My fiancée is facing a tough decision between two Boston-area Direct-Entry MSN programs; Simmons College and Salem State University. The biggest difference between these two schools is the cost; $150,000 for Simmons and $35,000 for Salem State. In both cases, we're looking at loans to pay for all of it.
My hope is advice from practicing NPs will help us decide how important cost is when picking a program. Did you go to an expensive school? If so, do you regret it? Or has it not really mattered? Is it important that you go to the best possible school or is getting the degree the most important part?
Her goal is to be an FNP, and the Simmons program is the better choice to achieve this; good clinicals and good reputation in the area. Salem State is also a good school and has very competitive acceptance, but does not have as good a reputation in the area nor are the clinicals as good. Also, it's an AGNP program so she'd need to obtain a post-masters certificate after graduation to move to FNP.
I am curious to hear what people think about these choices and how much cost should matter when choosing a program. It's extremely intimidating to be making a $100,000+ decision between schools, but we also don't know how much impact this will really have down the road.
