NVCC Cost and Pre-requisites

[LawyerRN2b]

Hi Everyone-

I've started to re-think my career in law (2008 graduate/ barred/ not practicing in the traditional sense). Health -care has always interested me so I'm exploring a possible switch to nursing school from non-profit work. NVCC seems like the right choice in terms of cost and what I am looking for out of a program. However, I am very confused and hoping someone can illuminate some things for me.

I am a DC resident (sad since I lived in VA from 2003 to 2010) and cannot (since this is not my first degree) claim in state tuition. How much does the program cost from beginning to end for an out of state student? How much can you borrow in terms of Stafford Loans? I ask b/c if I am do this full time, I will not be able to work and I will need money to survive and pay rent, etc. I am hoping to be able to save as much as I can but I am not sure how much extra I will really need.

Are there any pre-reqs I can take now that will transfer over if I get accepted? I actually think I will have to take those HS classes over since I do not believe I recieved a C or better (I was a horrible math/ science student in HS). Is there anything I can get out of the way now?

Thanks!

[Cilantrophobe]

Your question is going to be very hard to answer without knowing what you've already taken. Are you planning on moving to VA or are you going to pay out of state tuition throughout the program? Assuming you're starting from scratch I believe it's $300 per credit for OOS. You'll need 65 credits (prereqs, coreqs, and NUR classes) so about $19,500 total.

Just as a little FYI, rumor has it that out-of-state residents are not being accepted into the programs currently (due to lack of spots available).

I think everyones loan options are based on their own income. I could be wrong but I'm only assuming. There's no real way to know any of this without filling out a FAFSA in early Spring 2011 and finding out that way. You could always ask a financial aid advisor, but I highly doubt they will give you any real numbers.

[rzn73]

A word to the wise, I am a DC resident and have been twice rejected from the nursing program due to my out-of-state resident status (I have a 4.0 and did very well on my TEAS, and I have been informed by the Dean that my rejection is because I am not a VA resident). I am now looking at programs in DC because that is where I live - UDC is MUCH cheaper than NVCC (NVCC is a little over $300 a credit hour, as compared to $130 at UDC). Also, look around at a number of programs - they all have different pre-requisites and not all schools will transfer credits from other schools (for example, NAS 101 at NVCC won't transfer to a lot of 4-year colleges because it does not contain enough of a physiology aspect . . . or something along those lines).