My brother (Finished his 1st year of college, plans to transfer after his first term of his 2nd year) currently attends a CSU but didn’t get into their nursing program. Because of that, He plans on transferring to West Coast University (Private nursing college; our aunts and uncles recommended the college because our cousins also went to the college). The yearly tuition for West Coast university is $35,000. Long story short WCU isn’t providing our family with any financial aid because we are considered middle class ($120-$140k/yr.)
Since I’m a class of 2016 HS student, my parents are starting to stress about paying for college because they will be paying nearly $45k-$50k a year depending if I go to a CSU or UC.
Here’s my question:
Why didn’t my brother get any financial aid? I would think that since there is 1 kid currently going and 1 kid planning on going, he would get at least some aid.
What would be my chances of getting financial aid for lets says UCR or CSUF? I currently have no job, but plan on getting one in the following months.
I might just be stressing myself out, but I hate seeing my parents struggling to pay for something they had no control over.
Here is how aid works.
Federal - you aren’t qualified for Pell grant, so only a student loan
State - you aren’t qualified for cal grant, so nothing
Institutional aid - transfers don’t often get any. If he applied to a school that doesn’t give much, and you income is just at a level that doesn’t get much then no surprise there.
Schools don’t award aid based on anyone planning to go, just on actual students enrolled that year.
For you, next year you still won’t qualify for Pell grant, that is for very low income. Cal grant is for families of 4 with income under 87k, so likely nothing from a CSU. For UC, your income is still too high for Blue & gold pla. But you may get some MCS money, perhaps up to 4K per year depending on the final income figures.
“Planning on going” doesn’t count. If colleges gave more financial aid because a younger sibling was “planning on going to college,” and then that plan changed, should the colleges ask for that extra money back? What if the older sibling had already graduated?
Your brother didn’t get aid because the school doesn’t guarantee to meet full need for all students. If your family income is $120,000-$140,000 a year, your brothers calculated family contribution probably exceeded $35,000. Therefore, he had no need.
You do not qualify for the Calgrant which is how most CA students receive need based aid. Your family income is too high.
You will get a $5500 Direct Loan.
What CAN your family pay per year?
I have to say…I think your brother is planning to attend an unaffordable college if your family considers future college expenses for you as well. Does he have any other options?
Wasn’t there any less costly nursing program in CA? No community college nursing programs?
Yea he applied to UCLA, CSULB and he’s applying to get into the nursing program at his current school again but we don’t know for sure if he’ll be accepted into them since his stats are barely above 3.0
& for the EFC, I don’t know what ours is yet, but I’ll calculate it once I get home.
What CSU and UC are you in commuting distance to? You already have you apps in, it seems you are a rising Sr. So it would be 2 in college for next fall, but West Coast won’t care since they are a for- profit who doesn’t give aid. Privates and UCs will take 2 in college into consideration if you run the Net Price calculator. CSU just relies on cal grant. Some CA kids will go OOS to get merit aid but your a scores are too low to help much.
A lot of people in CA do end up going to for profit nursing schools because it is too hard to get accepted to the state programs. Just remember if he enters such a program and doesn’t finish he will not be able to transfer those credits anywhere.
@BrownParent I applied to:
CSU Fullerton
CSU Los Angeles
CSU San Bernardino
Cal Poly Pomona
UCR
I recently just got accepted to CSUF which was my second choice, but Im still waiting for UCR because the commuting time is only 30 minutes
And yea West Coast University is actually where all my cousins went to to pursue their Nursing major. They have a job already and are slowly paying back the tuition. I don’t know if they got lucky getting a job or had some kind of connection though.
I think your brother needs to think about HIS plans. He needs to attend a nursing schools with high job placement and high board passage rates. This school has neither. And it’s expensive to boot.
There are many ways to get a BSN that are not direct. One can get a CC nursing degree,mand then complete the courses towards a BSN. The nice thing…the person can actually work while completing the BSN coursework.
Your family cannot afford this school…with two of you in college. They just can’t. And the debt for your brother would be staggering…probably over $100,000.
Is he planning on transferring because he won’t get into a school for his nursing BSN unless it is for profit? That sounds like a costly mistake. If his stats are not getting him into state school nursing programs maybe he should reassess. This is absolutely something your parents have control over, by not paying for a for profit private that is a big risk.
Ok@sweetcharge, if you are commuting to UCR you will likely not get any aid. Your direct cost will be 14k per year plus books. You can take 5,500 student loan the first year. If you are studying CS then join up with coding groups on campus or do extra projects on your own time so you can get better paying summer work
West coast costs 133k plus 6.4k books for a 3 yr program. Are your parents really going to pay that or sigh for the debt? It seems crazy. Calculate how much the payments will be. And they don’t even provide the graduation rates. At least it is WASC Senior College and University Commission certified to award Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. Additionally, WCU’s Bachelor in Nursing program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).
Your brother didn’t get any aid from WCU because it is a for profit school and doesn’t give institutional aid. WCU IS a decent school, however, even if it is for profit. It is non predatory and does not have share holders collecting profits. One of the reasons it exists is because of the difficulty of getting into nursing schools in CA. All state programs are impacted and there are many more students than placements. WCU has excellent teachers and their simulation center is second to none.
One option for your brother is to get a BA/BS from his CSU and then get his his RN from WCU or another program after. That would probably save money. If he decides to go for the BSN make sure that he has taken ALL his prerequisite courses at a school that is not WCU. Only take nursing courses there. He can even knock out his prerecs at a community college.
One important question for your brother. If he is having trouble gradewise, is nursing the right degree for him? A lot of students have trouble passing their nursing boards which is one of the things that is causing low placement rates. A number of students end up taking the NCLEX more than once and they end up postponing finding jobs until they pass.
Full disclosure. I once worked at WCU so I do have a bias. I do not work there now.
