How much to spend on College for a BSN?

Editorial Team / Admin · Nov 26, 2015

I wouldn't take out more loans than I can make in a year as a new grad nurse. My personal opinion; others' may vary. Just because you "love the campus and program" doesn't mean it's the best program- look into things like first time NCLEX pass rate (should be available somewhere on the BON website) and see if you can talk to some nurses/managers/HR people to see what the opinion of the school is with local facilities. Some schools have a poor reputation; others have a good reputation at their clinical sites. I don't personally know anything about the program in question, but definitely do some research before committing.

BeachsideRN, ASN · Nov 26, 2015

PBAU is extremely expensive. Since you want to continue on to get your DNP you don't want to tap out your loans. Check FAU.

Disclaimer- I chose a school in my first degree for the atmosphere (Miami) I am still paying for it.

Honey Clover · Nov 26, 2015

If there is a less expensive option, go for that instead. But if you think you can fund yourself by working to meet the 11k-13k, go for it. It'll be hard though, working and going to school at same time but many people have done it before. But always think less debt = better. Less debt is always better.

Apple2020 · Nov 26, 2015

Rose_Queen,

Thanks for your input! :) Their NCLEX pass rate is, I believe, 96%. When we went on the tour, they claimed that the local hospitals typically hire PBA graduates right away, some even make agreements before graduation. I sadly didn't have a chance to interview actual graduates and see if that was true or not. Do you consider being guaranteed a seat in a nursing program worth anything or not really?

If the general opinion is that its not that valuable, I am probably leaning towards going to a state school where I live (TN) where I could attend with scholarships and savings for little to no money).

Apple2020 · Nov 26, 2015

OnOn2RN,

Thanks for your input! :) I definitely agree with you, the school is expensive and I'm not sure I want to spend that kind of money. The way I see it, if I went to a state school and paid little to no money, I could end up saving close to $45,000. Thats alot of money I could have saved for grad school or bought a car with! I will certainly check out the college your mentioned. I appreciate you posting!

Apple2020 · Nov 26, 2015

Honey Clover, CNA, thanks for your input! :) I am definitely considering going to a state school for my first 4 years especially since I could go for little to no money. I certainly don't want to work too much in school as I would rather focus on studying.

Do you consider having a guaranteed seat in a nursing program worth any value? My only fear with going to a state school is that after the first two years, I have to take an exam (HESI or TEAS depending on the school?) and I may have to move to a different college if I am not accepted at the school I will attend for pre-reqs. Is this something to consider or am I just being a worry wart? lol

ThatBigGuy · Nov 26, 2015

You're looking at $44k-$52k for your BSN. This isn't a terrible figure, if you consider the standard "don't take out more loans than you can reasonably expect to earn in your first year as an RN" rule. Salary.com shows a median RN income to be ~$67K in West Palm Beach, and $62K overall in Florida. A first year new grad will make less than that, probably in the $55k range.

Long term, you may run into trouble with the combined total cost of your BSN with your DNP. Considering the cost of the DNP program at PBAU is $58K, you'll have a total of $110,000 dollars. If you repay that over 10 years, you'll have a monthly payment of $1200 and will pay another $40k in interest. That's $150k total for your combined degrees.

You can offset this by working while in nursing school (it's tough, but not as impossible as many may lead you to believe), then working a few years as an RN to knock out as much of the student loans as you can before gaining your DNP. You can make $1000 a month by delivering pizzas part time. That's $12k a year, which would knock out a huge portion of your BSN costs. You could work extra in the summers, and bring that $12k up closer to $15k. You could almost pay for your BSN outright.

You could easily talk yourself into lots of student loans based on the fact that an NP in Florida makes about $100k a year. However, you'll still be writing a check every month until your mid 30's or longer. That's a really long time to owe money to someone. I would strongly encourage you to work during your BSN to offset those costs, then work and save as an RN to help lower your DNP costs.

WCSU1987 · Nov 27, 2015

On average nurses up here make about $50K to start without OT and a BSN cost about $40K average in my state

Apple2020 · Nov 30, 2015

ThatBigGuy, Thanks for your input!:) those are all very good points to think about. I had no idea that I could earn that much as a pizza guy, pretty cool! haha but yeah I think the answers I've gotten have certainly made me consider going to a cheaper state schoolf or my first 4 years

Apple2020 · Nov 30, 2015

CSU1987, thanks for your input! :)

floatingribs · Nov 30, 2015

I'm a freshman at a state school and before academic scholarships my tuition is around $14k. I actually got accepted to NYU, but compared to a state school that was already in the top 10% a $60k tuition for the same degree was ridiculous. Especially with the nursing the demand is really high so as long as your're in a program that has a decently high avg NCLEX score a private vs public uni shouldn't matter. At the end of the day as long as you get your BSN and pass the NCLEX you have the same degree and at the moment nursing is a field that's hiring quite a lot of people so it shouldn't affect much of anything.

Also I got a a school job working in the computer labs and it works around my school schedule and it helps with cash but isn't too overbearing at all.