Austin CC - Pay for out-of-state tuition or wait a year?

[nickasarbata]

Hey guys, I wanted to get your opinions on what I should do.

I'm currently living in New York City and will be relocating to Austin, TX in March with my partner. I have an associates degree in business management and have been working in the hotel industry for the last three years. Before that I lived in Spain and taught English for about four years. I feel like I've been floating around trying to figure out what I really want to do with my life, and I've finally discovered that nursing is what I want to do!! It's like a lightbulb turned on in my head one day and ever since I've been thinking, "Of course! That is EXACTLY what you should be doing!" Now here's my dilemma.

I'm hoping to get my ADN at Austin Community College. From what I read it's a pretty competitive program to get into, although it seems like people don't usually have to wait more than one semester if they have to wait at all. Apart from the nursing prerequisites (which I haven't taken), I've already taken ALL the other corequisite classes during my business management program, so I'm hoping they'll all transfer over. Regardless, Austin's pre-nursing program is two semesters long, followed by four semesters of the actual nursing program. I want to get started right away!

Unfortunately because I'm going to be new to Texas, I'll be considered out-of-state tuition until I live there for a year. And apparently that means I have to work for a year and can't take ANY classes. If I start taking classes, they won't change my out-of-state status to in-state status once a year has passed. That means I won't be done with my nursing degree until almost five years from now!

Austin CC is very cheap, but not so cheap if you're out-of-state. The numbers look like this. Assuming I had to take all pre- and corequisite classes before going through the nursing program, the entire tuition would be:

In state: $3,190 (plus books, living expenses, etc.)

Out of state: $16,720

Because I've taken many of the corequisite classes, that will knock about 25% of the tuition away, which is nice. Obviously it'd be better to wait. But $16,000 for an RN program doesn't sound too scary either, and it's much cheaper than going to a state university. Basically I want you guys to tell me it's worth paying out-of-state tuition and getting started ASAP, but I really do want your opinions. What would you do? What should I do??

Thanks for your advice!

[bonn_bai]

See here: http://www.austincc.edu/support/admissions/changingresidency.php

You can petition for a residency status change after 1 year. You fill out a form and bring in documents proving you have established residency. I had to do the same thing at a different school.

So in that case, if I were you, I would get a job (part-time or whatever, just to have verifiable evidence of Texas residency) and go to school part-time to get your pre-reqs out of the way. Also, make sure you get a new driver's license as soon as you get to Texas.

You would then after 1 year be able to get in-state tuition, just as you could start the nursing program.

[nickasarbata]

Oh, that's great! For some reason I was 99% sure they wouldn't let you change your residency status at all after beginning courses. I guess they figure there's no guarantee you're going to stay in the state after graduation unless you prove to them you've been around a while before starting. It makes sense to me because basically everyone would change to in-state tuition after a year, even if they plan on leaving after graduation. I DO plan on staying in Texas after graduating, so this is fantastic news! And it also seems like a green light to GET STARTED!

[bonn_bai]

Sounds like it to me. Good luck to you :)