FREE TUITION - FREE BSN - University of Arizona

cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN · Jan 4, 2009

I pay for school, submit my grades after semester and get it reimbursed. And there is no comittment! It's fantastic! I have zero school debt and I can leave work tomorrow if I wanted to do so.

Another thing. If you take the "free" tuition and make a mistake at work, or get fired, or find out that you hate nursing.....you have to pay back the money for the school.

So you are very much so under the thumb of your employer with this program. And that is one place I'll never be!

You'll like NAU.

yelnikmcwawa · Jan 4, 2009

Oh, okay, so your current employer is paying you as you go. That's great! I know I've had employers that have offered tuition reimbursement, but for silly amounts, like $500 a year or so. :rolleyes: BUT, those were not healthcare agencies. I'd assume being an RN already, you're in a different boat! I'm not an RN, so I don't know if I'd find a job during school that would pay for my schooling. I'll proabably hope to find a job that will do some retro-active reimbursement. Who knows if that is even available. I am currently doing an internship in the county NICU, so I have toyed with the idea of seeking a job there as a patient care tech, etc. We'll see. First I have to get accepted to NAU though!!!!

cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN · Jan 4, 2009

When I was a PCT I had my ADN payed for 100% by my hospital comittment free as well.

Just look into it....a PCT/CNA is your best bet. Or unit clerk. Most hospitals will have the tuition reimbursement program.

Good luck!

yelnikmcwawa · Jan 4, 2009

I'll definately look into it. Are you going to NAU now???

aznurse08 · Jan 4, 2009

As someone who graduated from the UA program in august of 08, I can tell you, as CardiacRN2006 did, it is far from free! Thankfully, I only have a 2 year contract and not a 3-year as they are now pushing. It's not as easy as it sounds to get into the program. And you ARE under your employers' thumb. So many of my classmates came in with ideas of being the NICU-flight-nurse right out the gate and were very upset to become the med/surg nightcrew. Remember, you always start out on the bottom and work up! you will go where there are openings. 267 shifts to go....

dmskoka · Jan 20, 2009

Lol!
You're reaction proves I'm right! I have PERSONALLY worked with several of these nurses so I know what I'm talking about. No need for me to make anything up.
Oh, and I am receiving my BSN for free-and with no comittment at all! It's called tuition reimbursement. I got my ADN for free too. When I"m done with my BSN I'll see how much of my MSN I'll get for free.
Again, with no comittment. No strings. Nobody in control of where I work, what shift I work, what hospital I work, what floor I work, etc, etc.
Nope, I am in control of me--and that's the way I like it.

Hi I was interested in the free part :) How did you get your ADN free? I am figuring that when you were working with an ADN the employer paid for the BSN? I completely switched fields taking a buyout from my company to attend NS. I have to get in this summer. I have applied to accelerated Bachelor programs. Two in California and the University of ARizona. I was interested because of the fact that they pay the tuition. Hospitals in California do sometimes hire you and pay back a part of your tuition for working for them.. It is so impacted here. I have applied to 3 public schools and didn't get in/ The community colleges are lotteries or wait lists.. Tried that once. So now I am no longer working I need to get done fast and borrow money to live.. :crying2: The other schools are very expensive so I am keeping my fingers crossed for Arizona. I think it is great that you got it free!!!

dmskoka · Jan 20, 2009

Sorry I just went back and saw your earlier posts. I wish that I had been working in a hosptial b4 so I could have gotten some type of reimbursement.. Oh well.. It all works out in the end :) somehow.. ...

dmskoka · Jan 20, 2009

As someone who graduated from the UA program in august of 08, I can tell you, as CardiacRN2006 did, it is far from free! Thankfully, I only have a 2 year contract and not a 3-year as they are now pushing. It's not as easy as it sounds to get into the program. And you ARE under your employers' thumb. So many of my classmates came in with ideas of being the NICU-flight-nurse right out the gate and were very upset to become the med/surg nightcrew. Remember, you always start out on the bottom and work up! you will go where there are openings. 267 shifts to go....

Hello, I figured that was always the case - start at night med/surg. I applied to an expensive school in The San FRan Bay area and they told us that is what we will be doing.. When you say far from free are you referring to the committment or the actual money for other things besides the tuition?

rph3664 · Jan 20, 2009

This is not a new program, but again, you have to be accepted by the employer as well for a contract that lasts three years. And this is not something that many will even be willing to consider. Most are going to be interested in first offering this to their own employees first and this is exactly what has been done in the past. Just because it is posted, does not mean that all will get it. Als be aware that there are limits as to the number of students, there is never an unlimited number accepted to any of these programs. It is not going to work for all that apply for it.
Notice that it also requires that one already hold a Bachelor's degree in another field, and then they are also going to have to have completed all of the pre-reqs that are needed for this type of program.
So it is not as free as it seems.

This is quite likely a program to aid people who are pursuing second careers. MHO.

One of my pharmacy preceptors got his degree under similar circumstances; in the early 1970s, one of the University of Michigan campuses with a pharmacy school started a program where anyone with a bachelor's degree who had taken and passed all prerequisite classes was automatically admitted, regardless of GPA. He had a degree in biology and knew he didn't want to teach or go to medical school, so he chose this.

They had to discontinue it because within 2 or 3 years, they had way more applicants than they could possibly have taught with the resources they had.

BTW, it wasn't free, just easier to get in.

kirs · Jan 22, 2009

I'm in the program, and I can honestly say it's a blessing. The only cost to me is housing/food for the year, which I would have been paying for any way at any other program. It's not easy, and there have been days (weeks/months) that I thought the intensity was insane.... but not impossible. I'm a total advocate of the Accelerated program, and will probably stay with the UofA for my graduate work as well.

azhiker96, BSN, RN · Jan 24, 2009

I graduated from a similar program in Phoenix but don't feel I'm under my employer's thumb. I started in PACU. (I'd worked there as a tech while going through the nursing program.) Of my 30 classmates I know 3 that went into ICU, 3 in ED, one in OB, and 2 on Oncology floor. I also know of a couple who went to work for other hospitals and got their school debt paid by hiring bonus.

Sure, it's not for everyone but it is another option to get into nursing and it worked out well for me.

dmskoka · Jan 26, 2009

I applied to this program as well as Creighton in Nebraska, Mt.ST. Marys in Los Angeles and Samuel Merritt in Oakland Ca.. On the Univer of ARizona web site it says that you have to work for one of 4 hospitals.. If you decide to leave employment b4 3 years then you pay them back prorated. It says that you cannot pay tuition that this is it.. I was told that if I am called for an interview that you will meet the hospitals the night b4. It does sound that if you are picked then you are guaranteed a spot ...?? One of the other schools that I was accepted at does have a scholarship program with 3 hospitals. They said everyone in the class does receive an application and then it is up to the hospital if they want you. They had about 35 for a class of 40. Another school just had 3 and another school you had to have a lot of experience b4 becoming a nurse.. So far this does sound legit.... Is there anything that you have heard that contradicts this? Any help would be appreciated. I haven't been called but am waiting..