Accelerated BSN, how much did it cost you

RHill9919 · Jan 9, 2014

I have looked in to several. Some range from 20k to 50k. For example, FSU is around 20k, while OHSU is 50k, and I think I remember John Hopkins being 120k.

meljonumd · Jan 9, 2014

I was looking at one school for my ABSN here in western PA, but it was $18/semester. Now set on a state school for $4500/semester.

Yes, I can confirm Hopkins is charging an obscene $120K+ for a hyper-accelerated program. I just moved from Baltimore, and looked at all the programs there.

I haven't applied for financial aid yet, but since I graduated with my Master's in 2003, before the revised Stafford cap, I know I have some "breathing room" in my federal limit. Waiting for my W-2's. Which is ironic, of course, because I had to quit my job in order to go to school!

PVCCHoo · Jan 9, 2014

I am not doing an Accelerated BSN, but 130,000 seems insane when it costs less than 10K to do it at the community college. Yes, I realize that is just an ADN, but paying 10X as much for a degree where you will be paid the same as a new grad with an ADN or an MSN (Master's Entry for example) is nuts. I understand the BSN is needed to help gain employment, but I could not justify that debt load.

I am getting an ADN at the local community college in VA here that also offers a concurrent enrollment in a state university to pick up the BSN at the same time. All the classes are online and you need to already have a bachelor's. Not accelerated, but this will all be in 2 years - not counting the year and a half (4 straight semesters including a summer) that I have been knocking out my prereq's with.

Total cost for this will be less than 15K. It more than doubles just the cost of the ADN to get the BSN, but as has already been stated, it will help with the job search. I am still considering just doing the ADN and getting the BSN later as well if it looks like I won't be able to afford the BSN. You cannot get grants if you already have a degree, but I am pretty sure you can still get loans.

zeus&lincoln · Jan 9, 2014

I am not doing an accelerated BSN but 130,000 seems insane when it costs less than 10K to do it at the community college. Yes, I realize that is just an ADN, but paying 10X as much for a degree where you will be paid the same as a new grad with an ADN or an MSN (Master's Entry for example) is nuts. I understand the BSN is needed to help gain employment, but I could not justify that debt load. I am getting an ADN at the local community college in VA here that also offers a concurrent enrollment in a state university to pick up the BSN at the same time. All the classes are online and you need to already have a bachelor's. Not accelerated, but this will all be in 2 years - not counting the year and a half (4 straight semesters including a summer) that I have been knocking out my prereq's with. Total cost for this will be less than 15K. It more than doubles just the cost of the ADN to get the BSN, but as has already been stated, it will help with the job search. I am still considering just doing the ADN and getting the BSN later as well if it looks like I won't be able to afford the BSN. You cannot get grants if you already have a degree, but I am pretty sure you can still get loans.[/quote']
I don't think anyone is advocating for someone to spend upwards of $100,000 on an accel program. I agree with you, that is nutty! However, a person can find a decent in-state accel program for about $25,000-30,000 total expenses covered.
Personally I was glad to get the BSN over with and get to work in a little over a year rather than find a job and fiddle with more schooling while being on orientation. However, this decision is very much a personal one. If you can afford it financially or are willing to take out some student loans, I'd go for it. Just an FYI there are some grants available for second degree nurses, I believe Johnson and Johnson had one and there were a slew of others that we were notified about after our first semester in school. Whatever you decided, best of luck!

PVCCHoo · Jan 10, 2014

Thanks Zeus. Yeah, I think I meant Federal/State grants. At least that's what I was told by the schools.

I have checked out J&J's scholarship page, but have not looked that closely at it. Thanks for the head's up.

I looked in to accelerated programs, but since there were none in my local area, I did not do much research. I almost want to say that the two closest programs calling themselves "accelerated" were nearly the same length as my local program.