scholarships or grants

[sallyflyer]

I need to know how to pay for flight school. I keep looking for grants and scholarships but it seems as if none are available. I also got declined for my loan!! What do I do?

 

[moxiepilot]

go to fafsa.gov and fill out a student loan form to see what you qualify for.

 

[PDH]

Try Sallie Mae Financial. Key Bank can be a tough loan to get. It seems as if no one will loan money unless you have a cosigner as well. I have great credit and was turned down by Key Bank. Be certain to apply for an education loan and not an aviation loan. Seems to be a common mistake.

 

[bizijet]

I need to know how to pay for flight school. I keep looking for grants and scholarships but it seems as if none are available. I also got declined for my loan!! What do I do?

There are no easy answers to your question. I assume you are a woman so I would look at the ninety nines (99's) for scholarships. You can also look at whirlygirls although it may be for helicopter only, but it is a good place to start.

I can tell you from experience that when you get turned down for loans and there seems like there is no hope there is another way. I came from a family who wasn't wealthy and I couldn't get a loan no matter how hard I tried. I drove a tractor trailer for 10 years and payed for all of my ratings by driving. All together it took me 15 years to get the CFI/CFII/MEI. I was mad at the world and felt that it wasn't fair that creditors could dictate if you get your dream or not. So I worked hard as a driver and took my dream out of their hands. I had to quit several driving jobs because it seemed like I couldn't get enough hours to pay for training, but I did it.

I decided that now is the time for me to begin to fly helicopters and I again applied to Sallie Mae for a $20,000 loan. They turned me down because my credit is not the best and they said I worked at too many different jobs. I told them that I was turned down in 2000 for a loan and did what I had to do to make my dream a reality. I started driving trucks in 1988 and tractor trailers in 1994. I know that my appeal will be denied so I am going to take a year and a half to work as a truck driver and save as much of the money as I can to fly helicopters. F the creditors and take your dream out of their hands. You can do it, you just have to want it bad enough.

 

[English]

Women in Aviation is a good resource, whether you're a chick or a guy.

www.wai.org


They are ALWAYS short of applicants. I can't figure out why people won't invest an hour in a $7000 return, but...it happens.

See my 737 type? Courtesy of WIA.

 

[PAPA FOX!]

a different perspective

There are no easy answers to your question. I assume you are a woman so I would look at the ninety nines (99's) for scholarships. You can also look at whirlygirls although it may be for helicopter only, but it is a good place to start.

I can tell you from experience that when you get turned down for loans and there seems like there is no hope there is another way. I came from a family who wasn't wealthy and I couldn't get a loan no matter how hard I tried. I drove a tractor trailer for 10 years and payed for all of my ratings by driving. All together it took me 15 years to get the CFI/CFII/MEI. I was mad at the world and felt that it wasn't fair that creditors could dictate if you get your dream or not. So I worked hard as a driver and took my dream out of their hands. I had to quit several driving jobs because it seemed like I couldn't get enough hours to pay for training, but I did it.

I decided that now is the time for me to begin to fly helicopters and I again applied to Sallie Mae for a $20,000 loan. They turned me down because my credit is not the best and they said I worked at too many different jobs. I told them that I was turned down in 2000 for a loan and did what I had to do to make my dream a reality. I started driving trucks in 1988 and tractor trailers in 1994. I know that my appeal will be denied so I am going to take a year and a half to work as a truck driver and save as much of the money as I can to fly helicopters. F the creditors and take your dream out of their hands. You can do it, you just have to want it bad enough.

Wow I really feel bad for you. I think if I were in your situation I'd have just "declared an emergency" and maxed out every credit card I could get my hand on to get from PP to MEI in 6 months to a year max. Would I have had trouble down the road with tons of high interest debt? Sure! However, that would be a secondary concern for me and I deal with it later. Kinda like if I'm flying along in a 172 picking up heavy ice and being afraid to get help from ATC because of what FAA enforcement action might come my way afterwords. I'd worry first about getting down alive and worry a distant second about getting "busted!" I have the same outlook about maxing out the credit cards in situations like these.

Glad it did work out for you though!

 

[ToiletDuck]

Embarrassing story: My mother was huge on finding every scholarship available. She managed to get a list, i don't know from where, with all of them listed and just sent forms to ever last one. I did get several and one of the envelopes in the mail was marked with a "NGPA" on it. I didn't know what it was so I asked mom and she said "Oh it was on that green list of scholarships to apply for. I recieved an email saying you got that one. So I went and read the email where it started off.

"Congradulations on your decision to become a commercial pilot. Here at the National Gay Pilots Assoc. we strive to make sure every opportunity is available to you." (or something very close to that) took about .00003 seconds to yell "mom get in here!" I asked her about it and she said "well I was kinda hoping you wouldn't have noticed. All you have to do is go to this banquet to get it." Now my family isn't rich but we aren't exactly dirt poor and for her to do that really pissed me off. I called and told em no thanks lol. The point of this was to toss a little laugh in here and to also say that there is always a way.

I know several people that came to school here with nothing and managed to make it happen. There are people at the school that can help you get setup with what you need. www.google.com is your second best friend and your best is someone who's been through your exact program and can help shed some light by how they did it. Keep looking it's out there.

Duck

PS:Go to any and all airport events. I recieved several scholarships from the EAA that helped greatly and local companies can use em as tax right offs so a few of them helped out too!

 

[moxiepilot]

lol -funny story.

but NGPA is an association like WIA, promoting flying (WIA also gives grants to both men & women).

if i had free money tossed my way i might think twice before throwing it away.

 

[viper548]

I joined the Air Force reserves to get money for flight training. They paid 60% of everthing after my private.

 

[ToiletDuck]

lol -funny story.

but NGPA is an association like WIA, promoting flying (WIA also gives grants to both men & women).

if i had free money tossed my way i might think twice before throwing it away.

It wasn't free. It involved going to a banquet, giving a speech, and probably having your picture on the front of their newsletter. That would be one hell of a rumor to have to fight off.