Private Colleges???

I would recommend Westminster College. It is a private liberal arts college and is ranked in the top 10 nursing programs in the US.

I've looked into this school before but admit the tuition prices scared me off There's no way I could afford approx $12k a semester!

It appears expensive, but it with scholarships and grant money it costs about what the U of U costs per semester.

Yeah but if you go to U of U and use the grants there instead of the private schools it costs even less!

It's roughly either:

1. $30,000 a year minus grant money at a private/for profit school.

or

2. $6,000 a year minus grant money at a public school.

I'd go with option 2.

No, because at Westminster College you get scholarship money and grant money. I think I had 2 different scholarships plus 2 differnt grants that I qualified for. I paid less than $4000 a semester. Where do you get more clinical hours and a better education? A private liberal arts college. Westminister's nursing program for a private liberal arts school is ranked 10th in the nation. It is a feeder school to all of the Ivy legue schools.

Saltlakenurse

I should have been more descriptive. Westminster is worth the extra money. But schools that are private AND for profit (like Utah Career College, AmeriTech, Stevens Henager) may not be worth the extra money in the long run. Westminster is not for profit, and it is an excellent regionally accredited school (well I think its regionally accredited lol).

I bet Westminister is a wonderful school to go to and I have heard their nursing program is very nice indeed, but how much does school ranking matter? I guess I'm wondering, for Utah specifically, does graduating from Westminister present you with more job offers, higher pay, more opportunities.ect? Do employers pick out those grads over those from universities like U of U, BYU, UVU, ect? I'm not implying anything! I don't know what hospitals in our area look for in new graduates (other than do well in your clinicals) and would be interested to find out if certain schools get an advantage in this areas.

It just seems to me that when it comes to schools, where you graduated from doesn't matter after you accept your first job. From then on it's all about job performace. Of course, making sure you recieved a good education so you can perform your job duties is important, but I have not heard anything to suggest that grads from one school are continuely out-performing grads from other schools in general.

Actually Westminster nurses are known throughout the country, since Westminster's nursing program is ranked #10 in the nation. It is an Ivy league feeder school.

The college's you just named Utah Career College, AmeriTech, Stevens Henager can't quite get their programs up and running and their NCLEX pass rates are less than 30%. AmeriTech is about to be closed and it in non-accredited and if you want a BSN degree no one takes their credits. So you cannot continue on to a BSN degree.

Saltlakenurse

The cost of school was extremely important to me. I graduated for WSU with my BSN and it only cost me about $2500. I did get scholarships that paid for most of my school though... And it wasnt that hard. Paying 80,000 for an AS degree, I think, is crazy! I also considered wheather my degree would and credits would transfer ... this is a good idea if you want your BSN, MSN, ... or DNP! I frequently went to http://dopl.utah.gov/licensing/nursing.html and looked up all the schools pass rates (http://dopl.utah.gov/licensing/forms/nurse_NCLEX_pass_rates_RN.pdf )and their accrediation status (http://dopl.utah.gov/licensing/forms/nurse_approved_programs.pdf).

Also see: http://dopl.utah.gov/licensing/minut...2009-01-08.pdf.

Getting a BSN from Weber State would be great. But despite being what they said was a "very competitive candidate", I was passed on for WSU's RN program. Some people I know with near-perfect GPA's have been denied from Weber multiple times.

For me, if I can qualify for scholarships and grant money and go to Westminster earlier than Weber, I'd gladly do it. $32,000 ($4000 / semster after grants and scholarships) wouldn't be too bad of debt for me if it means moving forward towards being a CRNA faster.