In general:

• Answer all the essay questions as clearly as possible. Use details to fully illustrate your experiences, but keep the essays on topic and relevant to a college application.
• Proofread and edit your essays for content as well as writing quality (grammar, punctuation, spelling, and conventions).
• Ask your references to send personalized letters that speak to the skills you have which will lend to your success not just in this program, but also in this profession.

There are many opportunities to demonstrate your desire to pursue midwifery and your commitment to a Birthingway education:

• Read as many birth, doula, and midwifery books and journals as you can.
• Attend birth, doula, and midwifery conferences.
• Join local birth, doula, and midwifery groups.
• Take classes or workshops on midwifery-related topics.
• Attend births as a labor doula.
• Become trained in, and offer classes on, childbirth education.
• Shadow a direct-entry midwife.
• Take a direct-entry midwife out to dinner to learn about her experiences in the field.
• Take a nurse midwife, naturopathic midwife or any other kind of midwife out to dinner to learn about their experiences in the field.
• Spend time in the Birthingway community – meet with our Midwifery Program Coordinator, sit in on a class, take a course, or browse our library.

And then tell us about all these things you’ve done to learn about, decide on, and prepare for this path!

Admission to our program is by application and we admit students once per year to start in Fall Term.  Application materials to join the upcoming cohort are made available in November. Applicants may choose to submit an application for early admission decision in March or an application for regular admission in May. Please see our Admissions Timeline for more detailed information

We take our application process very seriously. Applicants are chosen based on their answers to the application questions, letters of recommendation, their personal interview, their prior academic and life success, and the need for midwives in their area or community.

You will be contacted after your application has been received by Birthingway. If anything is missing at this point, you will be asked to provide the missing documentation. We will arrange an online interview with you once we have all parts of your application (except for prerequisites, which must be received by September 1). If you have any questions about the admissions process, please contact outreach@birthingway.edu

This depends on when you submit your application, as we have early and regular admission application deadlines. Please see our Admissions Timeline for more  information.

Pell Grants are available only to students with significant financial need who have not previously completed a baccalaureate degree. The maximum award (for full-time, full-year students with a zero Expected Family Contribution ) is $6,895 for the 2022-23 award year. Pell Lifetime Eligibility is capped at six years of full-time study.

Some students may also be eligible for the Oregon Opportunity Grant (OOG), a state run aid program for Oregon residents without a baccalaureate degree. The maximum award (for full-time, full year students with a zero Expected Family Contribution) is $4,692 for the 2022-23 award year.

The Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) program has limited funds and only a small number of students receive awards. Birthingway awards Pell-eligible students with the highest need first. Awards are currently set at $600 per year.

If, after grant and work-study awards have been made, you still have financial need and are attending at least half-time, you may be eligible for Direct Stafford subsidized loans. With a subsidized loan, interest is paid by the federal government while you are in school at least half-time, during the six-month grace period or in a deferment period. The annual award limit for subsidized loans varies between $3,500 and $5,500, depending on your year in school.

As of July 1, 2013, new borrowers are subject to new subsidized loan limits based on the number of years they borrow. Borrowers may only borrow subsidized loans for the first 150% of their program, as measured in years:

Program Name:Credential Type	Minimum Program Length	150%
Midwifery Program:Certificate	3 years	4.5 years
Midwifery Program:Bachelor Degree	4 years	6 years

A “new borrower” is defined as a student:

• with no federal student loan balance as of July 1, 2013 OR
• who had a federal student loan balance on July 1, 2013, but who paid the balance in full prior to receiving a subsequent subsidized loan disbursements after that date.

Federal loan balance applies to both FFEL and Direct student loans.

Please see the Department of Education’s Student Aid website for more information on the new subsidized loan limitations.

In addition to subsidized loans, Direct Stafford unsubsidized loans are available. Unsubsidized loans are non-need-based aid. With an unsubsidized loan, unlike a subsidized loan, interest will begin to accrue immediately and will continue to accrue even when you’re not in repayment.

Unsubsidized loans are limited to the difference between the Cost of Attendance and the amount of other aid received. The annual award limit for unsubsidized loans varies between $3,500 and $12,500, depending on your year in school, dependency status, and the amount of subsidized loan received. You must attend at least half-time to receive an unsubsidized loan.

Parent PLUS loans are available to credit-worthy parents of dependent students. Students must be attending at least half-time for the parent to receive the loan. To request a PLUS loan, please contact the Birthingway Financial Aid Officer for an application and more information.

In addition to the Federal Student Aid programs, Birthingway is listed as an eligible training provider with the Oregon Department of Workforce Development.

As a Title IV school, we are authorized to accept payment through Americorps.

Birthingway does not currently offer any institutional aid.

Birthingway does not currently offer any federal work-study placements.

Students who wish to borrow private or alternative educational loans should contact Birthingway’s Financial Aid Officer and read through our Title IV Loan Program Code of Conduct.

If you are in a Specialized Program or are a community student (any student not matriculated in the Midwifery or Lactation Consultation Program) and you are planning on paying for tuition and fees with external financial assistance, such as a scholarship, please complete the Community Student Financial Assistance form and submit with your registration.