My D’16 is planning on majoring in nursing and all of our NPCs list work study as an option for financial aid. I had not even considered that she wouldn’t do work study (or an off campus job) up until now when I saw a college recommend that nursing majors not have any work commitments. So, is it even possible to fit in work study as a nursing major, especially once clinicals get going? I’m just wondering if I should ignore that work study amount in our financial calculations because up to this point I have been including it and it makes a difference for our family financial situation.
On campus jobs are usually very flexible. I’ve worked with nursing majors who’ve had work study, outside jobs, even played on the college football team! (Although he did have to take junior year “off”). Nursing is a pretty intense major, but it’s not 4 years of 24/7. I would think she could handle a few hours a week of work study most semesters.
I am going to offer an aopinionnthat likely won’t be a popular one.
If work study is what is making the school affordable, then maybe it’s not actually affordable.
Remember, work study is not paid up front. It has to be earned just like any other job. In most cases, work study is used for personal and discretionary spending, not for billable costs from the university.
As an example, you kiddo might get a $2000 work study award for the full year, but sometimes the student just can’t work enough hours to actually earn that amount, what will happen to your daughter if she can’t earn her full WS allotment every term?
Also, it is possible that she will be able to work thie first year, but not in subsequent years when she has clinical rotations. What will happen then? Will she be able to continue at the schools where work study makes the difference in affordability?
There was a recent article about the rigor of an undergrad course of study to earn the BSN. I believe it was at the top of the list in terms of that.
Most states have public university nursing programs. Are these included in your list of applications? And are they affordable?
The work study was mostly being considered as the amount she would use (as she earned it) for the incidental expenses so it wouldn’t be needed for direct costs to the university. If she worked less, she’d have to spend less just like in the real world. If she were unable to work during clinical rotation years, she would be expected to work full time in the summer to save enough for those incidentals she’d need throughout the year.
I have a long thread further down this page with discussion about the schools that are affordable to us (EFC under $1,000) and there is one public university (not even in our state) that will work for what we are looking for.
I don’t know any student who can’t fit 10 hours of work into the study requirements, including my own kids who don’t work (but I think they should!) Even my daughter who is an athlete considered getting a job but just didn’t do it this semestrr, and her sport is in the spring so she won’t work then. A few of her teammates have work study jobs, usually in the athletics department. Sometimes it just isn’t an option not to work to bring in enough money for essentials like snacks and toothpaste.
I also think structure is good for students. Yes, they go to class for 15-20 hours per week, but no one studies for 60 hours a week, or if they do they need to learn to study more efficiently. Your daughter will want to pick her job carefully. You said she’s got some certifications, so might be able to find a weekend shift where she makes as much in 8 hours as she would on another job in 15.
Also, there are some work study jobs that actually allow you to study while you work. Work the desk at the dorm from 3 to 6 am. Work in the library checking ID’s. Again, pick Saturday night when it’s quiet.
I agree that you shouldn’t consider work study as part of financial aid. That’s going to be outside money, not credited to your billings from the schools.
I saw that you are looking for direct admit nursing programs.
I would suggest that your daughter plan to work full time…or two part time jobs…in the summers anyway. This might be a better plan for her. As you noted, she will need to study when in a nursing program. Maybe planning not to work would be a better idea anyway.
I’m surprised an OOS public nursing program would work. Usually the acceptances to direct admit nursing programs are first given to instate applicants.
The oos public is Marshall University. Her stats qualify her for automatic acceptance as a freshman. It’s an extremely rare thing as I must have looked at the websites and stats for several hundred schools at this point. 
clinicals during jr sr years would be difficult
better to work more in summer
Can you pay the costs for her to attend Marshall University…$28,000 plus per year? Your Pell Grant amount and Direct Loan will cover about 1/3 of those costs.
Most college work study (as opposed to off-campus) is flexible and they understand her availability can shift when exams or other needs crop up. Plus, 10-12 hours/week is little, you’re just crossing campus, no special transpo or the time that takes. I wonder if the advice not to work related more to a full-time job and part time studies-?
Aren’t jr and sr year clinicals from 8am to 5pm M-F?
I don’t know what weekends are like for such students…are they studying for exams or something? If not, then maybe she can work a few hours on a weekend? Not many WS jobs are weekend, so if she could’t find one, she might find a regular job off campus.
What are the NPC results for Marshall?
At Marshall she would get $3k merit and their Teir 1 tuition waiver for OOS. It covers 60% of demonstrated need after all other grants/scholarships are applied. According to their NPC it should be affordable.
Your EFC is $1000. That plus your $4000 Pell, and a $5500 Direct loan will cover the remaining costs?
Terrific if that is guaranteed.
What is the minimum GPA for keeping that scholarship award? That should be considered as well.
Marshall’s NPC shows $3700 after loan (but before work study). She will be able to earn that much (and more) before college starts (she’s a CNA). Our Pell usually shows as $4925. The GPA to maintain those scholarships is always at or below what she needs to maintain for nursing (usually never higher than a 3.0).
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covers 60% of demonstrated need after all other grants/scholarships are applied. According to their NPC it should be affordable.
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Can you clarify? What do you mean by “covers 60%” of need after grants/merit are applied? Where are you seeing that?
Can you copy/paste the NPC results? The above sounds odd.
From CollegeBoard
Marshall…
Average 1st year financial aid package $11,000
Financial aid can include grants, loans, scholarships and work-study jobs. Every student’s financial aid package varies depending on individual circumstances.
I don’t see how Marshall is affordable.
avg % of need met…55% And since most are instate students with low COAs, meeting 55% of their need isn’t tough. Getting close to meeting need for a low EFC OOS student would be very difficult.
I’m concerned that you’re misunderstanding some of the wording.
During first two years work study can easily fit. It depends on the junior/senior - it may be she can get a CNA shift in at a local hospital because her schedule M - F is based on what the nursing school does. I stayed in Milwaukee and worked FT between junior and senior year because home town hospital didn’t have the work, but during senior year, I could not keep up any CNA work time - I did it for a couple of months but was clearly too tired out to maintain the schedule of every other weekend - and my nursing instructor was glad I went on work leave (the hospital wanted to hire me after graduation). I was also a psych double major, so that was part of what was keeping me academically very busy through my 8 semesters of college, finishing on time. My DD’s nursing clinicals are more odd hours than mine were. One course she was suppose to be at clinical until 11 pm but the clinical instructor didn’t like it that late and they finished by 10 pm. There are some days she has to be up at 5 am to make it to her clinical. At her school, the nursing instructors want to make a clear impression that this should be a sole focus. I know from being in a very thorough program, that there is always more to learn - the school wants to have ‘good product’ with their graduating nursing students.
Having the summer work and try to control the misc expenditures.
Have you been able to visit all the schools that are affordable with your DD? I know your good judgment/set of eyes/ears can have you asking the right questions and looking at each school as to how good a fit it would be for DD. Also look at the places where they will have their clinicals - if some good variety of experiences at pretty up to date medical facilities.
@mom2coIIegekids their website is not loading well for me right now so I can’t get to the NPC, but here is the page about the OOS Tier 1 tuition waiver. It’s buried deep in their financial aid–>scholarships–>Non-residents–>Achievement Tuition Waiver
The school that advised not working was Pacific Lutheran and they made it sound like nursing students should not work at all during the school year, period. “Nursing students are advised not to work during their course of study in the nursing program. Time management is crucial throughout the program; students who choose to work while attending school full-time often experience difficulty coordinating their educational, work, and personal commitments.”
Of course, it would be ideal if she could solely concentrate on her studies, but I’m not sure that’s a possibility. It’s the first time I’ve seen any program make a recommendation like that in all my research so I thought I’d see what thoughts here were.
That is quite a good scholarship momof113. It sounds like it is a guarantee.
I’m not sure what they mean by covering 60% of remaining need…but it is a very generous scholarship for kids with the stats you are mentioning.
My guess is that there is a minimum GPA for staying in that nursing program that far exceeds 2.0!