Published Feb 4, 2014
virtuouswoman331
7 Posts
Hello everyone, I have been researching a few online NP programs and need some recommendations and any feedback you may have (especially if you have attended Kaplan or Aspen University). Since I live in NC, many of the online programs are not accepted here (Walden, Cambridge, Grand Canyon, South University, etc.). I prefer online programs because you can take one class at a time and keep rolling from there. What are your thoughts about Kaplan or Aspen and do you have any recommendations for other online programs? Thanks!
futureeastcoastNP
533 Posts
Both are for-profit and I would avoid them.
Why does everyone come on here asking about the for-profit schools only? There many BETTER, more REPUTABLE schools that are not for profit and cost LESS.
Check out University of Alabama-Birmingham, Frontier, Samford, Vanderbilt, ISU, EKU, George Washington, University of North Dakota...
Please drop the for-profits and don't give them a second thought. They are in it for the money, nothing more. Don't support their attempts to take advantage of future NPs while oversaturating the market as they pass out diplomas like candy.
grad111
4 Posts
I believe the benefit of the "for Profit" schools is that they usually have rolling admission, more frequent starts and can be asynchronous. In addition to being accredited.
None of those are benefits to the NP profession.
Rolling admissions - because they don't compare all applicants at once and pick the best class, rather they just admit everyone who meets the minimum (and extremely low) admissions requirements.
Frequent starts - of course, because it means maximum tuition money.
Asynchronous - Because classes are prepackaged modules requiring little professor input, that way they can have 200+ students go through them at once and collect a ton of money while providing very little in return.
Look, for-profits just suck, no way around it. I read an article recently talking about how all students at top schools, even those that pay fully with no financial aid, still end up with a "stipend" in a way because it costs so much more to educate them than tuition covers. Why? Because of the resources - top professors, libraries, subscriptions, etc, etc. For-profits only want to make a profit. Don't give them your money.
UAB is VERY EXPENSIVE for those of us who don't live in AL; Frontier is awaiting approval for NC; not sure of the others that you mentioned, but I will look into them. Although a school may not be for profit, that does not mean they don't make a profit. Many are very expensive. I am looking for an online school where I can enroll in the next 2 months. Online works for me. I politely and respectfully disagree with you on the for-profit schools. I know of many nurses, including myself, who have obtained MSN, MBA, BSN, and other degrees through online and are prospering very well. Anyway, I am looking for information, not a debate.
Your choice. Good luck. Only trying to help. People on this forum need to educate themselves about for profit schools and reputation.
For the record, USB offers in state tuiton to online students not living in AL.
Yes, I am aware of USA. They are my first choice, but myself and a coworker are ready now, that is why we are researching other schools. Your thoughts are appreciated, but both of us have been nurses over 20 years and completed our BSN online - which our jobs paid for (Associates at a brick and mortar school) . You initially mentioned UAB, but their tuition is nearly double the price of USA which is approximately
$450/credit. UAB is about double that.
Tarshapitt
66 Posts
Go to RODP they have an online program. The home schools are University of Memphis, MTSU, TSU, ETSU, several Tennessee universities. Not sure price for out of state tuition.
Yes, I am aware of USA. They are my first choice, but myself and a coworker are ready now, that is why we are researching other schools. Your thoughts are appreciated, but both of us have been nurses over 20 years and completed our BSN online - which our jobs paid for (Associates at a brick and mortar school) . You initially mentioned UAB, but their tuition is nearly double the price of USA which is approximately $450/credit. UAB is about double that.
I meant UAB. UAB offers instate tuition to online students. It is not double the price of USA, and is much higher ranked and more reputable school.
Thanks so much! I will do the research this weekend. I wasn't aware that UAB charges in-state tuition for online students. I will also check out the other schools mentioned.
Barinbass
184 Posts
I also visited here to check out what others thought about their online programs before applying. I checked out USA and decided not foe me as their program is set up to require more courses per semester than I wanted to do. I may still have the program of study. If they class is in a Cohort, you have to take the courses in sequence, and if you miss one, you have to wait a year to pick it up as it is not taught every semester. Also I did clinical at the same site as one of the USA students at the same time. We had different preceptors. I talked with her, and she got only 30 minutes to take an exam. I got 2 hours! That fit me much better. I hate being pushed for time. You need to consider what GPA you have and what the schools requirements are. Some schools want a cumulative GPA, but the one I selected only wanted the BSN GPA and transcripts from only those schools that related directly to your BSN. I had a 3.67 BSN GPA but less on the cumulative. I checked Petersen's website during my search and visited here. I applied to four, but the cumulative GPA prevented me from being accepted to three. I just finished my ANP and MSN at Felician in August 2013. I actually enjoyed it, and found it very supportive of students. The classes are very small, but it was nice and was totally online. It is also very well accredited. I am also from NC. There were two of us from NC in the same class which was unreal! As a result of our needing clinical sites, Felician now has contracts with two large corp groups her in this area of NC and agreements with others. They are very willing to try and get other contracts for the students to have sites. I also passed the AANP Adult/Gero cert exam in Sept. Finding a job here is hard as a new grad with no NP experience!!! By the way, I only went up to NJ where the school is to walk across the stage and met the profs then! Good luck.
TashaLPN2006RN2012, ASN, RN
1 Article; 1,715 Posts
I'm not sure about NC, however, Simmons College has an online FNP program; they are a private non-profit school, and yes tuition is on the more expensive side at about $57K, however, they have the exact same format as Georgetown University's online FNP program (synchronous and asynchronous classes/work) 18mo full time and 24 mo part time program. They start about every 2-3 months, and most all students i've talked to have had to take a refresher course or two depending on how old their assessment course was from BSN, stats grade (i had to take a refresher for stats cause I only got a C in it and they want a B or better), and/or a refresher sciences/biology course.