Chamberlain BSN- Single mom

NurseGirl525, ASN, RN · Feb 23, 2014

Here is what my thoughts on Chamberlain and colleges like it. They are a for profit college and all they want is your money, and a lot of it. I don't agree with this because the focus is your money and not helping you succeed which is what happens at most public and private non profit colleges. They have these great admissions people to lure you in and I happen to find their pitch kinda like a used car salesman. Makes me uncomfortable.

I am also a single mom and go to my community college full time. I do not have a job and won't need to get one until after I graduate. Now that I am in some of the more advanced prereqs and coreqs I have met a lot of people who are working part or full time and going for their RNs. Many are LPNs transitioning and some are just going straight to the RN. It is very difficult but can be done. I do know of some people who can live off of their loans and not have to work.

If you go to Chamberlain, chances are you won't get enough back each semester to live off of. Their tuition is so high that it pretty much takes all of it. I did a for profit years ago and it was the biggest waste of my money. Their quarterly tuition fees just so happen to be the exact amount I was able to get in loans. After 2 quarters I realized this and dropped out. But not after spending over $6000 there.

Yes their website is all pretty and they have many success stories and they will do this and that for you. I have a friend who is doing Phoenix right now for another degree and they sucked him in also with all the bells and whistles and now he is struggling big time because they got his money and they don't give a hoot whether he succeeds or not. It's a total mess and he is probably dropping out to go to my community college.

Buyer beware.

findingme02 · Feb 25, 2014

I know this is a totally off the wall idea, but I was in the same situation. I was struggling to finish school and be a single full time mom. I knew school was the only way to get out of our financial mess. I'm now at a school that allows single moms to live on campus with my kids. There aren't a lot of these schools, maybe 15, but it is by far the best decision I have ever made. My kids and I live on campus, their daycare is right nearby, and I am able to focus and stay in school.

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Feb 25, 2014

Wow! What a great arrangement ^^^^^^.

I believe that Texas Woman's University (Denton TX) used to have some dorms set aside - & childcare facilities - for single parents but I don't know if this is still the case. I wonder why more schools don't provide this type of support since it appears to be such a critical factor for single parents who want to continue their educations.

Best of luck to you!

Texas02 · Mar 2, 2014

Please don't listen to people who have this "buyer beware" attitude about Chamberlain and have never actually attended the school or fully researched it for themselves. I live in Houston and am applying to Chamberlain also, I've done a ton of research on them, talked to alumni, gone to an open house and again went back to speak with an advisor. I've searched for people online who are current students at the school some who are single moms also. After researching for a few months and finding answers to every one of my questions I'm more than content with applying. You can't base the experience you'll have at Chamberlain off someone else's experience at a school that has nothing to do with Chamberlain. Sorry but that doesn't even make sense. Every person I have found on Instagram who go to Chamberlain and those who I've meet and know in person here in Houston who attend Chamberlain, many of them are single moms and have nothing but amazing things to say about the school. One of the girls I know (a single mom) had to even take a break from the program because her child got sick and they let her take a few months off and come back in right where she left off. Not many nursing schools will offer that. At the open house at the Houston campus they explained that if you begin to fall behind or feel like you are falling behind, they have hired a few tutors to help you and spend one on one time with you so you do not fail or drop out. I'm applying to a number of schools but for many reasons pertaining to my children if Chamberlain accepts me I am willing to say it would be on the top of my list to choose from. I called around to the hospitals in and around Houston and in our famous medical center, I talked to HR departments and asked if they hired nurses who graduated from Chamberlain and after getting yes, yes, yes, I got an answer that had me finally stop calling around. The woman in HR department that I spoke to told me, "Unfortunately I can't give you that information. We don't keep track of what school our nurses graduated from. All we care about is if you pass you NCLEX and have your license." And that was at one of the biggest most predominate hospitals in Houston. With all that said, I'm a mother of 2 young girls too. I have a lot of help though, and I understand not everyone is as fortunate. If you have no other options, I do know they allow you to go to school part time if you choose Chamberlain. Any other school check to see if that is an option, I haven't so I can't give information on that, another option might be to go the ADN route. Loans are always my very last and final option but there's always that route. Maybe talk to the advisors at the schools you are looking to applying to, to see if their program fits your life style as mother. Then talk to their financial advisors to see what your financial options are for that school.

Peanut&Buttercup · Mar 2, 2014

I have no opinion on Chamberlain, or any other school. I do have comments on the cost. I have been there/done that on school loans. You sign the papers, never realizing what it all means. Do you know how much it will cost, start to finish? If not find out. Of that amount, how much will be paid by loans? Those loans are almost impossible to discharge in bankruptcy. No one plans to fall on hard times, but it happens. If you lose your job or get injured and can't work, you will still owe that money.

Now that you know how much you will need to take out in loans, figure out what your monthly loan payments will be. There are a variety of payment plans out there that will decrease the monthly payment, but they also extend the time you need to pay them.

On studentloans.gov, they have a repayment estimator. The average loans for a for-profit four year college are $34,722 (not including private loans). At 3.9% interest rate, you would pay $350 per month for 10 years to pay that back. In Indiana, salary.com, says that the average salary for a RN is $68,034 (I picked staff nurse). After taxes, rent/mortgage, childcare, food, etc., are you comfortable with that payment?

If you are, then go for it. I wouldn't do it, but I'm not in your shoes.