LVN Guide & Tuition Quotes

[oOoDRAGOONoOo]

Hi I spent a lot of time looking for low tuition schools around the North Hollywood, L.A., Glendale, Van Nuys areas. I had recently tried Concord and their tuition was so high it presented a big problem financially.

I thought I would compose a recent quote on many tuitions I personally received in (August 2009), to help you guys and save you the trouble of what I did, which was basically call almost every single accredited college on the Nursing Board(http://www.bvnpt.ca.gov/education/schools/vn_schools.shtml) in my area.

If you do decide to do what I did, all the school's NCLEX passing rates might help you make your decision easier (http://www.bvnpt.ca.gov/education/vn_stats.shtml).

[[iMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK]]:

-Are there any prerequisites to enter the LVN program? (Some schools require CNA...)

-When do classes start?

-How long is your program?

-Do you offer full-time and part-time classes?

-Are there any waiting lists?

-What is the schedule? Is it flexible?

-How many entrance exams? Are there any entrance exam fees?(Some places charge..)

-Do you guys offer Job Placement?

-How much is your LVN program's tuition?

-Does your school accept Pell Grants, Federal Stafford Loans, Sallie Mae? Does your school offer any other loans or grants?

-Is there a down payment?

-(IMPORTANT) Is your school split into 2 academic years?(2 tri-mesters)(This is important because lets say your Pell grant is $4 and the school tuition is $10 you owe $6. Now let's say they split the tuition into 2 academic years... so 1st year your tuition is $5, your Pell grant is $4, you owe $1. 2nd year your tuition is the rest $5... you get pell grant for a 2nd year!!! AHA!!! and it is $4(most likely it will be half of that for 2nd yr) you owe $1. So you went from owing $6(1 academic yr) to owing now $2(2 academic yrs). Point is, 2 academic years means you can use your Pell Grant twice

I've noticed a lot of schools are going up incrementally in tuition by about $4000 every year, so don't wait!! Get in there before it's too expensive!

[[EXPENSIVE SCHOOLS]]:(August 2009 quotes)

Concorde Career College - North Hollywood

12412 Victory Blvd

North Hollywood, CA 91606

[phone]

-($30,000)

-Accepts: Pell Grant/Federal Stafford Loan/Individual Sallie Mae

-Schedule: Mon-Fri. 8am-3pm

-2 Academic years

-2 entrance exams not difficult but bring a watch because cell phone's aren't permitted and they don't tell you how much time you have left, they just come in and ding your done.

-Admission reps come off as sales people trying to make a sale..

-Tuition is inclusive for books, uniforms etc. and they will pay for your NCLEX test and have prep classes

-This particular location, I've read their LVN program had been shutdown for cheating before...nice to have on your resume...

American Career College - LA

4021 Rosewood Ave

Los Angeles, CA 90004

[phone]

-($34,000)

-Accepts: Pell/Fed

-2 entrance exams

Everest, West Coast, Kaplan, commercial ones etc. These are in the 30k and over price range.

[[LOW TUITION SCHOOLS]]:(August 2009 quotes)

*Anderson Medical Career College

10752 Burbank Blvd.

North Hollywood, CA 91601

[phone]

-($24,000)

-Accepts: Pell/Fed

California Career College, Canoga Park

7003 Owensmouth Avenue

Canoga Park, CA 91303

[phone]

-($19,500)

-Accepts: Pell/Fed

-Starts: Sept. 16

-18months Part-time only

Career Development Institute

1830 S. Robertson Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90035

[phone]

-($25,000)

-Accepts: Pell/Fed

College of Nursing and Technology

18700 Sherman Way, Suite 203

Reseda, CA 91335

[phone]

-($19,000)

-Accepts: Sallie Mae

-Starts: Oct. 20

-Part-time

Valley School of Allied Health

18107 Sherman Way, Suite 101

Reseda, CA 91335

[phone]

-($17,500)

-Accepts: Sallie Mae only

Marian College - Van Nuys

5900 North Sepulveda Blvd.

Van Nuys, CA 91411

[phone]

-($22,000)

-Accepts: Pell/Fed

-1 Academic year...

-Schedule: Mon-Thu 8am-2pm Clinicals 7am-3pm Full-time(14months) Part-time also available(18months)

-$2000 Down Payment

-Start: Nov. 23

-Hard building to find, don't go by cross street, write the address down and park next door near Verizon or pay the toll.

-1 entrance exam & essay...

Preferred College of Nursing - Van Nuys

6551 Van Nuys Blvd., Suite 200

Van Nuys, CA 91491

(818) 902 - 3708 Office

-($20,500)

-Accepts: They just got approved for Pell Grant and Federal Loan and I guess it won't be official untill Jan-Feb. 2010 but they did say they "should" be able to reimburse your funds when it goes official.

-Starts: Oct. 2nd wk

-12 months

-1 Academic year

-Schedule: Mon-Fri 8am-3pm

-Small, ghetto looking and ugly white uniforms but a generally caring staff.

Annenberg School of Nursing

7150 Tampa Avenue

Reseda, CA 91335

Phone [phone]

-($19,000)

-Accepts: NOTHING....BUTTT... You won't need it, they have a Tuition Forgiveness program that subtracts $10,000 if you agree to work for them after graduation for 2yrs($23hr. job xD ) PLUS they have a interest-free Jewish Loan for $7,000! The rest of the $2,000 you can pay in monthly installments!

-Application Fee: $100

-Entrance Exam Fee: $35

-Was my first choice but sadly classes are FULLLLL!! >

Glendale Career College

1015 Grandview Ave

Glendale, CA 91201

[phone] Ext 264

-(This is the college I chose ^o^)

-($26,500)

-Accepts: Fed/Pell/Sallie

-Schedule: Mon-Thu 9am-3pm

-2 Entrance Exams

-2 Academic Years

-14 months

-Starts: Sept. 21 (Only a few spots leftttt can you make it in time?)

-Got a great vibe here, like the atmosphere and 'homey' feel.

-Very nice staff

(Remember don't just look at the initial tuition, you have to factor in whether they accept Pell Grants or Federal Loans and calculate those in to get the final tuition, a lot of private schools won't offer neither. The schools listed here might have college branches in your area, check the Nursing Board.)

(When you go see the Financial Dept. there gonna throw a lot of terms and numbers at you that will make your head swim, so I'm gonna break it down for you so your not confused.)

[[My Tuition Estimate for Glendale Career College]]:

.........................................................................(TUITION)..................................................................

..........................................................................$26,420...................................................................

...............................(12months)...............................................................(Remaining 2months)...............

...........................(1st Academic Yr.)..........................................................(2nd Academic Yr.).................

................................$13,160 (Like half of the $26,420)........................................$13,260........................

........................................................................................................................................................

..(MAX PELL GRANT) = - $5,550...............(Really $2,875, since there not gonna ---> - $5,550........................

...........................____________.............award you $5,550 for 2months, darn.).....__________.....................

............................=....$7,610............................................................................$7,710.....=...(LOAN).....

.........................................................................................................................................$15,320....

..(Student Contri.)...= - $2,037........................................................................- $2,813.....= - $4,850...

..(The school wants.....________.......................................................................__________....................

..$4,850 in monthly..............................................................................................................................

..payments no-interest)........................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................(TOTAL LOAN)..

..(Federal Stafford...= $5,573.............................................................................$4,897.......$10,470......

...........Loan)......................................................................................................................................

So this remaining balance will be covered by Fed. Staff. It could have covered more like the $4,850 the school wants.... but apparently Grants and Loans can't cover the total cost of tuition.... right....

Fed. Staff. has 2 types of loans called "Subsidized" and "Unsubsidized" both interest rates will be about 6.8% it's just that one of them the interest doesn't start accruing until 6 months after graduation....but the other one will start gathering interest after your first 4 months of school. Both can be paid back 6 months after graduation or during if you can manage it.

Hope this helped a lot for my fellow noobies! I know I would have lubed if someone had wrote this for me.... Was a lot of writing and research but in the end we need to help eachother.

SHARING IS CARING!! GL in finding your school and God Bless.

(P.S. Sorry I've tried but I don't know how to get the estimate diagram to come out correctly.)

[oOoDRAGOONoOo]

Tried to fix diagram again, didn't come out right... I give up, sorry.

[Mzeinali]

so did you join Glendale career college? cuz i did to lol i start on sep 25/26

[oOoDRAGOONoOo]

so did you join Glendale career college? cuz i did to lol i start on sep 25/26

Ya I got pretty much everything squared away, I just have to see the Director this Tues. and hand in a 2 page essay lol.

You start Sept. 25??? I start Sept. 21 for the LVN program, which program are you in?

[oOoDRAGOONoOo]

Oh BTW,

For those interested in the ROP Programs(Community/Adult schools offer this program almost for free or for a very low tuition), I suggest you ace your entrance exams because the field is insane.

I called and asked how many students they take on and they said about 15 and 12 reserves. I asked how many applicants, they said about 500. Very competitive.

I near aced my recent entrance exams...maybe I should have applied but still their program was starting too late for me.

Here's a few examples of ROP Schools:

Los Angeles Trade Tech. College

400 W Washington Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90015

[phone]

-This school actually has just recently got ridden of their LVN Program

Los Angeles Unified School District - LA County

1237 North Mission Road

Los Angeles, CA 90033

[phone]

Los Angeles Unified School District - Locke Community Adult School

325 E 111th St

Los Angeles, CA 90061

Baldwin Park Adult School

4640 N. Maine Avenue

Baldwin Park, CA 91706

[phone]

:wink2:

[Chacon2208]

Hi, do you know were there's a 18 month program in LA besides American Career College? It's very pricey I think it's 34,000! If not do you know how much financial aid helps?

[mlk1217]

I went to concorde in arlington texas. cost about $22k. student loans are about $100 a month. one year program and not hard to get into.