North Carolina student weighs costs of eight-week nursing program
The federal Workforce Pell program is opening federal grant aid to some short-term job training programs, ending a requirement that had limited Pell grants to programs running at least 15 weeks and 600 hours.
Schools around the country are seeking approval to participate, including Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where an eight-week certified nursing assistant program has drawn students balancing tuition and supplies against reduced work hours.
Sydney Webb, a 26-year-old bartender, enrolled in the nursing assistant program at Forsyth Tech as a step toward her goal of becoming an ultrasound operator. The program’s $255 registration fee was just one of her costs.
“It shocked me a little bit how expensive it was,” Webb said.
Beyond tuition, Webb paid for a background check, scrubs, a stethoscope, special shoes, and a state certification exam. To make time for classes, she cut her bartending hours roughly in half, reducing the income she had available to cover those expenses.
The federal Pell grant program has long helped low- and moderate-income students afford college. Under its traditional eligibility rules, programs had to run at least 15 weeks and a minimum of 600 instructional hours — a threshold that left shorter training tracks out of reach for federal aid.
Schools are now moving through the application process to gain approval to participate in Workforce Pell. Forsyth Tech is among those seeking to make its certified nursing assistant program eligible for the expanded federal grant aid.