Hey all

So I did university in my 20s and got my bachelors which I realized was a total scam because it did absolutely fuck all for me.

Now im in my early 30s and I work in nursing as a CNA and my dream is to be a nurse. I’ve been working for a year and a half in healthcare so I know this is what I want.

I’m about to start pre reqs for an LVN nursing program that costs 40k. I do not qualify for any grants anymore since I have a bachelors already.

My options are a combination of FAFSA and Sallie Mae, or a private bank loan and maybe pay some of it out of pocket.

I didn’t have to take a loan for university before and now I’m trying to decide what to do.

Which one is better? In my mind it would be easier to see all the debt consolidated in one spot and be able to pay it off that way.

I’m thinking if I do a private bank loan and get into the part time program I want, I can still work full time or close to full time and start paying it off while I’m still in school plus I have some savings so that can be a cushion.

Idk about fafsa or Sallie Mae since it’s like govt financial aid doesn’t that affect your tax return somehow? I feel like my Dad said my grants reduced his return or did something to taxes.

I want to do this on my own if possible without help from my family kinda to prove to myself I can do it and feel like I did it for myself as a grown ass adult.

Just to put into context what I can earn where I live as an LVN, working overtime as a CNA last year I made 90k and my base pay would have been just shy of 50k. Ofc I don’t have all that in the bank sadly but as an LVN without overtime at my current facility I can make 76k a year base pay and with overtime I know I can hit over 100k with less physical exhaustion than as a CNA. Some of my CNA coworkers made 120k with overtime last year.

Working at a hospital or taking 1 on 1 jobs through an agency I can make a lot more. Soooo. I know it’s worth it, but I want to make it as least stressful as possible.

If I have to do a full time program later in the year vs this summer in a part time program, I can only work 2 days a week and idk if I can handle no days off at all for 13 months. The part time is 20 months.

Thoughts? Advice? Experiences? Helpppppp! Thanks all 🙏🏻