Is spending $80,000 on a private ABSN school a waste

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assuming that is the money I worked and saved for.

Specializes in ICU, Neuroscience, Telemetry, Med/Surg.

^^THIS. I completely agree with the above poster; it is not a waste, but not necessarily good value. However, I still think that you need to do what's best for you. If this is the option that makes sense for you at the moment, I think this is what you should do. We all have our own paths and one needs to do what's best for them, regardless of what others may feel about it. Best of luck!

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For what it's worth, I did community college (ASN), western governors (BSN) and western governors (MSN). I did all three for probably around $20,000. And the whole thing took me about 3.5 years. No one ever asked me about my GPA, questioned where I got my degrees, or raised an eyebrow that I did a BSN and MSN in a year (for both). The only thing most employers care about is that you passed the NCLEX.

However, if it is a non-accredited school, you may have difficulty getting a job (some places require a degree from an accredited school). Similarly, you may have trouble getting into graduate school with a degree from an unaccredited school. Some people (including some in hiring positions) look down on people who go to for-profit schools (but it depends on the person, the school, and the job). Frankly, excellent nurses can be horrible students and fantastic students can be awful nurses. Your recommendations probably carry more weight than your grades.

You didn't say whether this absn was non-profit or for profit, public or private. So this info may or may not be useful. At a minimum, see if you can transfer in the non-nursing courses and take those at a community college. That may help bring down the cost.

But you better be darn sure that nursing is the career for you. There are far too many posts on this board from people who spent insane amounts and now are trapped in a job they hate because of the loans. Nursing is nothing like you expect. Even for those who work in health care, I don't think most have an accurate idea of what bedside nursing entails. At least I didn't.

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Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
Hppy,

Please clarify: You state that the average tuition for a Bachelor's Degree in the US is $110K - $250K. By any chance, do you mean the total cost of attendance at a private US college? I believe you may be mixing apples and oranges.

My daughter is attending a private university. On paper, the yearly cost of attendance at VEU (Very Expensive University) is $65K, falling in the upper range of your quote above. Tuition amounts to $45K. The other $20K is mostly housing, meal plan, travel, and some other optional charges such as supplemental student health insurance. I suppose someone there may actually be paying $65K, but I highly doubt that accounts for many students, as virtually everyone there receives financial assistance of some sort that doesn't have to be repaid (grants, scholarships, work-study, etc.). Expenses not covered by these means are paid out of pocket or financed by loans. With the savings we already have in place, Dear Daughter will graduate without debt.

She considered a state university in our home state, with much lower tuition, housing and fees, which would have actually cost her MORE out of pocket than she is paying at VEU, because she was not offered any significant financial assistance there.

So while I applaud your early research and fully support any student's efforts to graduate without debt, please don't be put off by sticker price tags. If your child is genuinely interested in a particular school, I highly recommend establishing a relationship early on with the recruitment office and learning what kind of financial assistance is available. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Sure - my son is planning to go out of state which increases our cost. Even at 45K per year plus books and miscellaneous expenses that comes to 180K which is roughly in the mid range of what I stated. Thankfully the man cub is an exceptionally gifted athlete so we may attract some scholarship funds. I have attached one of the basic sources I used to back up my statements.

What's the Price Tag for a College Education? - COLLEGEdata - Pay Your Way

Hppy

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Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
Hppy,

So while I applaud your early research and fully support any student's efforts to graduate without debt, please don't be put off by sticker price tags. If your child is genuinely interested in a particular school, I highly recommend establishing a relationship early on with the recruitment office and learning what kind of financial assistance is available. You may be pleasantly surprised.

actually I'm not having sticker shock - My husband an I are fortunate to have jobs and savings that will allow my son to go to almost any school he chooses. He is also an exceptionally gifted athlete and barring any high school injuries we will hopefully attract some scholarship funds.

Hppy

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Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.
Sure - my son is planning to go out of state which increases our cost. Even at 45K per year plus books and miscellaneous expenses that comes to 180K which is roughly in the mid range of what I stated. Thankfully the man cub is an exceptionally gifted athlete so we may attract some scholarship funds. I have attached one of the basic sources I used to back up my statements.

What's the Price Tag for a College Education? - COLLEGEdata - Pay Your Way

Hppy

I absolutely agree that the full cost of attendance without financial aid or scholarships can easily reach $250K for college. Just wanted to clarify that figure is not for tuition alone, even at the most pricey institutions.

Good luck to your son on his search :)

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My Associates degree cost me about $11,000 besides books, gas and obvious other expenses. Don't do it.

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Specializes in Certified Wound, Ostomy & Continence Nurse.

Hello Big Mike:

One thing to consider before signing up for an $80,000 nursing program: How are your grades? Nursing courses are usually much more difficult than the prerequisite courses. If your grades are holding you back from being accepted at a less expensive college, you might want to reconsider nursing altogether. I think most nurses would agree that being accepted into a program is the easiest part of getting a nursing degree. In any event, best of luck in your pursuit of an RN.

Diana

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Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

Just no. Use that money to buy a house.

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Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
My Associates degree cost me about $11,000 besides books, gas and obvious other expenses. Don't do it.

The poster was asking about the cost of a BSN not an associates. I am currently getting an ADN to BSN from Azusa Pacific University at a cost of 37K. My ADL cost me about 8K but that was 18 years ago.

Hppy

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A little steep. But if you're in California and you happen to work in the San Francisco/LA/San Diego. You can pay it off easily. Again, a little too high though. :woot:

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The program I am attending is about 24k total for 2 years of only nursing courses. You can take your freshmen/sophomore prereqs from their university or transfer from community college or any other institution. That being said, it would be around ~40k if you were to attend the first 2 years at their university. However, this is a publicly funded university. It it were any more expensive, I would be tempted to go the community college route and get my ADN first. I would say for me, personally, 80k would seem like a waste.

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So, your grades aren't up to par and the only school that will accept you is a for profit, commercial school?

That is a big, fat no. Do you know why the accept anybody? Money. What happens is the programs are disorganized, the instructors make it nearly impossible to pass classes, and you make it through 1-3 quarters then end up out if the school due to various reasons and you are out $40k. These schools are scams!!!

Do a little research into the Dept of Education shutting down most of these schools in the past year. Fix your grades and get into a normal school. If your grades aren't great to begin with, what makes you think you will be successful in an accelerated BSN program. 21 credits at once? That's a lot.

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