I was recently accepted into NYU's accelerated nursing program and initially was super excited to begin this journey. When I received the bill all the excitement was kicked out of me by the whopping $20K I would need to take out in loans PER SEMESTER. This means I would graduate in 2017 with about $120K TOTAL in loans.
I've talked to several nurses that I know and they have nothing but great things to say about the NYU College of Nursing. HOWEVER, none of them had to take out excessive loans because their parents covered the cost. This is an AMAZING opportunity for me but frankly the thought of having a $120K loan hanging over my head makes me want to drink myself to sleep.
I could go on and on about how unfair the educational system is (because it is) but that's not what I want this thread to be about. This is my situation right now and I want to make the best decision for myself.
If anyone else has been in this situation PLEASE SHARE YOUR STORY. IF YOU'VE TAKEN OUT EXCESSIVE LOANS TELL ME YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH THAT. IS IT WORTH IT? IS IT TOUGH TO BE A NURSE AND KEEP UP WITH SO MUCH DEBT?
Way too much. That's closer to what you would expect for med school, not a bsn.
My adn was about 10,000 (including pre-reqs) & looking into an rn-bsn affiliated with my hospital system is about 15,000 (but only 6,000 with employee scholarship & tuition assistance).
I was just accepted to a private liberal arts school to get my BSN. Tuition is $34,000 a year! I currently have $10,000 in student loan debt from all the pre reqs at the local community college. Because of my grades I received a $22,000 a year scholarship. I will owe just about $40,000 when I'm done. I am okay with that number! I would not be okay with anything over $50,000 for a BSN. Check what local nurses make as new grads and use a payment calculator and see what your monthly payments would be and how much of your take home pay would go towards student loans. I live in Chicago and new grads are making about $25-$30 an hr.
I would absolutely not take on that much debt, when there are other nursing schools that cost a fraction of that amount. A good rule of thumb that I have seen mentioned on here is that your debt should never exceed the amount of one year of your projected salary with your degree. So if you live in an area where nurses make, say, $60K a year, that is the maximum amount of loans you should take out (and less is ideal).
It's not going to matter what program you graduate from as a nurse. This isn't the financial or business world where your alma maters can open specific doors. Do not take out that much money for a nursing degree. You will regret it later.
General rule of thumb when it comes to student loans and nursing degrees: don't take out more in loans than you expect to earn your first year working as a nurse.
You really REALLY shouldn't expect to earn that kind of money out of the chute; you may never earn it. And NYU on your transcript isn't going to be "worth" more to an employer than any other RN applying for the same job.
So, in a nutshell: that's WAY TOO MUCH for a nursing degree, sorry.
Is $120000 about median price of Accelerated BSN in New York city and near it? Mine non-accelerated BSN in mortar-and-brick 4 years State university AND MSN in a top-10 nationwide school are going to be like a third of that... maybe, moving would make sense?
If NYU thinks that their BSN costs so much, then why? They have 100% or close to it NCLEX pass rate, but so do hundreds of other schools. They claim that their grads are working in NY Presbyterian and other big places, but working in such a hospital offers some possible future behefits only if the grad is going for MSN and further, and not always at that. Unless NYU discovered a magic 100% guarantee instant poop-cleaning charm, absolutely reliable code prediction scale and potion to pacify "certain" family members instantly and supply only their own grads for life with all that, I just do not see why their degree must be so expensive except thst they just can do it and still get enough applicants.
There's no way I would pay that much for a BSN.....CRNA school maybe or med school, but never to go work as a staff nurse.
For 120K, it would be better to move to podunk middle America and go to a community college for 4-6K and celebrate the fact that you saved like 90K at the end of graduation and buy yourself a BMW instead.
Yikes, that is quite a bit. I couldn't sleep at night if I owed that much! I am getting my RN from a private college and will owe no where near that. I think my total nursing school debt will be about $50,000. That includes my LPN. I agree it's a lot, but I think it's low compared to others I have seen. I agree with others. Shop around and be smart. Good luck!
RNperdiem, RN
4,592 Posts
Listen to your instincts. They are right. No nursing degree is worth $120K.
There are other nursing schools available that can get you a good education for a lot less.