cheapest,online accelerated BSN or what's the best route for me,HELP

jessi1106, BSN, RN · Jul 18, 2008

I can't answer your question.

I do know that many hospitals will pay back student loans though.

The VA here does up to 30K (I think). Not sure how long you have to sign on with them though.

There are also lots of nursing school scholarships.

Good luck to you, and congrats on the pregnancy!

rn-on-the-move · Oct 28, 2008

I know my old hospital does not reimburse online degrees. But it does put a limited number of CNA's through local nursing programs. It sounded like you live in NJ. The hospital I'm talking about is on Staten Island (SIUH) Not sure what the agreement is as to how long you need to work for them after becoming an RN . Just about any hospital is going to give you some reimbursement for continuing education that relates to your job ie - if your a RN with your ADN they pay for the BSN but be aware they limit how much reimbursement you can get each semester so it still can take a while if you want no outta pocket cost.

If I'm right and you are on the east coast keep in mind there is a nursing shortage here. If I where you and I was dead-set on not going back to school and paying myself for the ADN degree I'd start investigating local hospitals to see where might have openings for CNA's and then contact their human resource dept to see if they have in place any programs to help their employees through nursing school.

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Oct 28, 2008

I'm a second degree student, and what I'm finding is that accelerated programs are expensive. Maybe a better option would be to look at your state system and find out which schools keep nursing courses to the 2nd 2 years (as opposed to starting nursing classes as a freshman, making the program a mandatory 4 years).

What I'm doing is crossing my fingers about getting in to my community college's nursing program. I'll graduate with an ADN in 2 years, but the total cost for the 2 years of tuition comes in at $6,000. Given that I already have $40K in student loans, it makes a lot more sense for me to do that rather than try to get another $30K+ in private loans to do a program like Drexel's ACE or Jefferson's FACT.

I am not aware of any pre-licensure online BSN programs, but there are many RN-BSN bridge programs that are available online.

I hear you on wanting to be done- I'm a couple of years younger than you but I do feel like I've been in school forever- 6.5 years to finish my BA, what will turn out to be 1.5 years of nursing prerequisites, and then 2 years of nursing school...... plus I will need to do a bridge to BSN program....

But in my case anyway I feel like trying to pay for an accelerated BSN program is just trying to squeeze blood from a stone.

japhy4529 · Feb 10, 2010

I know that this is an old thread, but I thought I would chime in anyway.

University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh offers an accelerated online Bachelor's to BSN program. A CNA and pre-reqs are required for admission. At 35k, the program is not cheap (although they are nice enough to throw in a laptop, iTouch and "necessary software"). It takes 52 weeks to complete the program. Three onsites are required. Clinicals may be completed in your home state (provided that your state is on this list and the school can locate a clinical site(s) for you).

Best of luck,

Tom

UVA Grad Nursing · Feb 13, 2010

I would be a little hesitant on taking big loans now (with the hopes of a hospital paying them off). For the hospitals in my state, loan payoff has been the first thing to be eliminated in budget cuts. Three major medical centers that used to offer $5K year are now offering $0, $0, and $1K/year.

epitomeofRN · Jun 25, 2012

Check out olivet nazerene university. Not sure about the cost though.