How on earth do you pay for NYU's ABSN program?

missmollie, ADN, BSN, RN · Dec 16, 2014

70,000 is a lot of money for a degree in nursing. Regardless of whether someone goes to a community college or NYU, the only way that they work is by passing the NCLEX. The NCLEX doesn't change based on what school you went to.

I could not imagine the stress of having to pass the courses and the financial ruin for those who fail out. That is horrifying.

To answer your question, if you have never taken out student loans, then you need to fill out a FAFSA and get that ball rolling. You should easily receive money for school, though I'm unsure of how much you'll be awarded. Be aware that financial aid will stop when you hit a certain amount of credit hours, regardless of whether you've had a financial aid loan before or not.

May want to look at grants and scholarships as well. I would also seriously consider what you will do if you do not receive all the money that you need. A great student can succeed anywhere. Keep that in mind.

Medic6758 · Dec 16, 2014

Part of the reason tuition is so high has to do with the cost of room & board; if you live in the outer boroughs and have roommates the tuition will drop significantly.

nyc1990 · Dec 17, 2014

I plan to live in an outer borough and have roommates. I was under the impression that the figure $70,000 didn't include room and board and $70,000 was the estimate for tuition ONLY? I hope you're right. did you go to NYU?

kimmy20 · Dec 17, 2014

From my knowledge (and correct me if I'm wrong), once you obtain a degree like a bachelor's in another major you are no longer qualified for FAFSA or if you are you would get little to no financial aid. I was in my undergrad in college and 2 classes away from graduating with a kinesiology degree but my advisor told me if I plan on going to nursing school and obtaining a BSN that it might not be financially wise to graduate with another degree because FAFSA would not support a second degree and I would end up in debt. So I think in your case with obtaining a 2nd degree you wouldn't be qualified for FAFSA or financial aid so you would probably need to take out loans and apply for scholarships.

Medic6758 · Dec 17, 2014

I am a retired NYC paramedic and for many years I would bring patients to NYU medical center, so I knew quite a number of nurses that worked there, anyhow, I just asked a friend who graduated the college of nursing in 2011 and was told the tuition was roughly $1100 per credit hour including all those pesky fees. I am sorry if I got your hopes up. On the upside, the hospital tends to hire many of the students who rotate through there.

strawberryluv, BSN, RN · Dec 17, 2014

If its $70,000 and you're a NYC nurse then most likely, you will be making more than $70,000 just because the cost of living there is high so wages will be high. You would be able to pay back some of them relatively quickly.

Now, if you were paying $70,000 and working in a state where the nurse pay is low like Alabama then that would make no flippin' sense.

nyc1990 · Dec 17, 2014

To Missmollie: Thanks for your response! I agree that a great student can succeed anywhere but I would love to be in New York City (any of the boroughs, really). Hunter would be awesome, so would Lehman or SUNY downstate but I'm already out of the running for Hunter because of certain VERY particular requirements that they have, Lehman also has a hefty load of prerequisites that would take me another year to finish and I'm ready to start ASAP (also, the Bronx isn't my ideal location, to be honest), and downstate would actually be my first choice if I didn't decide to go to nursing school so last minute (I missed the deadline so I'd have to wait another year to go) because the tuition is much cheaper and their NCLEX pass rates are high. Pace is basically just ask expensive as NYU and possibly harder to get into, I believe and Long Island University (Brooklyn campus) is close to $60,000. Also, for the state schools I would still pay out of state tuition.

SO NYU is pretty attractive to me because they allow you to finish certain prerequisites after you've been accepted. My plan is to look into grants and loans and scholarships I just didn't know where to start so I was hoping for some guidance. As for FAFSA, NYU said that I would fill out those forms in my application. I also went to FAFSA's website and they don't have an option for a 2015-2016 school year. In reference to you mentioning funds will run out after a certain amount of credits, I believe the BSN is 60 credits...would this most likely exceed funds?

nyc1990 · Dec 17, 2014

To Kimmy20: Thank you! I'll check on that, too. It's odd that the admissions counselor would tell me that FAFSA forms are included in the 2nd degree program's application if 2nd degrees will disqualify you- but that is something I will definitely look into. And I hope I qualify for ANY scholarships...my overall undergrad GPA is only 3.1 but the prerequisites that I've finished so far is a 3.9. I have quite a bit of volunteer work in non-medical settings. I have no clue what qualifies one for scholarships.

nyc1990 · Dec 17, 2014

If its $70,000 and you're a NYC nurse then most likely, you will be making more than $70,000 just because the cost of living there is high so wages will be high. You would be able to pay back some of them relatively quickly.
Now, if you were paying $70,000 and working in a state where the nurse pay is low like Alabama then that would make no flippin' sense.

If I attend NYU...I will accrue (at least) $70,000 of debt, not even factoring in interest . I would then like to work in NYC for a year or two before going home to Louisiana. Even though NYC nurses make, on average, $77,000 a year the cost of living is so high that I don't know if I would be able to pay off loans much faster than if I was working in say, Louisiana where my rent is $500 a month...It all evens out pretty much. So regardless, $70,000 is a lot of debt, I believe. I just hope I qualify for some scholarships.

edmia, BSN, RN · Dec 17, 2014

Wow! That is a lot of money for just a BSN. And living in the city is really expensive unless you go out about 40 minutes on subway. Is this your end degree? If BSN is as far as you want to go then maybe it's worth it, but, honestly I don't think NYU is that good a program. I know a couple of people who did the accelerated there and they were not that happy with it. It's not a bad program, it's just not what $70,000 should get you.

Maybe not the feedback you're looking for but I feel a responsibility to warn you about getting into that much debt. Especially with how tight the new grad market is in NYC, even with a BSN.

Good luck with whatever you decide but be sure it's really worth it.

Sent from my iPhone -- blame all errors on spellcheck

zzbxdo · Dec 17, 2014

70,000 is a lot of money for a degree in nursing. Regardless of whether someone goes to a community college or NYU, the only way that they work is by passing the NCLEX. The NCLEX doesn't change based on what school you went to.
I could not imagine the stress of having to pass the courses and the financial ruin for those who fail out. That is horrifying.
To answer your question, if you have never taken out student loans, then you need to fill out a FAFSA and get that ball rolling. You should easily receive money for school, though I'm unsure of how much you'll be awarded. Be aware that financial aid will stop when you hit a certain amount of credit hours, regardless of whether you've had a financial aid loan before or not.
May want to look at grants and scholarships as well. I would also seriously consider what you will do if you do not receive all the money that you need. A great student can succeed anywhere. Keep that in mind.

If its $70,000 and you're a NYC nurse then most likely, you will be making more than $70,000 just because the cost of living there is high so wages will be high. You would be able to pay back some of them relatively quickly.
Now, if you were paying $70,000 and working in a state where the nurse pay is low like Alabama then that would make no flippin' sense.

Sorry but no matter where you work you aren't going to be able to pay off 70k relatively quickly.

As stated above, a BSN is a BSN. Your end result will be the same, you're choosing to be in debt for location and title. You can always go to school elsewhere and find a job in the city after you graduate, but that 70k+ title on your head isn't going to guarantee you work. 70k also might be chump change to a spouse of a high up executive, but its also enough for down payments on 2 homes in your home state.