Finding Financial Aid for Health School

Few health school students can afford an education without some type of financial aid.

Even fewer are armed with the knowledge to tap into the various grants, loans, scholarships and work-study programs available to hard-working students. For instance, did you know that by simply completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), you become automatically eligible for many federal programs?

Scholarships seek to highlight and reward students' specific talents or qualifications—academic, athletic or artistic. Scholarships, like grants, are gifts that do not need to be repaid, although some scholarships are awarded with certain stipulations (such as enrolling in a particular field of study). For health school students, the association of your specialty, or your school, may also give scholarships to qualified individuals. But the best scholarship resources are often local organizations, small businesses, large corporations, philanthropic individuals or anyone else in the community who feels inspired to contribute to a worthy individual's education.

College loans are similar to home loans or car loans—they are a debt that must be repaid to the lender with interest. The good news is that the federal government regulates the maximum interest that lenders can charge on federally guaranteed student loans, which makes them easier to repay than other loans. In addition, payment against these loans doesn't start until six months after the student graduates, or when the borrower is enrolled less than half time as a student in health school.

Grants are a great way to subsidize your health school education, because unlike student loans, grants do not have to be paid back. There are over a thousand federal grant programs in the U.S., offering more than $400 billion dollars worth of financial aid to students and organizations. The application process can be intimidating, but securing a student grant is like finding free money for qualified individuals.

Federal work-study programs allow health school students who demonstrate financial need to earn money for their education by working. Jobs may be available working with professors within the campus community, or off campus with a nonprofit agency or public bureau. Students often take jobs related to their individual field of study. At minimum, work-study students earn the federal minimum wage, and they often earn more. When you apply for Federal Financial Aid through completion of the FAFSA, you can indicate that you want to be considered for work-study assistance.

The federal government wants to help you go to health school. That's why they've devised a plan to make it easier to pay off your federal student loans. This program for allied health students, called income-based repayment (IBR), limits your monthly student loan payments to less than 10 percent of your income. What's more, the government will pay off any remaining federal student loans after 25 years—or less.