Community college or technical college??

I would go to a community college. Pros: The lower price, smaller class sizes, and your classes will be transferable should you decide to move onto to become an RN. Cons: The only real con I faced with going the community college route was the wait time to get into the program. I was waitlisted the 1st time I applied, but was able to get in during the next application period.

I went to community college for my LPN. It was nice that my credits transferred when I decided to continue my education, but....

It hurt me as far as financial aid was concerned. Because they are college credits, that was 60 credits that was held against me for SAP. I ended up having to pay out of pocket for my ASN because I had "too many college credits for the associates level"

It continues on as you move up. Luckily I had *just* enough room left to get aid to finish my bachelors.

That's the only downside I've come across. I'm grateful I did it at a community college. It cut an entire year off my AA.

Other than what's been already mentioned, I've tended to find that you usually get more "bang for the buck" at a CC. In my case we covered topics in critical care, hemodynamic monitoring, leadership, successful job hunting that my peeps in the workforce typically didn't touch during training. The fact that my school has both VN and RN programs had a lot to do with it; they were pretty blunt about expecting us to go on and get our RN/BSN degrees & licenses. That said, one of the local adult ed schools offer a VN program; not as extensive a curriculum, but their NCLEX pass rates are superb. Units aren't transferrable, and it's competitive to get into (have to take the TEAS test & pass with a 75% or higher to be considered) but adult schools are a good option to consider.

----- Dave.

I haven't voted yet because it depends on which pro's & con's you're weighing. You can leisurely spend 4 years of time obtaining a 2-year degree at a comm. college but I believe it's less expensive. The technical school probably requires a set duration of time (all the way thru to the end) of intense, focused study and you (probably) cannot stop and start the process at will.

Please keep us up to date as to your decision.

Before you do either, research the market for LPNs where you live, or be prepared to move. I went to nursing school at a hospital program in a community where jobs for LPNs were THRIVING, and they still are. But where I live now has very little job opportunity for LPNs. From there, I would pick whichever program is fully accredited (look into this) and has a good NCLEX pass rate (you can find this info on your state board of nursing website). Finally, if all other things are equal, choose the program that you can afford and allows you to work while you're in it. You don't want to work too much, but it's much easier on your future finances if you work even 12 hours a week while going to school.

With a national goal of 80% BSN nurses by 2020 (not going to happen), I would expect the LVN, ADN positions to decrease steadily. just sometihng to think about. make sure whatever you decide to do is transferable, it will be beneficial in the long run. Advancing toward an 8