Nursing salary vs. tuition repayment

londonflo · May 17, 2020

On 5/12/2020 at 6:34 PM, Ngav1206 said:
Our school has three campuses in my state and each session we have 200 new students starting at my campus alone. I’m not the only one. Just saying. They are private for profit. Some of the big name Universities here charge $1000 per credit hour. When did you complete your nursing degrees? Even for our community college ADN programs they charge about 25k. I am in Illinois.

City Colleges of Chicago which I would assume would be the most expensive ADN program only costs roughly $14,000 and that includes an additional 2 semesters for pre-requisites.The U of I system campus in Chicago sticker price is less than $40,000 for 4 years. No where near your estimate of $1000 an hour or $120,000. No one pays that much, with all the discounts and aide. I could not find the per credit tuition price. Best bet is to make an appointment to find out the actual numbers for tuition and fees. I know one of the tactics that for-profit recruiters use is to say you will get out a year earlier and make up all the $ you spent in tuition and pay the loan back in the first year working. In actuality, many grads are so tired of skimping that they want to have a decent level of $ to spend on living and socializing. And please don't forget about taxes.

Yes, become an RN. The profession and society need YOU. You need to grow. Choose your program wisely and don't fall for a quick sales talk.

guest1126576 · May 19, 2020

Your other option is to go to another state, where they’ll pay you more money, once you’ve gained a good amount of experience. I’ve heard great things about the bay area. I’m gonna owe more than twice that amount by next year (which includes my pre-existing loan and my future loan after this program). I think paying it off is doable. look up a Youtube video by uncle mike md. he used to be an RN, before he became an MD, and he goes into details in one of his videos about how he was able to pay off 100k of loans in less than a year with an RN salary. I’ve also come across a guy, from quora, who goes into details about how he’s made over 300k/yr as an RN in the bay area. I’ve looked up what they said and searched some of the stuff on the internet, and verified with some of my RN friends, and the numbers does add up. now obviously these ppl had to work A LOT of overtime and per diem in order to afford this but, nevertheless, the opportunity is there.

Thus, the main thing is the location. you’ll find states where RNs make as little as 25/hr and others where they’ll make more than twice that amount.

To add on to what others have mentioned here about the benefits of an accelerated program, another big factor is your age. I don’t think that it’s worth the debt after a certain age. if you’re young enough, say 20’s or early 30’s (heck maybe even ppl in their 40’s), then the investment would probably still be worth it because you’ll have more than enough time to pay off the debt and still enjoy your salary.

Enarra, BSN, RN · May 19, 2020

There’s loan forgiveness programs out there you’ll have to research. Some nursing jobs offer tuition reimbursement too. Otherwise you do have the option of Going to a cheaper school. My associates in nursing RN costed me $6k. You’ll be living frugally for a few years while others go on vacation you’ll do staycation or better yet pickup some extra work. Best of luck

Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF)

Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program (NCLRP)

State-Level Loan Forgiveness

Ngav1206, LPN · May 19, 2020

On 5/14/2020 at 11:08 PM, anewmanx said:
You need to do a cost benefit analysis of your various options. Use Wisconsin my state as an example.
Cost of ADN ~$10,000 at 65 credits. Assume 2-3 years to completion depending on your diligence factor. Let’s assume two years. You begin making 60k a year and work in your BSN. Let’s assume you have the other general credits and spend an additional year finishing the 30 required BSN credits at a state university. Cost ~$10,000, net positive right now $40,000 at year 3. Then you do your MSN-np program followed by advanced practice np cert, again at the state school. Tuition will hit you for $12,500 a year at 2.5 years if you haul tail while working. Assuming you got a salary bump between t he ADN and BSN and picked up some extra shifts let’s say you make $70k a year. During this period of time you walk out net positive 197k at year 5.5 and start working as an np making $125,000.
Compare this with the "expensive" demsn program at one of my local private non-profits. I walk in and in 18 months I’m an RN and net negative $60,000. I start working at the VA with a starting pay of 65k due to the MSN with no previous experience. Immediately start the post masters np cert (there is more than one locally that don’t require prior bedside experience, again, private and expensive.) Cert runs $40,000 or so assuming roughly 40 credits and can be completed in a year and a half. Net negative $2.5k at year 3. Work as np years 3-5.5. Net positive $310,000 and you have been an np 2.5 years already.
The "cheaper" path cost you $113,000 in salary and 2.5 years of np experience and 401k matching. Likely cost you to the tune of $140,000 to save money.

WOW!! I never looked at it that way but you are right. Most of the students I go to school with are cna’s making 10-15$ max an hr for years now and on top of it are only able to work part time because of the demands of school..I’m not sure that I want to advance my career that much but it may be possible. Nurses typically start with $28-35 an hour depending on the unit.

turtlesRcool · May 19, 2020

On 5/12/2020 at 7:34 PM, Ngav1206 said:
Our school has three campuses in my state and each session we have 200 new students starting at my campus alone. I’m not the only one. Just saying. They are private for profit. Some of the big name Universities here charge $1000 per credit hour. When did you complete your nursing degrees? Even for our community college ADN programs they charge about 25k. I am in Illinois.

In CT, a year's in-state tuition for community college is about $4,500. So, two years for an ADN cost approximately $9k. Out of state residents are about $13,500 per year. Hard to believe that our out-of-state tuition is only a little more than your in-state tuition is.

Here if you already have your LPN, you could bridge into the second year of the program, and get your ADN for $4,500 at our CCs. The idea of spending over $60K for what someone here could get for under $5K is wild.

Of course, you have to be able to get into the CC program. Our CCs are really competitive because they are that golden combination of high quality and low cost. The private for-profit programs accept more applicants.

HiddencatBSN, BSN · May 20, 2020

While I agree that sometimes the more expensive option up front can net you more if it accelerates your increase in earning potential, for profit schools are going to be your most expensive option and the ethics of making a profit off educating people is super sketchy, imo. I’d make sure that’s the best option before proceeding. A $1,000 debt a month is a huge burden.

kcinnick · May 20, 2020

My school is expensive, over $50k for a BSN, but they get you lots of financial aid. Next year I have over $10k of free money coming in, I am still going to have to pay about $4-5k. Look into different financial aid and scholarship offers hard. Lots of them if you just meet the minimum requirements you will get them because people are too lazy to write a crappy essay to get $500 or $1000 for free. They advertise the MSN at $35k, we will see. The employer I hope to get pays back $6k a year in student loans and will pay for your MSN. If you commit while still in school they will pay $6k per semester tuition up to 2 years worth, if you don't work for them it converts into a loan.

Link648099 · May 21, 2020

BSN programs are notoriously overpriced for the education you're getting.

How far are you into the program? What are your options for leaving and seeking out a cheaper program somewhere else?

Here in Houston, TX, my ADN cost about $10,000, and my RN to BSN is costing around $9,000 with my hospital paying for it.

I don't know how mobile you are, but if you could move to a cheaper state you'd probably save yourself a lot of money and headache over the years. Illinois isn't even a compact state, so its somewhat limited.

kesr · May 22, 2020

I agree, this seems too high, and other options sound good. One thing I would advise in your decision making. If you want to advance in your career, or someday leave bedside nursing, your BSN will open doors you may not be thinking of now. I never thought I would want to leave hospital nursing, but after 15 years of ICU I was tired of heartbreak, shift work, holidays and was developing back pain. I know this sounds whiny now, but I ended up monitoring drug studies for a major drug company. More money, better benefits, better pension, and a job I really enjoyed. Jobs I didn't know existed when was a young grad.

Chanster · May 24, 2020

On 5/11/2020 at 11:19 AM, Ngav1206 said:
Hello,
I am wondering if the tuition is worth the pay and career in the end. Currently I work as a LPN. Program was very inexpensive and already paid off. I am currently in my BSN program and am looking at about 68k in student loan repayment at the end. Needles to say I am really freaking out about this. My payments with private loan included will be at almost 1k per month! I did the math and I will technically be making almost the same amount working at a typical RN salary vs. a full time LPN salary due the the 1k on payments every month for at least 10 years ? Have any of you been able to find any extra financial assistance programs or Scholarships without high GPA’s? I need help

This is the harsh reality! Are you attending a private program?

turtlesRcool · May 24, 2020

OP, I'm wondering what you're looking for in this thread. It sounds like you're already in this program. Are you? If so, have you paid your tuition yet?

Are you looking for other options or looking for reassurance your choice to go to a for-profit school will pay off eventually? If you're part way through the program, will your credits transfer anywhere else?

My main question is why you're doing a 63K RN program when you're already an LPN. You should be eligible to start many programs part way through rather than starting at the beginning, saving both time and money. There are even online LPN to RN programs - have you looked into any of them?

TheDudeWithTheBigDog, ADN, RN · May 25, 2020

Definitely don't overlook overtime / PRN positions. If you can manage to get a 3x12hr shift job, which is super easy to do as an RN, you just set yourself up to live the dream. Most people work 5 days a week to get to 40 hours, you're at 36 in only 3. Just picking up 1 hour shift a week puts you up to 44 hours on only your 4th day. So in 1 day less than the average worker, you put in 4 hours more than they did. It sounds horrible, but remember, you still get 1 extra day off that pretty much everyone else doesn't get.

Now, overtime is hard to guarantee long-term, so we're going to completely ignore that and just look at PRN jobs. At only 1 year of experience, you can pretty much just walk into any nursing home and get hired for a PRN position as an RN. They want you, and agencies are expensive. Around me, they charge over $60/hr to send an RN to any nursing home in the area. And some of them, every single RN on the unit is from an agency. So by me, you can probably at 1 year of experience negotiate $50/hr guaranteed 1 8 hour shift / week. But let's assume you're horrible at negotiation and you only take the average starting pay for a new graduate RN in my area at a nursing home. So $30/hr.

For 4 hours more than the average person works, while still being at 1 day less of work, you could be grossing an extra 960/month. And don't forget, insruance and 401k isn't coming out of that, so your net will actually be pretty high. So let's assume about $700/month, bare minimum. That's 8,400 / year that you can just throw at your student loans. Since every loan is separate, (unless consolidating will lower your overall cost for the amount of time), you can wipe out high higest interest loans pretty fast. I've been purposely borrowing a lot because I used my loans to supplement the loss of hours thanks to school. Even still, on a 25 year repayment plan, my highest interest loan, at 5% interest will be completely paid off in less than a year (You get to decide how to divide your payment when you pay extra). The plan is that while being on a 25 year repayment plan, I completely pay off all of my student loans in 7. That leaves me exactly 20 years until I can retire, I can throw that 4th day a week on top of what I'm already paying for housing and buy a house by the beach, completely paid off by retirement, while still having the money from my normal pay to easily cover insurance and tax, and still have money left to save every paycheck. All with an extra day off every week compared to everyone else who works the same number of hours. And this is all assuming that I never get a single raise in the next 20 years, and assuming that I stay single my entire life and have to do all of this alone. If I meet a girl that makes a career out of being a cashier at McDonalds, there's enough extra money to constantly throw 2 car payments for a new car for each of us every couple years in there, then imagine if she also has a decent paying job.

I'd go through with getting the RN, even if your only choice is an expensive loan, and meet with an expert every year, even while you're in school, to work out a yearly budget and a long-term budget. When you don't make a lot, it's expensive, but it's VERY worth it to at least meet once and get a solid plan together to at least pay off all your debt. Just don't make the same mistakes most people tend to do. Getting that RN is probably going to be a $10-20K/year pay increase to start, but it doesn't mean that your cost of living has to go up by 10-20K. Live exactly how you're living now, and use that extra money to pay back the loans and then set yourself up for your future. Budget right, and spend 20 years of retirement sitting on your deck looking at the ocean.