NHSC is Not Doing Interviews for 2007

The National Health Service Corps is not conducting interviews for its 2007-2008 scholarship cycle...it just never ends with this program.

Let me start from the beginning. When I was applying to grad school, I found out that there really isn't any good financial aid for programs like mine (direct-entry/grad-entry programs in nursing, also called bridge programs) nor for graduate professional school in general. Everyone speaks of one or two programs when considering aid: the National Health Service Corp Scholarship & Loan Repayment Program, and the Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students Program. (The Nursing Scholarship Program is mostly for undergrads)

NHSC does not accept students in bridge programs, so we apply after the first year when, technically, we are no longer in a bridge program. You can see a snipet of the history of NHSC here, pay specific attention to the "NHSC milestones." Over the years, the program has been reducing its scholarship offerings in favor of the loan repayment program, which costs them less to provide, and in the '80's there was a severe decline in aid because the country expected a physician surplus. At this point, the program is almost all loan repayment, and I predict that in the next few years the scholarship will no longer be offered. I believe this will directly impact the number of minority physicians and APRNs because I have read articles stating that at times the number of minority students in this program exceeds 50% of the total of participants. (I will try to find a public link to one of these articles or at least tell you the name of it so you can look it up!)

The problem this year is that they all of a sudden decided not to conduct interviews for this program! Instead, they will select awardees based solely on their application...an application that has no essay, no place to indicate involvement in the community or any other volunteer experiences, no way to indicate who you are! How do you select people like this? The application is basically a personality assessment...and it happens to be culturally biased. I think the interviews were crucial to the selection process, and that in the absence of these interviews the demographics of their awardees will change significantly...that is unless they use the demographic section of the application to select a specific percentage of minority and non-minority applicants...is that still legal?

Anyway, all of this is just to say my number one plan for funding the next two years of school looks like it just fell through. I'm still applying, but interviews are a strength of mine, and with only the application it doesn't look good. The positive is that I can just stay and go straight to the doctoral program (maybe part time, I'm tired of school).

Oh! And the problem with the Schlarships for Disadvantaged Students Program is that none of the schools I applied to participate. You must apply through the financial aid office of your school. When I asked about this, they said that they don't meet the requirements for the program - mainly, they don't have enough minority students enrolled to qualify for the program, which seems backwards to me...

GradPLUS is a bust.

Remember when I was all excited about the new federal loan program for grad students? Go here to jog your memory: http://minoritynursingstudent.blogspot.com/2006/02/important-news.html

I was denied this federal loan. Supposedly as long as you had no bankruptcies or school loans in default, you were eligible (per final email before applying today) but this is not the case. I don't know what the requirements are, as there are many different "facts" out there, and they all say something different. So, there it is.

It's been a long, emotional day. I'm tired and I'm frustrated. Someone asked me why don't I just go to medical school today. My answer was "why don't you." My usual default answer is "because I do not believe in the medical model for pregnancy and childbirth" but today I didn't have the patience, nor am I in the mood.

I want to climb into a bed with real quilts and down pillows in a freezing cold room with the windows open.

I seriously want to cut off all my hair, but I'm resisting the urge.

First Tuition Bill

I got my first tuition bill in the mail today. I owe $1,087.50 for the fall semester, which is more than I expected. Tuition went up more than $500 per semester, big suprise. I emailed my husband to tell him the news and he said "It isn't that bad, really." I needed to hear that. I swear, every time we manage to save over $1,000, we get a hit like this which makes us start all over again. It could be worse, I could be staring at the bill with absolutely no clue as to how I am going to pay it. It feels good to be able to pay in full and not have to make arrangements like I'm used to having to do - even if it means we're almost back to zero in savings.

I haven't been sleeping well, worried about it all. The man will have to find a job that pays what we need within 30 days so that the money will be there when we need it 60 days after arriving. I have never moved with so little saved. I am trying to tell myself "what a great adventure," but all that comes to mind is "two months away from homelessness." It's a lesson in faith, and I hope I pass.

IMPORTANT NEWS!!!

There is a new *FEDERAL* loan coming out for graduate and professional students! It is called the GradPLUS. It is similar to the current federal loans, especially the federal PLUS loan. Why is this loan wonderful?

1. It's federal, which means fixed interest rate and 10-25 years to repay!

2. They DO NOT use fico scores or credit ratings in the decision process!

3. The student does not require a co-signer and parental information is not a part of the application process (this is what makes it different from the original PLUS loan)!

The loan is still fairly new and not tested yet, but let me tell you I am THE perfect person to try it out as my credit has gone to hell.

**NOTE: There seems to be a caveat about not having a recent report of a current bill 90+ days past due . . . I will be sure to post when this loan becomes available (supposed to be NEXT MONTH) and my results after applying because I actually do I have late payments, although none recent**

Go here to sign up to receive the packet and be notified when the loan becomes available:http://www.edamerica.net/money/loan options/gradplus.htm

Go here to see a comparison sheet: http://www.wm.edu/financialaid/gradplusloan.pdf