Effect on nursing tuition- taking courses online in Ontario

I think the online courses may be affected by the strike because the IT support workers belong to the same union and are on strike with the rest of the college support stafff.

Yes, good point...hard to say. I've taken courses online from the college before, and they are administered by Ontario Learn- I don't know whether they would be in that union as well?

Anyway, I guess strike aside- the question still stands. If I were able to take one, does anyone know how that might factor into tuition? I tend to suspect that it wouldn't. So in effect I'd be paying for the same course twice, which is off-putting since the Distance Ed courses run about $300 apiece. But I do like the idea of lightening my workload when/if I ever get into a nursing program.

You would likely be paying the same tuition fee. Generally, tuition is set, and the school won't reduce it for the sake of one or two courses. When I was at Ryerson, I took summer courses two years in a row. However, your course load during the year will be lighter.

Those are my thoughts too...but a girl can dream.

I think it will come down to whether the lighter course load is worth $300-$600 to me. Food for thought!

Paying the extra money was definitely worth it for me. I worked each year, and I also needed to maintain high grades because I want to go to grad school. My sanity is worth 600 bucks.

I'm not in a nursing program yet but over the past year I have taken eight university courses, some of which transfer into the program I want to get into (I did this because I want a lighter course load and maybe a better chance of getting accepted since my HS average isn't that competitive). When I decided to take this route, I didn't really think how it would affect my future nursing school tuition but if I did know for sure that I still had to pay the same tuition as everyone else, I still would have taken the courses. If I didn't, I think I would struggle from balancing school and work (and I want to do very well in school). The courses were expensive but I still feel that it was the best option for me.

Excellent replies. Being a mom of two young sons, a lighter courseload HAS to be a good thing... cost be damned!

Just takes some other perspectives sometimes, doesn't it?

Thanks all!

My son is in a similar situation but a different field of study. His course will cost $XY through the local Community College, but he's done all the academic electives. The school did tell him that they would re-evaluate his fees for the actual courses he requires to complete for the certificate.

He's just relieved he won't be taking six classes a day, only four.

It might be the same in publicly funded schools/unis/ community colleges but I don't know about the private places that have popped up all over.

Definitely take the courses! At BCIT we have a similar block tuition system, where the fee is the same regardless of the number of courses (so technically, you could take more classes, if you were crazy enough!). Many people have taken course early and thus paid extra, but it definitely works in your favour during the semester. You'll have more time for the rest of your courses, for sleep, and for other activities to keep your sanity :) can't recommend it enough!