I read in another thread that the Pell Grant may help with online courses. I have started to fill out the application for the Pell Grant but got stuck at the Federal Code section.. they ask for the codes of the schools you are interested in. I am interested in Penn Foster and Gatlin Education Services but can not find their codes anywhere! I did a search from the fafsa page and it came up with nothing..I searched through the schools' websites and nothing. I can not continue with the application until i have the codes but dont know where to get them! can anyone help?? please!! i would like to get this finished a.s.a.p.!

Unfortunately  Penn Foster and Gatlin Education may not be Title IV schools and as such not eligible for the Pell Grant or FAFSA.  For more details see http://fsa.ed.gov/presscenter/title4_programs.html

Hope that helps. 

Well then I have a problem then, lol. I'm interested in Veterinary Technician but there are not many who offer the classes online. Im a low income single mother of 3 struggling financially. I want to do something to better myself but can't afford it! Penn Foster offers low payment plans but it would take me FOREVER to pay it off!... Gatlin is my first choice but the only payment plan they offer is to pay it all off in FOUR payments, lol! There is no way I could afford that. Im getting frustrated here. I dont want to give up!

Be sure to put in for that single mother's scholarship notated in the blogs.  That would be good to have.  Otherwise I suggest you expand your search, perhaps think of a different major or both.  Title IV funding would be great to have be remember that anything outside of a grant must be paid back as well.

Have you spoken to a local vet in your area about working as a Vet Tech?  I didn't think there were licensing requirements.  Are you sure you "need" the formal education to get the job or is this something you can work your way into?

Bear in mind also that while a Pell grant will help, it won't cover all your tuition and other expenses, so no matter what you're going to have to borrow money.

-=Steve=-

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B.S., Info Sys, Charter Oak State College
M.A., Educational Tech Leadership, George Washington University
Doctor of Health Education, A.T. Still University, in progress

The Pell grant does help with online courses, but it depends on your school of choice, and it's not enough to pay for the whole college experience.  Basically, it was about $600 that I received per year going through Colorado Tech.  The problem you are facing, if I remember correctly is that Penn Foster offers a career certificate rather than a degree in Vet. technician program.  When I spoke to a financial aid advisor about my options, I was told that Pell won't cover most certificate programs.  Unless this has changed, you will have to find a way to pay for the courses yourself or find a school that offers at the very least an Associate's program.

There may be an alternative, though.  Try talking to local vetrinarians and asking if they will allow you to work off your schooling in an internship/practicum type setting.  This is what my friend did because it was something she really wanted, and in the state she resides in, you had to have a career certificate.  Here, it would be more difficult unless you found a vet who wanted you to have training because you don't need to be certified in this state.  Most people just enter the field as a vetrinary assistant because they have some working knowledge of animals, and learn as they go until they are ready to take a test to be certified as a vetrinary technician (two entirely different fields, though many think they are the same).

 Another thing you could do would be to call the schools and ask them directly if they have a school code to use with FAFSA.  If not, then the certificate probably isn't worth the money anyway.  I know because I was taking a Children's Literature course through PCDI years ago, only to find out that it would just bring about a life experience, and wasn't a recognized certification. 

 If you're serious about going to school, there are some colleges out there that work with FAFSA, and offer you a degree.  Being low income, you stand a good chance of getting further in your education by using FAFSA to your advantage and getting a degree rather than just a certificate.  Certification is great, but doesn't usually pay much more than a high school diploma, from what I understand. 

wordwiz74:

There may be an alternative, though.  Try talking to local vetrinarians and asking if they will allow you to work off your schooling in an internship/practicum type setting.

Sure, why not?  They can't do anything worse than say no.

-=Steve=-

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B.S., Info Sys, Charter Oak State College
M.A., Educational Tech Leadership, George Washington University
Doctor of Health Education, A.T. Still University, in progress

Steve,

I'm not sure about other areas, but I know that here, we've had some local vets who have helped some of the lower income people in our area this way.  The vetrinarian who takes care of my dogs and cats offered me this opportunity to get my certification because of the fact that I was always really interested in their care...and the vet for my horses offered me the chance for an associate's degree in large animal care, and a certificate to become a licensed farrier because it's getting so hard to find people willing to take on these fields in this area.  Had I not been asked, I never would have thought to mention it. 

 Nowadays, around here, a lot of places are offering this type of arrangement to try to get people to go back to school...including several dentists looking for hygienists and doctors looking for medical assistants.  It's nice, really, to know that there are actually some caring vets and medical people who show a serious interest in getting this area back on its feet.

 

~~Ruby