Published Jul 3, 2012
daisy4912
9 Posts
I'm a registered FL nurse. I have my AA and my AS in Nursing. I can't find a job and decided to go back to school asap! So, the only two schools that I can find to enroll in mid fall are Western Gov University and University of Texas at Arl. I was wondering which one would be a better fit? I HATE writing papers but i understand the RN to BSN is a lot of essays! I'm looking for cheap and easy! I know they are both accrediated and both cheap. I just want to know which one you would pick or your experiance with those schools. Any input is apprechiated!
vmariek
2 Posts
I, too, realize my self-limiting dilemma of not having my BSN, even though I have 22 years of nursing experience. WGU was just too vague in their "assessments" that are the equivalent of a class. I looked at UT, as well. If you want to even go further than a ban, which you may want to do one day, then consider a track that you can "MSN into". I have researched this for WEEKS and chose Wilmington University in New Castle, Delaware. It is very affordable, but, not what I would call "cheap". I took several classes, on campus, several years ago, but, alas, family tragedy struck and I got derailed. The beauty of it is this: you can take (4) classes at an MSN level towards your BSN, and transition right into your Master's program. I live in CA now, am going for FNP, and will work in an underserved area (research this, a great way to pay off loans) in Arizona that is only 2.5 hours from San Diego!! Bonus! And they forgive up to $100G in student loans. Whatever you choose, make sure it is NLN or CCNE which is the benchmark. Good Luck and think loan forgiveness.
happyinillinois
182 Posts
Went to WGU and loved it. Be warned, it is all writing papers. I thought UT made you take too many BS classes like History of Texas, etc. I already had a B.A. and an AAS in nursing, and so I only had to take nursing classes at WGU. I thought it was silly to take a bunch of stupid Hummanities classes when I already had so many. E text books included, I got my BSN for $3750.00 in 6 months. I worked, ver, very hard, but I did it in 6 months. Everything elese will take at leaset `5 months.
4everAnimeRN, BSN
Hey, I just got accepted to Wilmington's RN-BSN online. I know you took it on campus, but how do the clinicals work. Are they done in local areas or far away. Also if you remember anything about the holistic Class how was that?
mikala3
50 Posts
I also skipped UTA after finding out I had to take History of Texas. I just dont need it in Minnesota!
chuckster, ADN, BSN, RN, EMT-B
1,139 Posts
I considered UT-A but as others have posted, they require too many non-nursing courses and in my case would not accept any of my graduate school courses in lieu of UT-A classes. I opted for Ohio University. OU accepted everything possible and even exempted me from two buisiness-oriented nursing classes on the basis of my MBA, leaving me only with the core nursing courses. Tuition has gone up a bit since I started and they have switched from quarters to semestes but at only about $7,500 ($243/credit, 31 credits required), they are a relative bargain. If you double up on classes (they are on 5-week schedule) you can be done in about 6 months. I took one at a time and needed about a year.
Alternatviely, you can look at Thomas Edison in NJ, SUNY-Delphi (NY), Slippery Rock State (PA), U- Wyoming or Ft Hayes St in KS - they are all around or under 10 grand. All of the above are on-line programs, with no or limited clinicals and with full accreditation, regional as well as CCNE (which could be important, especially if you're thinking of grad school). I don't know for sure but don't think WGU has regional accreditation.
There are probably others as well but the point is that you can get your BSN fairly inexpensively if you are flexible and look around a bit.