bumpus Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 Here's the story:) Over the last several months, I've decided that I would very much like to be an EMT. After weighing all of the pros and cons, the pros won out by a landslide. Anyway, I'm hoping to take the EMT-B class this coming semester at our local community college. However, I don't have the money to pay for it. I already asked Pop for some cash, and he hasn't decided yet. But if he's a no go, can you get a student loan for taking one single class like this? I hate to sound stupid, but I'm not familiar enough with college loans to know whether they apply to classes of this type. I've already applied for student aid, and it's looking like I'm not gonna get anything. So the big question is, did anyone else get a small student loan? If you did get a loan, how easy was it? I realize that my class plus books is most likely going to only be around $700 total, but like I said, I just don't have that much right now, and I already scrape by, so I can't cut out any "luxuries" to be able to afford it. Any help is much appreciated from you guys!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridryder 911 Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 Here's a suggestion, go to your local community college that teaches EMT-Paramedic. Talk to the financial counselor & apply for scholarship and potential Pella grants etc... take some additional classes like anatomy, physiology, English, etc..You can get that grant/loan, you can actually use any of those classes for later studies, what ever your decision might be. Don't fret over Basic EMT, it is not that difficult of a class if one studies and applies themselves !... Good luck, R/r 911 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumpus Posted July 7, 2006 Author Share Posted July 7, 2006 Sorry r/r, I must be really tired because I'm not following you. The college I'm looking at does have Paramedic training, but I can't take those until after I have my EMT-B obviously. As far as grants/scholarships, I already applied for those, and I don't think I'll be getting anything. As far as worrying about basic, I'm definitely not:) But at the moment, I have to work full time, so I don't have time to take more than one class right now. I'm not sure whether your post confused me, or whether I confused myself!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noahmedic Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 Go to the college's financial aid office and make sure they are including loans in your financial aid package. It's really that simple. The counselors in that office will be able to tell you everything, and if they are not able to get you government-backed loans they can point you in the right direction for private loans. The answers you get from them will be 10x better then those that we can give you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumpus Posted July 7, 2006 Author Share Posted July 7, 2006 Go to the college's financial aid office and make sure they are including loans in your financial aid package. It's really that simple. The counselors in that office will be able to tell you everything, and if they are not able to get you government-backed loans they can point you in the right direction for private loans. The answers you get from them will be 10x better then those that we can give you. Already in the works, Noah. But I do appreciat your response! I have an appointment next week with both an academic advisor and financial aid. I was just trying to get a leg up on the info by asking around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPINFV Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 Another option would be to look at other courses in your area. The course I took (regional occupational program) was $120, including books (Brady Prehospital Emergency Care, 7th ed. including workbook). The biggest cost, by far for me, was getting certified (paying for NR, local cert, background check, etc) then the course. What Rid was getting at was to take CC courses to qualify for the loan if the EMT class won't do it for you. Classes in the basic sciences, as well as almost any other course (besides underwater basket weaving, but it sure is fun) would serve to make you a better provider in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noahmedic Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 Ok, well glad you have an appt. Anyways, I guess I'll elaborate a little then. I actually paid cash for my EMT class, but it was really cheap (like <$500) because I took it at a tech school, but I do have a B.S. in Bio so I've worked the finacial aid system myself. Most EMT-Basic classes only quailify as 6-8 college credit hours, so that's part time. If you want to get the most finacial aid you need to be attending full-time, or at least 12 hours. The best student loans are subsidized Stafford loans because the federal goverment pays the interest. I'm with Rid, take a few add'l classes, I'm sure the admissions counselor can recommend a few that will work toward a degree with EMS. HAVE FUN! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumpus Posted July 7, 2006 Author Share Posted July 7, 2006 As much as I'd like to, I don't have the time to go to school full time. So other classes are pretty much out of the question at this point. But I do understand what everyone's saying about taking some classes that would aid me further down the road. Thanks for everyone's input! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emtkelley Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 I live in IL as well. As long as the school you are going to is accredited, you may be eligible for a loan. If not, perhaps you could get a regular loan through a bank, a personal loan. Also, you might want to check with the school. Many times they have deferred payments you can make. The school I am going to does and I will be doing that if I don't get a grant or anything. Might be cheaper to do a personal loan or deferred payments than a student loan as I see the student loans have a higher interest rate in this state if not all over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMS49393 Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 It pains me to say this because I'm pretty anti-volunteer EMS, but have you tried joining a local volunteer fire department? Even if they don't run any ambulances, the will often put you through EMT-B so you can first respond on medicals. You can be up front with them about wanting to run medical calls only and most of them will worship you because fire jockeys do not like running EMS calls. In my neck of the backwoods we have some departments that are first response agencies for medical calls simply because our paid ambulances are spread so far out over the area. They do pay for people to attend first responder and basic classes, and there are plenty of "EMS only" folks on these departments running first response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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