Is spending $80,000 on a private ABSN school a waste

rleah, BSN, RN · Oct 30, 2017

yes because that is the only school I can get in. My grades are not good enough. Also, I made a mistake.It's not 80,000 it's going to cost 60,000.

Is the school you are thinking about attending fully accredited? I understand your situation. I went to school the first time over a decade ago. Lets just say I am still paying for that GPA. I have felt your desperation and I really considered going to Chamberlin I have my AA so it would be around $56,000. I ended up redoing classes and studying my butt of to ace the entrance exams for the community colleges closest to me. I was able to eventually get accepted into two programs for a much lower cost. However waiting and redoing classes may not be an option for you. If this is seriously your only option for nursing and it is an accredited program, then my advice would be to go for it. What state are you in if you dont mind me asking? WGU has a BSN offered in a few states that is supposed to be good, plus its half what you would be paying. Have you looked into colleges a little farther away with lower admission requirements that might be worth the drive?

Big_Mike · Oct 30, 2017

I'm in California and the school that I got admitted to is in Virginia

rleah, BSN, RN · Oct 30, 2017

I'm in California and the school that I got admitted to is in Virginia

Have you looked into WGU? I am pretty sure they that is one of the places they have a BSN program. If you are willing to move for school there are a lot of areas where CC have lower admission requirements.

NurseNinja1990 · Oct 30, 2017

Dang, I'm getting my masters for 30k. I'd definitely scout all the options first. In my experience, the BSN didn't boost my salary much. Not to say that I didn't get a lot from my education however, and it did make me a better nurse.

Davey Do · Oct 30, 2017

Boy! After reading some of your posts, I realize that I really lucked out!

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Davey Do · Oct 30, 2017

Seriously, my LPN, a one year program, cost was about $1200 minus textbooks in 1983. A government-sponsored program, the JTPA, footed the entire bill. I was also paid $2.80/hour while attending the program.

I attended the local Community College, from 1987 through 1990, for the RN program. The Hospital where I worked reimbursed tuition, after I showed proof I had passed the classes with at least a C average, and I don't remember the cost.

Times have really changed!

kbrn2002, ADN, RN · Oct 30, 2017

Is it a waste? Maybe, maybe not. There are several things to consider before you commit to a school that will cost you that much money. First your level of commitment, unless you are 100% positive that you will be a nurse long enough to pay off those kinds of loans it's not a good idea to put yourself in that kind of debt. Playing what if here: What if you don't finish school? What if you do finish school and fail to pass the NCLEX to become an employable nurse? What if you become a nurse and have a hard time finding a job? What if you find that job and decide you HATE being a nurse [believe me, that's not an impossibility]? You are then stuck with a crushing debt that will follow you until you somehow manage to pay it off and you will probably not be able to take out more loans to finance a different degree. If there's even a tiny chance you could find yourself in the situation of not finishing or finishing and not using the degree then don't do it. Of course I'm assuming you don't have $60,000 laying around to pay for it out of pocket, even if by some chance you do it's still too much money to spend without complete certainty that the degree will be utilized long enough to make paying that much worthwhile.

You also have to consider how much living expenses are going to add to that already huge financial commitment. Sounds like you'd need to relocate across the country for this school. How will you pay for rent, food, gas etc.? Unless you are wealthy enough to not work while you are in school you need to have a job already lined up that not only pays enough to live on but is flexible enough to work with a student schedule. It's not going to be easy to manage school and work especially if you are living in a place where you don't know anybody. It may sound trivial but believe me it's not, a good support system of friends and family is not vital to success but it sure is helpful.

If you decide that you are absolutely 100% positive you intend to become a nurse and stay one it might not be a waste, but it's certainly not a good bargain. Still, you wouldn't be the first nurse to take that path and I'm sure you won't be the last. Just make sure whatever school you ultimately decide to attend is fully accredited, the last thing you want is to spend that much money on an ADN only to find out the hard way that none of those very expensive credits will transfer to another school if or when you decide to pursue a BSN or higher degree.

RNperdiem, RN · Oct 30, 2017

Selling a nursing education at a highly inflated rate to people who don't quite have the grades to be competitive in the public schools?

Does this sound like sub-prime loans? Beware.

gettingbsn2msn, MSN, RN · Oct 30, 2017

No!!!!

SleepyStudent13 · Oct 30, 2017

That sounds like an excessive amount of money. I wouldn't.

ah123 · Oct 30, 2017

I went to a nursing school that had an accelerated BSN program, and it cost about $60,000. It was 100% worth it, and I would do it agian. I was able to finish my nursing program in one year from a well-known nursing school, and every place I interviewed at for jobs was impressed with the school, and the program.

Flatline, BSN, RN · Oct 30, 2017

I would say that it greatly depends on the school name and how you are going to leverage that in your career. For example, if you are planning to jump into the corporate setting school names become much more important.