Public or Private: Which is the Best Nursing Program?
This article is opinion based on personal experiences of public and private education as a pre-nursing student. These may differ from student to student and school to school.
So you know you want to get a nursing education. You’ve looked at several public and private schools and thought, “I don’t know what to pick!” I was in your shoes once too, but thankfully for you, I have attended both! So, I will be going through each option and you can decide for yourself what works for you!
Community / Public
This type is for my peeps that are looking at community college, junior college, etc. I attended a local community college for about one year to finish up some last prerequisites for nursing school.
PROS
1- Low cost
Many community colleges, especially in CA, will provide what is called the “governors waiver”. I pretty much got paid to attend community college. Of course the money was used toward books and I used it to pay for my nursing application (which adds up fast, trust me). This is the biggest reason why people go to community college which is understandable since college education can cost an arm and a leg.
CONS
1- Time-consuming
Depending on the college you might find yourself on a waitlist especially trying to get into those science courses as the nursing field is highly impacted.
2- Academic support
While I do see colleges trying to provide support to their students with so many students it can be difficult to provide personalized support to each student. I found that the academic support was quite mainstream and each counselor would print the plan, highlight the courses and sent you on your merry way and because you were so nervous in the first place you forgot to ask questions.
3- Parking
Okay, you may think this is not a con but when you are running late, have a strict teacher and you can’t find parking it becomes a high stress situation. I would leave an hour before class started to find parking especially the first few weeks.
4- Nursing program
The education is great and cost is low; what’s the con? Not really a con, but another thing that may add stress is because of the high numbers of applications sometimes colleges will add “rules” before you apply. For example, for the one I attended you had to be completely done with all your courses before you wanted to apply also, because it was so impacted, you pretty much should only have A's to apply. Again, this is just my experience; it may be different for your local college.
Private
This type of college is for my peepsters that are willing to take out a loan here and there to help pay for education. I know you may be thinking, no way too expensive bye! But, some colleges will help by providing extra grants and scholarships to help cushion cost.
Pros
1- Academic support
By far the most amazing support I have had. I have tutors, mentors and professors all working together to tell me what I need to do to succeed! Yes, you may be thinking “well yeah, it cost an eye,” which there may be some truth to it but I have found I am getting what I paid for and some.
2- Small class sizes
This really gives the opportunity to network with professors and preceptors that may just help you land that awesome job at the end of your education! Also, because they are smaller, you get the chance to ask questions without being rushed.
3- Preparation
I have found that private schools really do help with the networking portion by providing opportunities because most times they have connections and partners from the community.
Cons
1- Cost
I am not going to lie here. It costs money. But I will say this, never turn down something because you don’t know. Look it into it, don’t be scared. You never know until you try. For me, I thought, "how am I going to pay for my current school, I should not even apply, I can’t afford it", but either way I went for a tour and came prepared with plenty of questions!
At the end of the day remember this ...
... it’s your education. The only person that will fight for it and work for it is you. Just like there are plenty of good community colleges there are also bad ones and same goes for private. I would highly suggest visiting each school and come prepared with questions like:
what does your academic support look like?
what are your class sizes?
what is your cost?, etc etc.
This will help you pick the right one based on YOUR needs. I hoped this helped you or at least gave you a good starting point and may your college choice be the best!
Go where you get admission if you have the money to afford private school. Usually, state funded programs are the best programs and some of the most economical. They pick up the best students. The second cut can go to expensive private schools with high standards. Those unable to make first and second cut may try expensive private schools without stellar reviews.
You should always watch your back at a private school that is less than 20 year old. Most are there to make money not educate.
feelix, RN
393 Posts
Go where you get admission if you have the money to afford private school. Usually, state funded programs are the best programs and some of the most economical. They pick up the best students. The second cut can go to expensive private schools with high standards. Those unable to make first and second cut may try expensive private schools without stellar reviews.
You should always watch your back at a private school that is less than 20 year old. Most are there to make money not educate.