Nursing school worth the debt?

Sour Lemon · Nov 1, 2020

On 10/31/2020 at 6:55 AM, Ummsantos said:

Hello,

I am a 39 year old mother of 6 kids who are all in school now. I work as a MA but have seriously thought about going to school for nursing. I would have to basically start from scratch. I have put it off because kids were still young and I didn’t want to take out loans. But now I feel like if I wait anymore I won’t ever do it. I can’t imagine being a 60 MA making nothing knowing I had the potential to do more. Do you guys think the ship has sailed for me? I HAVE to work and go to school. Is it worth getting into debt for? Can I realistically pay it off? I preach to the kids about not getting loans and getting scholarships and financial aid...now I feel like I would be a hypocrite. Any advice?

A few things to consider:

1. Do you have any existing debt? How much debt would you be adding to it?

2. What sort of family support do you have? Can your husband (if you have one) pick up some of the slack?

3. Are you a competitive candidate for acceptance to a nursing program?

4. What are your personal scholastic abilities? Study habits?

5. Are you okay with working a "new graduate" schedule that is often overnight with weekends and holidays?

6. Are you willing to move to gain experience if the market is saturated in your city and you can't find work?
7. Is your work flexible enough to allow for the chaos that many nursing schools seem to be associated with?

8. Can you live with accumulating debt that you'll have to pay off if you don't make it to your end goal?

9. Can you cut your current expenses?

10. Do you have a realistic idea of what nursing entails? What makes you want to become a nurse?

I'm too lazy to write in paragraphs at the moment.

AngusBeef · Nov 2, 2020

I know this might seem like a dumb question but is it possibly for you to get Financial Aid like the Pell Grant, etc?

ns12 · Nov 17, 2020

I think if you are interested in nursing, you should reach out to schools and ask about Financial Aid. There are scholarships and grants that you can get through FAFSA. I have a friend who was in a similar situation, but ended up getting a large portion of her tuition covered through FAFSA and she went to a pretty expensive nursing school. Nursing is also great because there are opportunities for loan forgiveness and tuition reimbursement through employers. For example, if you decide to get your ADN first, you can start working as a nurse and get tuition reimbursement to get your BSN. There are so many paths to be a nurse, so please do not let finances be the thing that stops you from pursuing nursing as a career.

Mergirlc, MSN, APRN, NP · Nov 22, 2020

There 1000's upon 1000's of scholarships out there too! The problem is, you have to take the time to apply to them and that may include filling out a bunch of forms and writing essays, etc..

First check w/ schools you plan to apply to and look @ costs. Ask them about in-house scholarships and if they have any. Some schools even have help specifically for parents w/ young kids. Then start doing a precursory search of scholarships and see if you qualify for any.

turtlesRcool · Nov 28, 2020

@Sour Lemon did a great job asking relevant questions.

Also consider:

What does "starting from scratch" mean? You don't have any college credits? You don't have relevant college credits? You don't have recent college credits?

What programs (prerequisites and nursing program) are in your area? How much do they cost? How would they fit into your work schedule?

Community colleges are a fantastic resource for inexpensive courses, either for prerequisites alone or for the program itself. My state has an amazing CC nursing program. It's very competitive, but that's because it's both high quality and low cost (full time tuition is about $4,500 per year).

One option might be to start with one prerequisite at your local community college. It should be pretty inexpensive. See how it goes. It might give you a feel for what you're getting yourself into.

As for the ship, I don't think it has sailed because of your age or your children. But it is a big undertaking, and it might require you to make some big adjustments for you to be successful.

ThursdayNight, CNA · Nov 29, 2020

I owe $20k preparing for the nursing program. My courses were transferrable to all schools I applied to (public and private schools). I try not to take student loans out anymore by being strict on my budget. I still indulge myself but not as much I used to do.

I cut on so many things, such as delicious coffees and spacious spaces. Now that I live in a smaller space, I'm happier. I'm less pressured with electric bills and etc. My phone and internet (unlm) for $40 a month. I don't purchase items I don't find useful. I buy clothes and shoes when I need them. My closets are not congested anymore.

I'm in the junior public college for my nursing program. I hope this helps you to see the situation. FYI, I don't have kids. It's a different world.

kubelkabondy, ADN, RN · Nov 30, 2020

The ship has definitely not "sailed" for you. If you want it badly enough, you can absolutely make it happen. In my ADN program, there are two people in their late 40s, early 50s.

It sounds like you would be a good candidate for a part-time ADN program. This would allow you to continue working while studying part-time, and community colleges are much more affordable than doing a BSN at a 4-year university, at least in my state.

The only downside to the ADN is that your employment prospects may be less depending on where you live. The workaround here is to get a job as a CNA in the hospital you want to be a nurse at (IF you want to work in a hospital) while doing your ADN. Then you have a foot in the door and they will often hire you on as a nurse if you agree to get your BSN within a certain timeframe while working.

If you don't want to work in a hospital, you will do just fine with an ADN in most other settings, though it's still worth it to get your BSN eventually.

Keep in mind, even for an ADN, you will have to take and do well in lots of challenging prerequisite courses before you're eligible to apply, so you'll need to factor that into your decision-making. Good luck.

cshrake, CNA · Dec 8, 2020

Stick to you guns. It's obtainable debt free. Your kids who are old enough, will learn from watching you and thank you later on. Search out an employer who offers tuition reimbursement as apart of their benefits package. Go to a community college. Apply for scholarships. Tutor, pull extra shifts, or get your CNA license on the side to beef up your prospects. I've found that community colleges tend to have higher GPA requirements to get in than private schools, but the tradeoff is the price of tuition. The whole point of advancing your career other than personal satisfaction is the pay. You don't want that debt hanging over your head. You got this.