Bank loan for private school?? Anyone Ever?

I hear you on that buddy...I am looking to get my CDL as well and have done alot of research the past few weeks.
I am recently unemployed as my company shut its doors unexpectedly, so I filed for unemployment 2 weeks ago and have looked at what is available as far as loan assistance. I want a career change, and two jobs have always been at the top of my list, either working for the post office(I know that isn't going to happen) or driving a truck...The latter is more reasonable.

So I began my search online and came across Driver's Solutions. Well, I am in Fort Wayne, Indiana and my wife and I decided to take a drive yesterday over to the 3rd party training facility, C1 Trucking, here in the city. It is located in an older area of the city, tucked away in the back of an old industrial park. As you drive in to their training area, you are greeted by an old beat up C1 truck which is missing its hood. The yard itself contains several trucks and a small run down looking mobile trailer which I am understanding is where the drivers train. Once my wife and I saw the facility and compared it to the outrageous $5995.00 tuition for 3 weeks, we said hell no and left.

The next facility I looked at was Sage Ivy Tech truck driving school in Kendallville, In. The lady at the office there was very helpful and told me that their course runs approximately 4 weeks at 4345.25, which includes everything, even the hazmat endorsement. Not bad.
The final training school I looked at is in Indianapolis and seems by far the best. It is at Vincennes University. The cost of the course there is around 4300.00. The course is 8 weeks long and by the time you are done, you will have logged 300 hours of road time. The lady I spoke with at the university told me that the students coming out of that course are very well prepared and that there are more job offers to those students upon completion, than there are students graduating.
Now, for the frustrating part of this that can leave you with a major headache, obtaining the funding to go to school. FAFSA and Sallie Mae does not loan money for truck driving school, if you are a veteran, you can get help. Sage Ivy Tech emailed me a list of potential banks and finance companies that could loan money but when I checked into it as I deal with Wells Fargo, because I am a permanent resident and not a citizen, I need a co signer. I guess they are afraid I will get my CDL and hike it back to Canada. Obviously someone has pulled this stunt before and ruined it for others now.

The funny thing is among the list of creditors they gave me were a few payday cash advance places, can you believe it? Sure, I need to borrow 4 grand and I will pay you with my next paycheck..oh wait...my company just closed their doors and I don't have a job.
I have decided that although I would love to be a trucker, I am not going to be taken advantage of by those who exploit those least able to afford it.
The other option for those, like myself, who have had their company shut the doors on them without paying them what was owed to them, is WIA, the federally funded workforce investment act. The problem is here in the state of Indiana, and likely other states, is that from what I was told today, many counties have exhausted the funds available for that program.

Well...good things come to those who wait so I will just save my pennies and dimes and hope to someday get to Vincennes in Indianapolis. It sounds like a premier training school and that is what I aim to be, a premier driver. It's not a dream that is out of reach...just will take time.

Things could be worse..at least my kids are grown and on their own and I don't have little mouths to feed, well...unless you count my black lab and terrier..lol

 

Oh..just to add for humor sake..When I spoke to C1 trucking about the $5995.00 tuition, the lady on the phone says..."ya, but that includes the CDL permit"..lol..the permit is $16.00!!!
I think it would be financially unwise to hinge repaying $5995.00 financed at 18% apr to a contract with pre-hires like PAM or USA truck for a full year. Alot could happen in that first year that could or could not be out of your control....there goes your contract and your loan could grow exponentially.

 

It use to be common to get pell grants, guaranteed student loans etc for truck driving school. That is how all the drivers I went to school with paid for it.
This was back in 1991 or so though.
At some point in time since then they stopped doing it. No clue why.
It could be because most of the schools are short now and only teach you how to pass the test. They took the time to teach us allot more in the 8 weeks I went to school.
But back then we had no qualcom, GPS, Cell phones, satellite tracking or any of that junk.
So when you were on the road you were on your own. Nobody to help you accept the other drivers on the road.
Maybe that is one of the reasons for the change over the past 10 years. We do not need to rely on each other like it use to be.

 

I don't know this for a fact, but, I have heard that the reason there is no longer financial aid (pell grants and guaranteed student loans) for truck driving school is that the high industry turnover lead to an unbelievable default rate.

This coupled with the lack of standardized training, fly-by-night schools and the classification of drivers as unskilled labor, made the government get out of the business.

Considering $4k-$6k for a license? I really wouldn't blame them.


........ Jim

 

"I don't know this for a fact, but, I have heard that the reason there is no longer financial aid (pell grants and guaranteed student loans) for truck driving school is that the high industry turnover lead to an unbelievable default rate."

Well....that does make sense..but the bankruptcy laws have changed I believe to include trucking school tuitions as non dischargeable...and at the outrageous interest rates unpaid balances accrue at, defaulters may need to spend the rest of their lives working under the table to avoid garnishment...They'll get ya now or really ding ya later.

 

Student loans have never been a discharged item under bankruptcy loans.

I was not really aware they were not issued anymore. I will have to read more on this.

 

It use to be they would only do them with accredited programs. Most schools are not really accredited anymore.
Mine was done by several agency's. But I looked at the website for the school a while back and they do not have all the ones they use too.
One of them had been one that the teamsters would give to schools.
I used GI bill, and pell grant for housing. Most got normal student loans though.

 

I am doing some "googleology" tonight and found out that while many truck driving training programs do not have enough credit hours for students to qualify for federal student aid, there may be an exception of programs with PTDI certification. Students in those programs may be eligible for Stafford Loans, PLUS Loan, Pell Grant or Work-Study Programs. Students at some programs might also be eligible for private students loans, such as the Sallie Mae Smart Option Student Loan.

I will be on the phone tomorrow to find out about these options and if this is not outdated info.... it appears that there is at least one PTDI certified training school in Indiana, and that is the one I wish to attend, which is Vincennes University Tractor-Trailer Driver Training in Indy. ​

 

Try a Pell grant..... Google it on the web. It's free but depends on income. Also, any good school will have a financial aid dept. They can help u.