I would Love to go to Chamberlain College but...

[Lucyanna304]

I have recently made the decision to go back to school for nursing. I initially went to school for health information and graduated with my associates and got a job as a medical coder at a hospital a year ago. While I do like what I do I just always thought that nursing was my passion but unfortunately at the time I wasn't able to go because that would've required a lot of my time and I just had had my son and didn't have no one to watch him while I went to school so I just decided it might be better for me to go to school online. I went to DeVry university and I did enjoy it however, DeVry is pretty expensive as you probably already know. Now that my son is a bit older and I live closer to my parents they have agreed to watch him while I go to school. I really want to go to Chamberlain school of nursing because I've heard and read so many great things about the school and I wanna get my bachelors without having to go through all the hoopla of getting into the nursing program. But I know that Chamberlain is also a very expensive school and while I would be fulfilling my dream on becoming a nurse I wouldn't want to be in so much debt to get to where I wanna be. I wouldn't want to finish school and get a great job just to be paying off a large amount of debt but at the same time I don't wanna have to wait who knows how long to get into a nursing program.

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

Your choices are:

Wait a couple years for a more affordable program

OR

Go to Chamberlain and spend the next 10-20 years under a crushing load of debt. Student loan debt impacts where you can afford to live, if you can afford to vacation, what you can afford to drive for DECADES.

Waiting for an affordable program looks like the better option to me.

[JBMmom, MSN, NP]

I don't know the actual cost of Chamberlain, but I know a nurse that just finished at $54K RN program and she's making about $27/hr now. That's going to be really hard to pay off at that rate if she has ANY other expenses- like food and housing.

Are there community colleges in your area? I see so many posts from people that want to start NOW, but in the grand scheme of things, delaying your schooling by a couple years to save tens of thousands of dollars in debt means you'll be making much more money when you do start working as a nurse. It's like giving yourself a raise before you even start.

[Lucyanna304]

I really do understand that I may have to really bite the bullet and go to a traditional nursing program. I wouldn't want to regret putting myself into so much debt down the line especially since I already attended an expensive school (DeVry). I really wish that I could go to chamberlain but the cost is so ridiculous! I'm just going to stick with my original plan and go for a traditional program.