Justifying the cost of an Ivy League Nursing Education

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How do you guys justify the cost for a program like Yale, Penn or Columbia? Like why would you pick one of those over a smaller, wayyyy cheaper school? Just wondering your thoughts!

Specializes in Mental Health.
18 hours ago, FullGlass said:

A new grad moving to San Diego County who has gone to a school with no name recognition will be at a disadvantage when looking for work.

In keeping with the question presented in the OP - I would say even in the hypothetical situation you proposed, that falls far short of justifying $100K+ in tuition and other fees from any common sense financial perspective. Like I say though, some people just want that type of thing on their resume and think it is worth it to be able to say they have it, but in terms of actual numbers, no.

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Specializes in Peds ED.
7 minutes ago, FullGlass said:

Did you read what I wrote? My Hopkins education was CHEAPER than a public university in my home state!

I did, did you read what I wrote?

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Specializes in Psychiatric and Mental Health NP (PMHNP).
4 minutes ago, Rionoir said:

In keeping with the question presented in the OP - I would say even in the hypothetical situation you proposed, that falls far short of justifying $100K+ in tuition and other fees from any common sense financial perspective. Like I say though, some people just want that type of thing on their resume and think it is worth it to be able to say they have it, but in terms of actual numbers, no.

Who is paying $100K+ for a BSN? I went to Hopkins and I sure didn't.

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Specializes in Mental Health.

If you can go to one of these schools for the same price as a state school then there isn't even a discussion to be had here - so I think the implication in the OP is pretty clear that we aren't talking about that particular situation.

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Specializes in Peds ED.
29 minutes ago, FullGlass said:

The reason I am taking the time to write about this is to help people who may be ruling out an education at a top school, just assuming it is too expensive. Please do not go by the "list" price. Apply and see what kind of financial aid package you get - you may be pleasantly surprised.

That’s fair, and I mentioned that in my first reply here. I wanted to address the notion that considering the cost of education is holding back individuals and the profession as a whole. Financial limitations are a reality for the vast majority of us. Sticker price isn’t always what we end up paying, but it is important to weigh the costs against the benefit relative to a more affordable option.

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I think it's fair to state that many elite schools-but Ivy League in particular-are KNOWN for giving financial aid in amounts far greater than many public schools. If you can get in and qualify, it might be far less expensive to attend an Ivy than your local public state university.

The hard part is getting accepted to an Ivy League school. Their acceptance rates are minuscule.

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.
11 hours ago, Horseshoe said:

If memory serves, isn't U Penn the only Ivy league school that offers a nursing degree at the Bachelor's level? I looked at their program once, and it seemed far superior than many of the degree mills many people get their BSNs from.

True, of all the Ivy's with nursing programs (Penn, Yale, Columbia), Penn is the only one still offering a BSN, the rest start their program with a Master's. Some extend the Ivy designation to other well-known private schools (Duke, Vanderbilt, Hopkins) and even in those, it's only Duke that still accept students for a BSN (an accelerated one at that).

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Specializes in anesthesiology.
21 hours ago, FullGlass said:

So FullGlass, the MSN that you graduate with from Hopkins is a clinical NP? Like an FNP or acute care NP?

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Specializes in Psychiatric and Mental Health NP (PMHNP).
18 hours ago, murseman24 said:

So FullGlass, the MSN that you graduate with from Hopkins is a clinical NP? Like an FNP or acute care NP?

Hopkins offers several MSN NP program specializations. I am an Adult and Geriatric Primary Care NP. Hopkins just announced they will start offering a CRNA next year.

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Specializes in RN.

This is an interesting discussion for me. I'm 43, just finishing my nursing pre-requisites and am applying to various programs here in NYC. Among these, I'm applying for candidacy at my community college to get an associate's *and* I'm applying at Columbia for their direct-entry master's for my RN. It is interesting that my community college nursing program seems a lot tougher to get into (top GPAs, limited slots) than Columbia. Columbia doesn't even require general chemistry *OR* labs with your A&P (how is that even possible?). I know it's an elite school, but that gives me pause. I've busted my butt to get all As in those science courses (with small kids/work), and I'm proud of that. I've also enjoyed learning this stuff so much.

I come from a lower middle-class background and was very lucky to graduate from a good state university in the south over 20 years ago. I've lived/worked in NYC for most of that time since then (totally unrelated to health field), and there is a huge difference in this part of the country re: school pedigree. It often strikes me as elitist and silly, but I can't deny the power a person's network and "brand" carry in building a career, as unfair as it may be at times.

So when I imagine myself in 2 scenarios: being a 45 year-old new RN with an associate's from an outer-borough (still very good) community college vs. the master's with my RN in that same time, with clinical training in the shiny-fancy Columbia network, etc. I've already got my age and lack of experience against me in a super-competitive market. It's scary.

I'm still investigating other options -- like less-expensive private accelerated BSNs. Unfortunately, our city university (only public) system has outrageous requirements for the nursing program (e.g. organic chem, genetics, 4.0 gpa if possible), which have seemed a bit prohibitive, but I'm not ruling it out. Would still mean an extra year alone of pre-requisites for me, though to even apply, plus HESI.

But yeah, I find this weird divide between the more down-to-earth community college nurse community (along with old-school nurses from my family who live in other parts of the country) who say school doesn't matter and to "just hurry up and get through school" vs. programs like Columbia where you can become a nurse practitioner for $200K-plus without even really working as an RN first?

In most of my life I've been a hard-working person, but I'm also smart and have leadership experience. I want to think big picture, rest-of-my life career so it's confusing knowing what's right. Also hard to talk about in real life with nurses and risk sounding like an *** with my ignorance ?

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Specializes in Psychiatric and Mental Health NP (PMHNP).
2 hours ago, oneday_nursepoundcake said:

This is an interesting discussion for me. I'm 43, just finishing my nursing pre-requisites and am applying to various programs here in NYC. Among these, I'm applying for candidacy at my community college to get an associate's *and* I'm applying at Columbia for their direct-entry master's for my RN. It is interesting that my community college nursing program seems a lot tougher to get into (top GPAs, limited slots) than Columbia.

My situation was similar to yours. I started nursing school at age 53.

With regard to RN experience for an NP, if you want to be an acute care NP (work in a hospital), then you must have RN work experience. For Columbia, they no longer offer the MSN NP - it is a DNP and on their website, at least one year of RN experience is required for admission to their Acute Care NP program:

http://www.nursing.columbia.edu/admissions-and-financial-aid/post-bs-dnp-doctor-nursing-practice

If you want to be an primary care NP, then you can go straight through to the NP program. That is because the evidence indicates that RN experience isn't very helpful for primary care NPs. However, nothing is stopping a future primary care NP from working as an RN for awhile if that makes them feel more secure.

The reason community colleges can be harder to get into is because they offer a good education very inexpensively. In California, the waiting list for ADN programs can be over 2 years.

Time is a factor for mid life career changers. If you get an ADN and want to become an NP, you will then have to do the BSN bridge program before you can apply for an MSN or DNP NP program. That takes time. If you get an entry level MSN RN, you can apply for NP school sooner.

Good luck.

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Specializes in anesthesiology.
4 hours ago, FullGlass said:

Hopkins offers several MSN NP program specializations. I am an Adult and Geriatric Primary Care NP. Hopkins just announced they will start offering a CRNA next year.

So why not just become a Physician's Assistant and trade the psychosocial nursing theory classes for hard medical sciences and clinical time? It sounds highly overrated.

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