- How Much Does It Cost?
- Financing Is Available
- Think Before You Borrow
- What's the Money For?
- "Where Does the Money Go?"
- Financing Options
- Vendors Can Aid the Loan Process
- Working with Training Companies
- Financial Institutions and Specialty Lenders
- Ask Uncle Sam for Certification Assistance?
- Don't Forget Your 'Other Options' For Financing
- Heading for the Payoff
Ask Uncle Sam for Certification Assistance?
Indeed, you can take advantage of numerous government programs that provide all kinds of educational support for a student seeking IT training. In addition to the federal government's Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) program and Green Thumb, the other following programs are also worth investigating as potential sources of government-sponsored or related financial aid for students interested in IT certification:
Sallie Mae offers a "Career Training Loans" program that is open to all creditworthy U.S. citizens. Loans start at $1,000 and go up to the full cost of the education involved, at interest rates as low as 1 percent over the prime rate. You can visit http://www.salliemae.com/paying/training.html to learn more about this program or download an application form. Please call (877) 834-9853 for more information.
Ex-military personnel who meet the program's requirements can now take advantage of the GI Bill to pay for IT training. If you're already registered an e-mail address with the Veterans Affairs' GI Bill site, please visit the Web page at http://www.gibill.va.gov/education for more details. If not, please visit http://www.gibill.va.gov/ first to register your e-mail address so you can access this site.
The Technology Workforce Coalition (http://www.techcoalition.org/) sponsored the Technology Training and Education Act of 2000, which aims to provide funding for IT training for Americans. Visit these Web pages to learn more about this interesting program, for which legislation is still underway. Although it is not yet a source of funding, it could certainly become a potential source of funding in a divided legislature that will want some meaningful accomplishments to point at in 2001.
Thus, even your government may be able to help you get the financial aid you need to pursue your IT certification. Please investigate these sites and others in this story, and see which programs may apply to you!