Associates or Bachelors?

Specialties CNM

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I'm a 26-year-old, first-time student living in Lexington, KY. My desire to be a midwife is very new but I'm able to begin pursuing the education right away, starting from the very bottom.

In your opinion, would it be better to pursue an Associates through the local community college (7 semesters, plus summers), or go straight into a 4-year Baccalaureate program (8 semesters, no summers)? I am most interested in attending Frontier University for my Masters and Doctorate, and I could pursue a Masters with either degree.

If I did pursue the Associates degree, would I be hurting myself by not pursuing a Bachelors degree before going for my Masters?

And lastly, is it uncommon to go straight into a Masters degree program immediately after graduating?

Thanks for your input, friends!

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I lived in Lexington also. For me, it was a much better option to get my associates at BCTC and go to UK for the RN-BSN bridge. BCTC was a much cheaper option and I ended up with the same degree in the end. I also had a bachelors degree prior and was automatically accepted to BCTC based on GPA and some other factors. I think without the rolling admission it is difficult to get accepted there as they have a large applicant pool every year.

As far as Frontier and going with getting a BSN...it is a good option as long as you finish their program.

Frontier is not accredited for and does not issue bachelors degrees. The fact that you can go straight from an ADN to an MSN is great, unless you don't finish. Life gets in the way sometimes and you might have to stop. If you didn't finish, then you still only have the ADN and a bunch of new debt. Just something to think about when making your decision. There are good and bad to that tract, but you have to weigh those for you.

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I have a family, 2 kids to care for, and I'll probably have another before I start midwifery school. So I decided to to an ADN program (in my first semester now) and then do the RN to BSN bridge. Financial costs played a big role for me because

1) I wanted to get to work sooner. When I graduate I can work whilst I complete my RN to BSN. Additionally, that year of working I'll need to apply to Frontier will be fulfilled.

2) community college + online RN to BSN is much cheaper for me than to do a 4 year BSN. Additionally, I'm hoping that whatever job I take will help pay for my RN to BSN. Since I know I'll have to take out loans for Frontier, I'm trying to limit them while getting my undergraduate degree. Frontier is around $35/40k on top of whatever loans I'll need for my ADN and then BSN.

3) like the previous poster said, Frontier offers a bridge but does not award BSNs. I don't want to take that risk of life gets in the way, I'd rather get an actual BSN from somewhere else just in case

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Cook26-- thanks for the answer! Luckily I've been accepted to BCTC already and I have my schedule sorted out for Spring and Fall so I can apply for their RN program in February of 2017, hopefully to finish and graduate with my Associates in May of 2019, assuming I can maintain an amazing GPA the whole time!

I will have to really weigh out whether or not I would want to start Frontier without a Bachelors. As you said, it would be very upsetting if I had to stop and then had little to show for my work except debt.

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Thanks AspiringNurseMW! I have two kids as well-- 3 years old and 5 weeks old! I would love another one, but I feel like I'm always going to feel like that. So much of the reason I want to become a CNM is because of my babies, their pregnancies and births, and everything I learned along the way.

But I digress!

What online RN to BSN program are you hoping to complete? I haven't even considered that option yet.

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So far i think I'm going to try and use Western Governor's University. It's a flat fee per semester, about $4000 and you can go as fast or as slow as you like. My hope is to finish it in a year, although I've heard of a handful of people finishing in one term!

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

As far as Frontier and going with getting a BSN...it is a good option as long as you finish their program.

Frontier is not accredited for and does not issue bachelors degrees. The fact that you can go straight from an ADN to an MSN is great, unless you don't finish. Life gets in the way sometimes and you might have to stop. If you didn't finish, then you still only have the ADN and a bunch of new debt.

This exactly. That is what happened to me - partway through my third term of the bridge program and decided that I didn't want to be a midwife. I was left with nothing really to show for it except $10,000 in student loan debt.

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Specializes in General Surgery Assist.

Im kind of in the same boat, Im an Associates degree RN starting my bachelors degree in january. After my bachelors degree, Im not sure where to go after that to pursue midwifery. My bachelors degree should only take about a year or less.

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