HELP!! Prospective College Student Seeking ATS Financial Advisor

I want to go to a Environmental & Health College called Maharishi University of Managment but I am in serious need of financial aid. What are the best resources for grants and loans I can use?

I'm 23 years of age. My highest completed education is General Education Development certificate (GED). I do have some college credits I earned in the military about 67 total credits however none of them are related to the field I'm interested in. I am an African American member of United States Navy and a native of Chicago, Il. I've been a member for over four years now. I currently work in the Advanced Computer Electronics Field. However, I realized that this isn't what I really want to do. I realized that health and environmental science is my most important interest. I decided to pursue this want. I researched natural health colleges online and came across one named Maharishi University located in Fairfield, IA. I visited the college and I found a great resource of people and outstanding learning environment. I was very impressed with the ideals, purpose, and goals the school had for its students. However, I don't exactly have the financial resources available. I really truly want to know the resources available to me because I want really want to attend this college and I want to make sure that I'm financially capable of doing so. Tuition to attend this college is close to $30,000 per semester.

I thought the armed services took care of up to $30,000 for college per year. Then, you can go to get federal funding for part of the rest of the tuition. Finally, you could cap it off with student loans. They're pretty good rates, and they'll accept anyone.

I'm actually kinda in the same boat, I'm 26, in the medical/IT industry, and have realized this isn't what I want to do with my life. As a result, I start college August 22nd in Deerfield, IL (Right by ya, 15 minute drive from Evanston on 94!). I don't have the cash to do it, and will be doing the student loan thing to cover what the government doesn't cover.

Thanks for the insight pal. Yes, you're right. I had to actually research how the college I was going to handled financial aid. Since it is a non-traditional college, apparently the military doesn't support such institutions . Now what do I do?

[edit on 3/29/2005 by Mr Knowledge]

That's bizzare. I'm going to be going to a non-traditional college, too, and the federal financial aid will still cover it. I would expect the military would follow the same protocals the rest of the government does.

If they don't I would say student loans. I have a friend who was pushing 40 all the way up until a couple years ago when he pushed right through and still hasn't had to pay back his student loans. Why? He's taken 1 credit every semester since he was 19. The best part about the student loans is that it lets you establish credit at a young age.

You also mentioned you're african american. You might want to google for scholarships and grants for what you're looking for as an african american. It sucks, in my opinion, that we can use our race to get advantages others don't, but as long as it's there you may as well take advantage of it. As of yet, I haven't been able to find a good website for scholarships (DO NOT SIGN UP FOR SCHOLORSHIPSECRETS.COM! You gain access to an ad to buy the guys book, and you will begin to get spam, spam, spam!)

Also, if you find a good scholarship or grant website, let me know, I've been searching and haven't found anything all that great to date.

I've heard you can get like 50,000 for GI bills now... do to lack of motivation to join the armed forces.

[edit on 29-3-2005 by Event Horizon]

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HELP! Prospective College Student Seeking ATS Financial Advisor

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