Financing an ABSN through a concurrent MHA program. Crazy or clever?

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  1. Is completing an MHA at the same time as an ABSN a good idea?

    • 0
      Yes! I wish I would have thought of that!
    • 0
      Yes! But you are asking for a lot of work.
    • 1
      I am not certain that it's even possible.
    • 1
      No- That is a stupid idea- an MHA is a waste.
    • 1
      No- focus on becoming a nurse first.

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I am planning on attending an Accelerated BSN program next summer, after I have ingeniously spent my entire Federal Loan limit (57,500) on a Psychology degree. I will actually have just enough loan money left to take the few required courses for Nursing School, but then I will finance my nursing program with private loans. Yuck.

For the private loans, I am thinking I will need to take out a Discover Loan to pay for the cost of attendance to the Nursing Program, but I don't think that will be sufficient (and I REALLY don't want to take out any more in private loans than I have to). For this, I am thinking about doubling-down, and also doing a Master's in Healthcare Administration program.

I actually have worked in nonprofit, mostly managing people and projects for most of my career, so an MHA is a great fit for what I may eventually do in Healthcare. I also don't know enough about the Healthcare industry, and how it actually works to manage anyone, or anything, so I think an MHA would be a great way to learn about my new field.

I have also worked full time (at a 'real', people-counting-on-you, career-type job) while taking 12-17 credits, so I think I can handle the work load. I could be wrong. :)

Anyone out there heard of this type of path? Anyone one else take a similar path? Anyone hate this idea, and have a good reason for it? Any feedback would be helpful to hear. Thank you!

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Specializes in mental health / psychiatic nursing.

I think this sounds crazy and the numbers just don't work out. Yes, you could get financial aid for a master's degree, but given that financial aid is calibrated in part to the cost of the program you are attending, you aren't going to get lots of extra money from the master's program to help pay for the ABSN. Plus - why one earth would you think it is a good idea to take out loans for 2 more degrees when you already have a large amount of outstanding debt for 1 degree? you aren't going to make enough money as a nurse to pay back what could easily reach 100K+ in total loans and interest quickly.

Nor do I think any school would allow you to dual enroll in both programs. The ABSN program alone is 50+ hours a week time commitment. Most ABSN program discourage student from even working a part-time job, so I don't know how you would swing dual-enrollment in another full-time program. This just isn't a feasible idea.

If nursing is what you want to do then work toward that goal and find the affordable options to complete it, you don't want to sign away your whole life to paying off debt. Look into ASN programs as these will be the most affordable option, and will allow you to bridge on to further education later on if that is your goal. Get a job now if you don't already have one, start paying down your debt and save as much money as you can to minimize the amount of private loans you'll have to take out for nursing school.

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Why not consider a direct entry MSN program? You would qualify for graduate student loans and get your MSN and be eligible to sit the NCLEX-RN.

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