How mych did you $pend to become a Registered Nurse?

[rn4ever?]

Just curious.....How much did you spend (tuition and school fees) to become a Registered Nurse?

[NeoNurseTX, RN]

10k total and that was w/ books, rent, car payment, groceries, etc.

[Fiona59]

I'm shocked, I had no idea it would cost so much, actually I'm shocked anyone has to pay to be a nurse. I was very fortunate as when I started my nurse training back in 1989 (in the UK) I was employed by the hospital and educated by the hospital school of nursing. As a hospital employee I was part of the ward team and was counted in the staffing numbers on most clinical placements. I was paid extra for nights, weekends etc.

Nurse training in the UK has changed since then and students are either seconded by their hospital and continue to receive their salary, or can claim a bursary up to about £7,000 per year.

Part of the problem with the fees associated with becoming a nurse is the fact that hospitals no longer run their own educational programmes. I remember the days of the nursing students being the only ones on campus with cash because of their monthly stipend paid by the hospital.

Now with it becoming a degree course everyone is broke or owe their family. My PN education cost me over $10K (that was the debt) I got a princely $1400 from the Canadian government as a bursary. It paid my childcare for two whole months.

You want to have a college/university education you pay for it.

[LETRN]

When I began nursing school in 2006 the only options in town were two private colleges and a public university with a waiting list of over 200. I chose a private college associated with a hospital in town, and my BSN cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $45K. I never envisioned myself taking out that much in loans (all federal, thank GOD), but at the time it was one of my only options. I received a good, quality education and have been blessed to have a job waiting for me in June. It is a lot of debt, but I like to see it as an investment...it makes me feel better

[linRdsNay]

I've got a $50k loan from my accelerated BSN program that I'll start repaying in about a month...and I still don't have a job yet. haha :)

[GadgetRN71, ASN, RN]

About $6000-ADN. I graduated in 2006 and worked my way through school, so tuition reimbursement covered some of it.

Ha..I forgot that I posted on this thread back in February..ooops.

[LesMonsterRN, ADN, RN]

I spent $3200 for LPN school in 1993, and roughly $13500 for my AAS, finishing this past Friday. Both amounts included books, equipment and uniforms.

[JeanettePNP, MSN, RN, NP]

Probably about $15000 in student loans--mostly to cover childcare while in the program rather than tuition.

[Intern67]

If you count the lost wages from my previous career I could have made while in nursing school, about $225,000.

Worth every penny!

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I paid nearly $20,000 to attend a private LVN/LPN program in California in 2005. While I knew that cheaper options existed, I attended this school anyway. I do not regret my decision, and this loan got paid off back in 2007.

I paid nearly $20,000 to attend a private RN program in Oklahoma between 2009 and 2010. I financed about $12,700 of the tuition with federal student loans and paid the rest off by making monthly cash payments to the school.

So, when you combine the LVN/LPN program and the RN program, I shelled out nearly $40,000 in tuition. The cost of my education amounts to more when you add up the miscellaneous stuff such as gas, meals, rent, supplies, licensing fees, parking, etc.