[hushpupgrl]

hello y'all. i am looking into applying to an accelerated bsn program for people who already have an undergraduate degree. after a few years of work as an RN, i was thinking of becoming an NP. however, how would i go about paying for this? would my employer be willing to help pay for my classes to become an NP? can i work and take classes at the same time? or do most people stop working and go back to school fulltime to become an NP?

thanks in advance,
hushpup

[hushpupgrl]

hello....i guess i'm just curious as to some ways to pay to become an NP without financial aid? i thought maybe an employer would pay or if one went part time then they might have the money to pay out of their pocket. i was just curious if anyone had any info on what they did or their friends.

thanks

[pinoyNP]

It depends on the employer. Many hospitals offer some form of tuition reimbursement and many RN's on staff who are attending school for BSN completion or graduate school take advantage of this benefit. The amount vaires by specific hospitals or locations. For the most part, only part of the tuition is paid. In some instances, the amount is not large enough so that many students still need to get financial suppport from other sources.

There are hospitals that will pay for the entire NP program with the condition that the nurse signs an employment commitment after graduation. The hospital I work for has recently started this in some NP specialties. Actually, I was an RN in the same hospital when I was in NP school and unfortunately, this benefit was not in place at the time I was an NP student so I was only able to avail of tuition reimbursement.

[yellow finch]

My employer (large health system) pays $2500/yr as tuition reimbursement. It only pays for one semester/yr, but they don't expect anything in return. Outside of that, I pay out of pocket and apply for scholarships everywhere possible.

Best of luck to you in your endeavors!

[SteveRN21]

My current employer (unionized) pays up to $10k a year in reimbursement. Which means I still have to fork out the money at the beginning of the year. $5k is tax-free, and the rest is taxed at your normal rate. This only covers actual tuition credits, not books or lab fees.

[grad*student]

yes, will attend UW & have 6 credits tuition exempted per quarter at harborview medical center. both uwmc and hmc in seattle do this, and will pay indefinitely (ie. no annual/lifetime limit). i will not be required to work at hmc after graduation. this same benefit applies for any level of nurse going for any level of nursing degree. almost my entire schooling of 53K will be covered this way, for an mn/np degree.