Is getting a BSN worth the insane amount of money?

Sanuk · Oct 28, 2011

Is this a private university? I personally wouldn't pay 22k a year for college period. My MSN program is only about 6k a year at a public university - are there any state schools you could go to?

bkingren1031 · Oct 28, 2011

Yes that is private and only the one I could even fathom to get into around.. I could apply for the state community college but that is for the ADN and I would unfortantey have to wait a whole another year to get in.

grantz · Oct 28, 2011

Hi all,
I've seen a lot of debate in this question and I'm looking for some guidance.
I live on Long Island and have finished all of my pre-requisites. I just applied for a BSN program for the fall of 2012, but the tuition is about 22k a year, and it will take me about 3 years to complete.(thats 68k a year, on top of all my other loans I have out). In another aspect, I can try for a far more competivie 2 year nursing program for an extreme fraction of the price (about 4k a year for 2 years).
Should I pursue the BSN anyway? I hear now-days the BSN's have a big leading edge in getting jobs over the ADNs but how much truth is there to this?
I'm just nervous that if I go for my BSN and take out all these loans, i'll owe so much money and will have a hard time paying it back. Is it worth it!?
Any Answer is Good!!! Thank you!

yes go for it. price doesn't matter as long as you will learn the same amount or more than what is expected. Maybe that private university is well known that why they are that expensive.

Well its a plus when you apply for a job because some employers rely on the school where you finished your BSN..

lrobinson5 · Oct 28, 2011

In the news section there is a discussion about New York trying to become the first state to require a BSN to practice. You may be grandfathered in... but really if everyone else has a BSN and you are trying to be competitive, it might be very worth your while to get the degree if you are planning to stay in the state.

gamecock_24 · Oct 28, 2011

Hey, I don't know if I would attend the school if I had to pay $22,000 a year. I originally attended a private university when I first graduated high school, but I had all of my tuition covered through scholarships except for a $1000. It really is up to you, but I would be asking what type of financial aid are they going to offer? Are they going to offer scholarships or grants so that you don't have to take out so much money in loans? These are the questions I would be asking.

Also what state are you in? Are there any other public 4-year universities that you can look into? It sounds like you would like to get your BSN, I would look into the public universities if they are available to see what they require for admission to the nursing program. Also, you say that it will take 3 years at the private university to complete the nursing program, does that include pre-reqs? The reason I ask is because it is only 2 years at the university I will be attending to complete my BSN. If so, I would complete the pre-reqs at the local CC to save money.

Good luck in your decision. :)

latka6 · Oct 29, 2011

I would get your adn rn and then have your employer help pay for RN-BSN. Much smarter IMO.

Skips, MSN, RN · Oct 29, 2011

That's quite a bit of money. You should try for the cheaper option, and the more expensive option. If you do not get accepted into the cheaper option, maybe you could figure out some ways to afford the private college. If not, keep trying! 22K is a lot of money per year for any college.

AaronsMommyxx · Oct 30, 2011

I would say try to get into the cheaper, more competitive school. If it's really that competitive, future employers will know that & it will look really good on your resume!

mangopeach · Oct 30, 2011

I think in your state at this point, having a BSN will be to your advantage. HOWEVER, I would not pay that amount of money for a nursing degree. Nope. No Sir. If I could not get into a cheaper 4 year university, I would do the ADN program and then do RN - BSN bridge. No way I am paying that much for a nursing degree and saddle myself with that amount of debt.

Thujone · Oct 30, 2011

You could always get your Associates and then bridge to a BSN on-line. Most of the nursing graduates where I live start off with an Associates Degree and then bridge on-line, it has worked out fairly well for them. Granted you may not get your dream job right off the bat, but you could be working toward that mandatory one year experience requirement that most hospitals want.

DennRN · Oct 30, 2011

Having gone straight for the BSN at a private university, I can tell you that in most cases the 20K+ usually ends up being substantially lower after you factor in scholarships and grants.

Have you talked to any admissions counselors? Private universities tend to have things like transfer scholarships and similar things to draw in more students to pad their numbers.

If you consider that your time is worth the average salary you can be earning, than saving some time going directly for a BSN may make more sense for you considering the 2 years it takes to complete a BSN with all prereqs taken care of vs. the similar 1.5-2 years for the ADN + the additional cost and time needed for the BSN bridge.

Of course you have to weigh that against being able to work while doing a BSN completion. All in all, I would agree that you should apply everywhere and see where you stand once you have all the admissions paperwork in hand.

I know it's a tough decision, but you know your situation and priorities best. Think about what tradeoffs you are willing and unwilling to make, what setting you want to work in, what advantages you will get by going a particular route, and what your 4-5 year goals are. Going either route you will most likely end up in the same place but the scenery you pass along the way will be very different.

Good Luck,

-Dennis