Kaplan University online NP program ?

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Hi, guys. I need help. I am applying NP program. I found the Kaplan online NP program is convenient and the admission process is simple. I am just wondering is it the same as other campus NP program and I can take license test, when I look for NP job after graduation, is there any difference?

thank you !

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

How much will your NP degree cost?

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
How much will your NP degree cost?

$36-$40K, depending on which track you take

It's $368/credit, which isn't too bad for graduate studies.

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Specializes in Oncology.

How many credits is the program? It seems like they might be increasing the number of required credits to keep the cost per credit low? My private, local university was $800/credit but the whole FNP program was 40 credits so total cost would be around $30k. I don't understand with that low cost per credit hour how it's still so much.

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Specializes in Medical-Surgical/Float Pool/Stepdown.

Tread carefully with Kaplan (and everywhere else :nailbiting:)! They are awesome for test preps but...when I was looking for my RN to BSN program about two years ago I was very interested in Kaplan until I found out that while their RN to BSN is accredited, their BSN to NP was not!

The rep was making the two programs sound seamless and giving me a good discount because of miscellaneous things like being a newer grade, high GPA, etc. When I asked the rep about the NP program not being accredited she said that while it was not currently accredited that they were working on it and that by the time I would be close to finishing the NP program that it "should be"..."should be". :poop:

They may be accredited now but it amazed me that a university or college could offer a program that would not lead to the degree the student was actually attending and paying them for. I still don't know how this is possible!

Good Luck :woot:

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.
They may be accredited now but it amazed me that a university or college could offer a program that would not lead to the degree the student was actually attending and paying them for. I still don't know how this is possible!

That is because a school does not need to be accredited in order to confer a degree. So they did nothing illegal in offering a BSN-NP program that wasn't yet accredited.

Now, what BONs (and employers) think of non-accredited schools is a different matter entirely.

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Tread carefully with Kaplan (and everywhere else :nailbiting:)! They are awesome for test preps but...when I was looking for my RN to BSN program about two years ago I was very interested in Kaplan until I found out that while their RN to BSN is accredited, their BSN to NP was not!

The rep was making the two programs sound seamless and giving me a good discount because of miscellaneous things like being a newer grade, high GPA, etc. When I asked the rep about the NP program not being accredited she said that while it was not currently accredited that they were working on it and that by the time I would be close to finishing the NP program that it "should be"..."should be". :poop:

They may be accredited now but it amazed me that a university or college could offer a program that would not lead to the degree the student was actually attending and paying them for. I still don't know how this is possible!

Good Luck :woot:

You may want to do some research about program development and how accreditation works. A school first has to begin a program and then seek accreditation. Programs are NEVER accredited from day one. Accrediting bodies won't even look at a program until its fully launched and sometimes at least a year in operation.

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Specializes in Medical-Surgical/Float Pool/Stepdown.

Then it may have helped to sway my decision less if the rep had been up front about this in the first place! I found out the program wasn't accredited by doing research. I will do more research later on if becoming a NP is the road I intend to travel on when that time comes.

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still cannot make a decision. I hope I can go the NP program this Fall. But I started application too late. there is not many choice. I made some digging and fount the Kaplan is accredited now (since 2010). I still hesitate because wondering if there is difference when job hunting after graduation?

Thanks, everyone.

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Specializes in Cardiac rehab, med-tele, psych, research.

I started Kaplan University's Family Nurse Practitioner program in Sept 2012. The first year is basically spent taking research and theory courses. There are a lot more classes compared to an average university masters degree program over 100 credits compared to 40-55 in regular universities.

When I finally reached the important classes like advanced pathophysiology and pharmacology, I was really disappointed in the lack of formal testing and the way I was learning in general. I know masters programs are different than undergrad, but I felt extremely under challenged. I felt like I was alone as I had to self-teach myself everything. There is no lecture or really even any guidance from the instructors. The curriculum is set and they just check to make sure you are posting on the discussion board. This form of learning may work for some, but I don't feel like I have enough experience (RN now for 4 years) to feel confident enough to self teach myself to become a nurse practitioner. The flexibility was really nice though. They structure the school week between Wed-Tue so that you still have you weekends to catch up. In the end I just didn't feel confident with obtaining such an important degree from this institution.

After 45 credits, 1 year and 3 months, with still at least another 1.5 years left, I decided to apply to university FNP masters program in FL. It was a hard decision to make because I had to study for my GRE for about 3 months and basically start all over. I was so blessed to find out I got into University of Central Florida's Family Nurse Practitioner Program! I will be starting this fall. Hopefully this helps someone who is struggling to make the same decision.

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Specializes in tele, med surg, surgery.

*bump* Roser13..are you still in the Kaplan program. I finish my BSN this month from Kaplan and was debating continuing on at Kaplan..

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It looks like this is an older string of discussion, but it is pertinent to me right now, so I'm jumping in and hope others are still out there and can weigh in.

I have already been accepted to University of Cincinnati FNP online beginning in January 2015. I have just been offered a job at the local Kaplan College ADN program. One of their benefits is free education at Kaplan University after 30 days of employment, known as the Gift of Knowledge (and they have an online FNP).

From my research I did notice the difference in program credit with Kaplan having a much higher requirement than UC. I also noticed UC has the minimum clinical hours of 500, vs Kaplan having 675 clinical hours.

I would love to hear from you if we can 're-hash' this topic.

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