Re-training/rehabilitation Assistance

[XLMiguel]

A friend of mine has fallen on hard times.  He's had some health problems that have severly limited his ability to make a living by his previous occupation and wacked him financially big time.  Friends and family have helped him to the degree possible, but he's soon to be in Tap City.  He is eleigible for state (WA) assistance to retrain, but it only covers 20% of tuition.  He has enough income to cover living, but can't swing school costs.  Anyone know of any ohter sources of financial aid availalbe that might help a guy get back on his feet?

[Holly76201]

Have him check with the Financial Aid office at the school. There are tons of $ that go unclaimed every year.  Or contact the state employment agency to find out about apprenticeship programs in WA.
Good Luck to him.

[Sean Smith]

Some companies have programs where they actively look for people in those situations to hire & re-train, believe it or not.  I assume for good PR, but so what?  An opportunity is an opportunity.

[Guest]

He can apply for federal aid, he can also apply for financial aid directly from the school. And there are always private/public loans available for tuition.

He could also take a cheesy part-time job to help pay the bills. He may even be able to find work at a place that will pay all or part of his tuition (UPS springs to mind except that they dont have much work for disabled people).

A lot of people are afraid to take out student loans because they don't want to be in debt. The fact is that there are few investments that will pay off better. Consider the interest on the loan versus being out of a job for a few years and it starts to become an attractive idea.