Is $85k worth it for BSN program with no guarantee acceptance?

[nhayes1984]

Hello,

I have found a program that’s willing to accept some credits from a previous school (most places won’t accept them-but that’s another story). You are required to finish their prerequisites then apply for nursing portion of the progeam...so it’s not guaranteed. I’d be spending $85k on tuition. I’m 34 years old without a career after years of being a stay at home mom. Now I’m a single mom. Other option...was thinking to spend about 10-15k on getting my bachelors degree then applying for accelerated bsn through cheaper schools or applying for physician assistant schools (not nearly as many and harder to get accepted....).

Any advice would be wonderful and greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

NH

[Wuzzie]

Good god no! Can you not get into a community college and do the ADN to BSN route? That way you can work while getting your bachelors.

[nhayes1984]

Thanks for your response. I technically could...but it will take me far longer to finish and have that bsn...I’d really like to go on to NP too.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

A longer pathway with less expenses can still be the way to go. When you are in NP school are you going to want to be carrying a full class load while also working full time or more to pay on that $85,000 loan? A good rule of thumb is to never spend more on a program/take out loans for more than you can reasonably expect to make in a year. There are very few locations where a nurse will make $85,000 at entry to the profession, and those where that does happen have a much higher cost of living that pretty much negates the increased pay.

[Wuzzie]

It will take you even longer to pay off that debt that will end up being way more with interest added. You’ll be financially sunk. Go to community college. Seriously.

[nhayes1984]

Rose and wuzzie- you guys are absolutely right. That would be a miserable monthly payment??‍♀️...thank you! ?

[Swellz]

I had a different dilemma but it boiled down to the same thing - expensive BSN vs CC ADN. I chose the former, and I advocate that everyone does the latter. It just doesn't make any financial sense to not go the slower route and have less debt. It's all water under the bridge as my debts are paid off, but I really wish I had understood what I was signing on for when I undertook all that debt.

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

Please do not take on all of that debt. You will be paying it back for many years, working yourself into exhaustion, trying to raise children while working and going to school. You are on a difficult path. Please try to take it more slowly and don't shortchange your kids or yourself. What support system do you have? Your ex? siblings? parents? friends? other? You are going to need help to not shortchange your children. Best wishes.

[KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN]

No. Absolutely NO.

Furthermore, getting some kind of Bachelor's and converting it to nursing BSN when you have no previous career and no money is just a sure way to burn your loan $$$$$.

$85 grands is above the cost of typical midrange "all-inclusive" direct MSN, for which you might not need any prerequisites at all and from where you can start making those $85 grands a year or about it as an NP in urgent care.

For PA, you'll need some sort of strong prerequisite and very good academic base, or you won't survive the program.

You also can find an accelerated BSN, or go to community college and get ADN for less than $10000 typically, then work things up while working and earning money.

[Jedrnurse, BSN, RN]

I'll go ahead and say it- you can go with the expensive program, but there's no guarantee you'll graduate, and after that, no guarantee of passing the boards. It's a little too soon to be predicating decisions on your future as an NP when you haven't even started nursing school.

Go the less expensive route...

[CharleeFoxtrot, BSN, RN]

17 hours ago, Rose_Queen said:

...A good rule of thumb is to never spend more on a program/take out loans for more than you can reasonably expect to make in a year.

This needs to be engraved very deeply on a large rock, well lit with arrows pointing to it and placed prominently near the doors of each and every place of higher education.

What people also forget is that as your student loans mature, the monthly repayment goes way up as it anticipates your earning potential will rise as the years go by. Of course, this is not always the case.

[KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN]

5 hours ago, CharleeFoxtrot said:

This needs to be engraved very deeply on a large rock, well lit with arrows pointing to it and placed prominently near the doors of each and every place of higher education.

And every student who is about to suddenly change his or her mind and get out of some mundane and down-to-the-Earth professional course for "discovering yourself" into something like Bachelor's in History of the World cinematography, must be made standing to face the rock and read the aforementioned 10000 times, aloud and on public.