FNP online schools

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Hello Nurses!!!!

HELPPPPPPPP!!!

I am in desperate need of guidance. I'm a single mom of a 4 year old. I work full time as a nurse. Got accepted at FIU for Informatics but not sure if going for as I heard is very hard to get a job after graduation. I'm now looking for an online FNP program. Im hearing a lot bad reviews about South University, but had people telling me to go there or Simmons, Frontier, Walden, Chamberlain. So Im looking for more infer from those how attended and is attending one of those schools or any other school. I'm open to suggestions ,so which one did you go to and why? How long is the program? Cost? Any in campus visit(s)? Any problems getting a job after graduating?

Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.

Frontier is known as being the first school to offer an NP program in the country. Simmons has a good reputation, and they locate preceptors for you (tuition is a bit pricey, though). The other schools are for-profit proprietary schools. I'd be very wary of going to them, as they churn out new grads every 8 weeks and will take anyone with a pulse and a promissory note.

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.
Frontier is known as being the first school to offer an NP program in the country. Simmons has a good reputation, and they locate preceptors for you (tuition is a bit pricey, though). The other schools are for-profit proprietary schools. I'd be very wary of going to them, as they churn out new grads every 8 weeks and will take anyone with a pulse and a promissory note.

Love this! (And OP- it is TRUE)

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I will be starting the FNP program this fall at Frontier. I chose this school because I know some alumni who highly recommended the program and also because their mission is to prepare practitioners to work with rural and underserved women and families which aligns with my career goals. The program is 2 years full time and 3 years part time. The cost is about $36,000 which is another reason why I chose Frontier. The tuition is very reasonable and it's a highly respected school. You are required to attend campus twice. Once before you start classes as an orientation to the school and faculty and to learn how to be a successful distance learner and once before starting your clinicals to practice physical assessments, procedures, and do simulations to make sure you're prepared for clinicals. Let me know if you have any other questions and I encourage you to check their website out for more information. I've heard nothing but good things about this program! Also I would recommend staying away from for profit schools if you are able to. They can be expensive, the course work sometimes doesn't adequately prepare students for practice upon graduation, and I have started to see some employers in my state specifically saying they won't hire graduates from for profit schools as the level of preparation of graduates from for profit schools is very inconsistent.

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I'm just starting to look at the various online programs available. A little overwhelming to say the least. Pricing and program duration can vary wildly. Any feedback on anyone who has selected a program and why is greatly appreciated!

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Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.
I'm just starting to look at the various online programs available. A little overwhelming to say the least. Pricing and program duration can vary wildly. Any feedback on anyone who has selected a program and why is greatly appreciated!

I selected University of South Alabama because:

-- It's a brick & mortar state school

-- They had a dual ACNP/FNP program (matches my career goals)

-- They have reasonable tuition

-- Two required campus visits to prepare for clinicals

-- Dual track has over 1,000 clinical hours

If you're not interested in the dual track, they have several: FNP, ACNP, AGNP, PNP, NNP, PMHNP, WHNP

They have both full-time & part-time options. If you do the BSN to DNP program, they award the MSN first, so you're able to sit for certification exams and work as an NP while you're finishing the DNP. If you're only doing the MSN program, they still have you take 600-level courses, so you can transition to the DNP if you change your mind later and wish to finish the terminal degree.

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I'm just starting to look at the various online programs available. A little overwhelming to say the least. Pricing and program duration can vary wildly. Any feedback on anyone who has selected a program and why is greatly appreciated!

In narrowing down my options it was helpful to have in mind what I absolutely wanted in a program like at the very least 600 hours of clinicals, at least one trip to campus to verify skills competencies, MSN only vs DNP, price less than $40,000, flexible start date, etc. and things I absolutely didn't want like for profit program, a non accreditated program, etc. Keep in mind when looking at online programs that not every program is authorized for the state you reside in so that eliminates many schools very quickly and narrows down your options. If a school wasn't authorized in my state of Minnesota then I didn't even bother looking at them further. Some schools I considered were Frontier, University of South Alabama, University of Alabama Birmingham, and Allen College, but I got into my top choice which was Frontier so I didn't have to apply to the others!

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Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.

Be realistic about the time you are going to have per week to invest in your studies. Unless you either stop working or have full-time support for yourself and your child, it's going to be very difficult. Most programs will require 10+ class hours per week plus 24-32 clinical hours per week. Add on to that at least another 20+ hours of self-study and outside-classroom work.

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