Financing

[Natalies3]

Hi everyone!

I just recently was accepted into a accelerated nursing program. I am from Oregon and am moving to Pennsylvania. One of my biggest concerns right now is being able to pay for all of this! The school itself costs about 40k and I accept the living to be on the more expensive side since it's a big city...all in all I'm expecting this to cost around 60k (AH!!).

I was just curious for people who have completed accelerated programs how they financed this? Were there any scholarships or private loans you would recommend? Were you able to hold a part-time job? I was thinking about picking up some babysitting jobs just to have a bit of extra spending money.

Any thoughts/suggestions/advice would be GREATLY appreciated!

[JustcallmeNurse]

I would try to find some people who are in the program who may be in a similar housing situation, or at least maybe some people in the traditional nursing program, and room with them to cut down on costs. If you are going to a school in Philly, areas to live in that are decent may cost you a little bit, so I would try to split that the best that I could. I don't know about your previous loan situations, but I would borrow from the Dept of Ed first before going another route. Wells Fargo has some competitive private loans for health care professionals, so you could also try looking into that.

Hope that helps some! Good luck to you!

[chuckster, ADN, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

My advice is to limit the amount of your student loan to the absolute minimum needed. Borrowing $60k for school will put you in a pretty big hole nearly immediately upon graduation - your payment will be roughly the same as that for a for a small mortgage.

I don't want to minimize the challenge involved, but you absolutely can work while in nursing school. I opted for an evening/weekend program, which may not be exactly the same course load as for an accelerated program, but should be fairly similar: Two classroom nights each week, including summers and clinicals from 0600 to 1500 every Sat and Sun for two years (mercifully, not including summers) for 24 months. Believe it or not, I worked more than full-time throughout (50+ hrs per week) and did not have any major issues. You need to do some planning to pull it off and your existence for 2 years is pretty much confined to work and school activities, but if I can pull it off, anyone can.

If you are going to work, my advice is to find a position as a patient care tech in a local hospital. Keep in mind that in PA, you are generally eligible to sit for the CNA exam after completion of your first semester in a nursing program, so that option is open to you as well. Working as a PCT or CNA is a tremendous leg up on being hired as an RN by the same facility once you've passed the NCLEX. While many PA and especially Phila-area nursing students (including me) had difficulty finding a position upon graduation, 100% of those who were already working as PCTs or CNAs were hired on as RN's by their hospitals immediately after passing the NCLEX. Something to think about.

Best of luck to you.