Online Classes not Covered by Financial Aid

Paying for College
1

I am going to a small diploma nursing school in PA full time (registered nursing program). We take our gen eds concurrently to our nursing classes and are broken up into trimesters (we attend classes through summer).

The nursing school is partnered with a community college that agreed to consider us “guest students” and send an instructor to our town so that we could take gen eds in town instead of online. Those in-class classes are covered by financial aid.
Now, my nursing school financial aid advisor has told us that the community college we are taking gen eds through can’t find instructors to come to our town and teach us, so we will have to take then required gen eds online. In addition, these online classes are not covered by financial aid so we will have to come up with the tuition (for these online classes we’re required to take) for the next several semesters out of pocket.
I cannot get a clear answer from my financial aid advisor and haven’t found anything online to clarify for me. We ARE an accredited school and must fill out the FAFSA each year, and am getting some direct subsidized and unsubsidized loans and a Parent PLUS loan. So why isn’t our financial aid covering these online classes straight off the bat? My parent PLUS loan doesn’t come in until halfway through the semester, and the tuition needs to be paid very shortly after the start of classes.

As a side question, anyone know why I can’t get any private student loans? What would be a reason that private lenders won’t work with my school to provide student loans? It’s either Parent PLUS loans or outrageous personal loans. Not even Sallie Mae lends to students at my school.

Thanks so much in advance!

2

Probably because they are two separate schools and you are not matriculated at the second school. You can only be a full time student at one school at a time. Unless the nursing school can offer those classes and handle all the billing, your FA can’t cover both schools…

3

If you are getting loans at your school, though, I assume you are receiving your annual max in loans already - you can’t receive more that that, no matter what. You wouldn’t be able to get any additional aid at the other school in a semester when you are already receiving it at your school even if the in-person instruction had worked out.

As for the private lender question, you should be able to get a private loan. The school may not keep a preferred lender list, so they can’t suggest any lenders to you, but you can still get the loan if you find a lender. Your school cannot certify a private loan if you are already borrowing up to your cost of attendance, though.