How To Pay For CRNA School

We receive many questions on collegewhale.com regarding paying for advance practice nursing degrees, such as becoming a CRNA. While we cannot give you any edge or advice on how to “get into” these highly competitive programs, we can give you a breakdown on “How to Pay for CRNA School”

1. Plan in Advance: Save for CRNA School
If you can, plan in advance for CRNA school by saving money. This is going to be better than any other options for paying for CRNA School (besides CRNA scholarships). Some CRNA programs are set up, so that you can work for a portion of the CRNA schooling (which can provide extra income), but most CRNA programs are too demanding to work while attending, so SAVE, SAVE, SAVE!

2. CRNA Tuition Reimbursement Programs
Most employers will offer some form of tuition reimbursement if you agree to work for them upon graduation of CRNA school for a specific period of time. This can be one way to unload most of your CRNA student loans.

3. Scholarships and Grants for CRNA School
Apply for all the scholarships and grants you can find related to the CRNA major. This is free money for CRNA School and is a step that should not be skipped in How to Pay for CRNA School. Finding CRNA specific scholarships and grants can take some digging, but it will be well worth the effort if you can reduce the amount you need in student loans for CRNA school. Do not be fooled into paying for college scholarship searches or services. You can find all of the scholarships for college you need via Free Scholarship Search Sites.

4. FAFSA – Federal Student Loans for CRNA School
If you do need student loans to pay for CRNA school, your first stop should be FAFSA. The FAFSA will determine what you will receive in federal grants for CRNA school, in addition to federal student loans. Do not skip this step in the How to Pay for CRNA School process.

5. Grad Plus Loans for CRNA School
A Grad Plus student loan, is a specialized student loan for graduate students, including CRNA students. View our Graduate Student Loan section for more information on Grad Plus Loans for CRNA school.

6. Private Loans for CRNA School
Your last resort should be private student loans for CRNA school. Do your research on private student loan lenders. Visit our private Student Loan section for more information on private student loans to pay for CRNA School.