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

[nyc1990]

Hey everyone,

I'm applying to NYU's accelerated second degree nursing program to attend in the fall 2015. It would be a dream come true to live in NYC and go to NYU (I may be silly to be so attracted to the prestige of the name, but out of all of the accelerated programs in NYC, this one has the most positive feedback from students, by FAR- other than Hunter of course which is nearly impossible to get into).

However, I am petrified of the price tag. I have never taken out student loans or applied for a scholarship, etc. in my entire scholastic career and don't have a penny of debt to my name. So, from what I understand, NYU (tuition alone for the 15 months) will run me about $70,000.

My question is: how did/do NYU nursing students pay for this? Private loans? If so from who and how much do you get? Scholarships/grants? If you receive any of these things how much money (sorry for the bluntness) do you receive and how hard is it to qualify? And lastly, do you really think we will be paying off these student loans (supposing I don't get any scholarship money) until we retire? Please help! I'm getting discouraged. This is a huge investment.

[Chief.Diego.Diaz]

NYU is quite expensive, usually for Medical school they pay about $81k a year... you are not too far off!

[lindarn]

I would not spend $70,000 on an accelerated BSN. Have you calculated how long it will take you to pay it back? Especially, since having a BSN will give you only pennies on the dollar, if even that much.

Go for the cheapest program that you can get into. The name of NYU is not worth it. Especially when they come after you to pay back the loans.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN (ret)

Somewhere in the PACNW

[HopefulSRNA1234]

I think the tuition is more around 90k-100k (22k per semester, 4 semesters, plus fees and other costs: http://www.nyu.edu/bursar/tuition.fees/rate13/ugnurse.html). Also, living in NYC is very expensive. You'll walk out of school with loans more than the cost of a house in many states. You'll walk out with probably 120-130k in debt, assuming you won't be paying any up front. I think they give scholarships and most people get around 20-30 but that still brings you around 100. For a 100k loan, you'd be paying about $1000 a month minimum for 10 years to pay it off. Whew! That's a lot and for a long time!

In my opinion, the NYU name isn't really that prestigious. NYU's nursing program is actually known to be less competitive to get into than state/schools so I think that's taken a lot of the prestige away from it. Also, in my experience, NYU grads don't have an easier time getting a job. And once we all get jobs, everyone is paid the same.

You have to decide what's right for you but the best things about NYU are the location and that it is easier to get into. If that is worth 130k, then it may be right for you.

[akanini, MSN, RN]

Coming from a New Yorker here, it's totally not worth it. You can find another accelerated program for way less money. Honestly, employers don't care where you got the BSN from. That's just what I've noticed living here in NY all my life.