fin aid officer at a state school. Once your d is 24 and independent, I think she’d be allowed the higher limit for independent students, , </p>