Cost vs realistic job prospects

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Jan 28, 2016

What area of the country is the school/you are located?

llg, PhD, RN · Jan 28, 2016

A lot depends on the particular schools and hospitals involved. If your public university BSN is a respected program -- it is most likely good enough for 95% of the jobs in your region. There may be a few advantages to the prestigious school, but probably not enough to justify spending that much more.

A student who performs well at a respected university will be OK -- even if the school is not in the top 10 in the nation. Your daughter may not get her 1st choice job immediately after graduation no matter which school she goes to. No school can guarantee that. Like everyone else, she'll need to be prepared for the possibility that her career path may include a few twists and turns along her road to her dream job -- just like everyone else -- regardless of the school she chooses.

However ... all my comments are based on the assumption that your local state university is a reputable school.

roser13, ASN, RN · Jan 28, 2016

"Others say she will have no trouble finding a job anywhere, even with a public university BSN."

Depending upon your location, this may well be 100% wrong. There might be some truth to this if you happen to live in a few areas of the country that truly lack RN's, but for the most part there is no nursing shortage as the media and for-profit nursing schools would have you believe.

Look at some posts here. New grads are going months, sometimes years, without that first job. Others are having to relocate in order to find employment.

AJJKRN · Jan 28, 2016

No nursing job will be guaranteed until she gets it in writing. We can give our opinions on our experiences but the trends in your area (or her job search area) may trump them.

I'm of the camp that agrees to save money with focusing more on appropriate accreditation and NCLEX pass rates. In my area, I went to a highly sought after community college ASN program that is fully accredited and boasts a 99-100% NCLEX pass rate with each graduating class and graduated with $10,000 in loans with getting tuition assistance from my employer (Level I Trauma Center, Magnet, the place everyone wants to work yadda yadda) to attend an RN to BSN program for a total of $20,000 in student loans.

It is also worth it to say that my employer prefers new grads from my ASN community college still vs the big name state university program located in the same town not 10 miles up the road that generally has an NCLEX pass rate of approximately 85% and most students graduate with about $80,000+ in student loans BUT with a BSN. With the BSN trend, my employer currently just expects new hires now to obtain their BSN within 5 years but this was not a requirement previously until about two years ago.

This is my experience in my area and as the saying goes, your mileage may vary. Good luck!

Not_A_Hat_Person, RN · Jan 28, 2016

I attended nursing school in Boston, where competition for new grad jobs is brutal and school connections matter a great deal. An affordable degree isn't worth much if it won't help you find a job. Yes, nothing is guaranteed, but school reputation and alumni networks can be extremely helpful in the job search.

Whatever your daughter decides, she should be willing to move anywhere for her first job.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jan 28, 2016

Non-nurses need to realize that nursing is nothing like law or business. A nurse can carve out a successful career after having attended an unknown community college, trade school or regional state university. The expensive, prestigious nursing program is unnecessary in most cases.

On the other hand, lawyers and MBAs frequently struggle in the job market if a prestigious top 25 school is not listed on their resumes.

Paticake35 · Jan 28, 2016

Wow! Thank you for all your swift replies! The local schools she applied to all have good reputations. The private school is Emory. Her undergrad degree is from a great school and she will have a 3.5 upon graduation, but I don't know if hospitals look at the first bachelor's degree. We are in Chicago but she is definitely willing to travel to her first job when the time comes. I just hate to see a huge loan hanging over her head if it isn't necessary.

AJJKRN · Jan 28, 2016

Wow! Thank you for all your swift replies! The local schools she applied to all have good reputations. The private school is Emory. Her undergrad degree is from a great school and she will have a 3.5 upon graduation, but I don't know if hospitals look at the first bachelor's degree. We are in Chicago but she is definitely willing to travel to her first job when the time comes. I just hate to see a huge loan hanging over her head if it isn't necessary.

Unfortunately, most prospective employers will not look at any education that is not nursing based when considering hiring a new graduate nurse. It's just one of the quirks of nursing. A previous bachelors can broaden those school options though if you haven't looked at accelerated BSN options. I think the price tag ranges quite considerably for these programs though.

xoemmylouox, ASN, RN · Jan 28, 2016

In some areas it doesn't matter where you went to school, you may have a hard time finding a job as a new grad. It does seem like that is not as bad as it was a year ago, but some areas are still tough. Regardless I would find it hard to believe many employers would be favorable of one good school over another, at least not enough to justify the cost of attending a high price school.

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Jan 29, 2016

IMO, a lot depends on the area's job market. A region oversatured with nursing programs and thus new grads means that a lot of those grads won't be getting their desired job or even a job at all.

Reputation does matter but not as much as you think. Provided the school isn't unaccredited or a total train wreck, it won't make a lot of difference to the hospital where the new grad attended nursing school. Again, this can also depend on the region.

A lot of facilities prefer to hire internally, so new grads who are already employees frequently--but not always--get preference in hiring no matter what school they attended. So what may help your daughter more than the school name listed on her resume is for her to get a part-time job as a CNA/tech at a hospital while in nursing school, as long as her academic performance doesn't suffer.

Best of luck to her!

loriangel14, RN · Jan 29, 2016

No one is guaranteed a job after graduation. It doesn't matter where she went.