Should I just suck it up and take out loans for a private school?

vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN · Jul 4, 2011

I don't want to offend anyone on here, but I feel like many of the recent posts have been anti-loans and anti private school without providing sufficient information to substantiate the claims. Just because a school is private does not mean that it is not legitimate or that you will not be able to get a job if you attend.

People take out loans who attend public schools, too.

It is important to consider the person's geographic location, as well as their personal circumstance when making the decision not to take out loans.

In my area, for example, nurses graduating with a BSN earn $38-$42 per hour starting. I have friends who’ve been (ADN and BSN) nurses for less than 10 years who make $50-$75 per hour. This fact means that a person in my area can afford to pay back a loan. I know nurses make less in come areas, and this is different.

If a person can’t find a job, loans issued by the department of education have special forebearances for those people.

In this economy, people should be aware that they might not find a job right away when they make the choice to devote several years of their lives to school, this would be a tragedy for a person to consider regardless of taking out loans or not.

In my area of Northern Cali, there are no part time nursing programs. It is also nearly impossible to get into classes. This means that if a person really wants their education, they might need to pay for it. With loans

While, I personally don’t think I’d pay $40-60K for a private school ADN degree, maybe that it the only choice for another woman due to her circumstances.

This is not my first choice, but the public BSN program in my area, CSUS, is the most competitive CSU. If I don’t get in, I personally, am considering paying $60K for a BSN. If my choice is between nothing or the $60K, I think I’d consider it.

The community colleges in my area are just like SupremeKizzle described:

“I would not like to spend two years taking pre-nursing courses only to find I have to wait two years, get accepted, and then spend two more years finishing the BSN.”

Except it might take you longer than 2 years to finish prereqs if you can’t get into the classes you need on time. And some people wait for longer than 2 years to get into the ADN program.

Some people have a family to support and can’t be in school and not working, or working at a low paying job for 5+ years while they get an ADN. For some people, if they don’t take out loans, they can’t go to school.

I have a recently divorced friend who is a mom to 2 kids who is taking out a loan to pay for a 1 year LVN. Next, she’ll complete a bridge LVN-RN program at the community college, since it’s easier to get into than straight RN. Without loans, she’d be spending 3-4 years just to get her LVN. Her little kids probably need her to work sooner than later, because she can’t stay with her parents forever, KWIM?

I don’t think loans should be taken out frivolously. I think bus passes and paid off cars are good things to have when you’re a student. But some people need to take out loans, due to the way the educational system is structured.

supremekizzle · Jul 4, 2011

Thank you vitage mother for providing your opinion on the subject at hand. Another thing that I have found is some of the private schools have articulation agreements with CC's so that could save a hefty chunk of change as well. Take the first two years at a CC and have a seamless transition over to a private school. No wait, this would put me into the work force quicker providing me with 2+ extra years of income I would have otherwise missed out on due to waiting. In other words; it pays for itself.

vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN · Jul 4, 2011

SuperKizzle said "this would put me into the work force quicker providing me with 2+ extra years of income I would have otherwise missed out on due to waiting. In other words; it pays for itself."

This is the mindset that some of my school friends and I have discussed. If you take out loans, you have to commit yourself to paying them off when you graduate. In other words, still live like a "poor college student". And, yes, why wait 5 years to get in, if 1 year of pay is equivalent to the cost of the loan. The only exception being if you can't get a job right away. But you just have to make a back up plan for that, too! Like going back to school for a masters or filing for a loan deferment, etc.

THELIVINGWORST, ASN, RN · Jul 4, 2011

sigh....there is a reason private schools are so expensive...its BECAUSE its so easy to get into. In vegas they prefer students from CCSN or UNR over even UNLV but the private school nurses get picked last for positions...know why? Because there are no real standards to get into nursing schools that are for profit. Because they let anyone who can pay attend! Pass rates at private schools are consistently lower than public schools. Anything less than a B in CC will cause you to be dropped from the program.

I am assuming you don't have children and aren't married, and excuse me if im wrong, but an ADN is about 4 years and a BSN 5 years with prereqs included. What is the purpose of taking all your prereqs at CC and then going and paying tens of thousands of dollars to go private when you could just apply to ADN or BSN programs once you're done with prereqs? I just don't think quicker equals better in this type of profession.

Would you rather have a nurse who got into a school based on merit or her ability to pay a huge amount of money for her degree?

IMO you should work smarter instead of faster.

vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN · Jul 4, 2011

SlinkyHead: So, are you saying that Azusa, Dominican, Samuel Merritt and the University of San Francisco aren't good schools and let anyone in?

Ummm...Harvard and Stanford are also private schools.

Slinkyhead, I agree that people should go to public if possible, because, after all, why pay more when you can pay less? There are, however circumstances that may make private a better option for some people. And not all private schools are bad schools with bad reps.

Oh and ADN's are NOT 4 years due to the impossibility of getting into prereqs due to overcrowding at public schools - in my area, at least. This is the big draw for private. You can get into the classes you need. I was forced to take 1 semester off due to not being able to add A&P. I'm still committed to going to community college for my prereqs, but I lost a whole semester. Some students can't afford that. Especially if they live on a very reduced budget and need to graduate fast or rely on an on campus job or financial aid or scholarship money to pay bills.

And, last time I checked, the private school in my area with the worst reputation had the highest NCLEX pass rates in my area- Western Career College.

KatieJ91 · Jul 4, 2011

It will cost me around $15K to get my ADN at the local CC here. When you work at the hospital they give you $3,000 a year towards continuing your education so I plan on using that money, plus the money I will be making to get my BSN. In the end it will take me 2 years longer, but it will save me a couple thousand dollars!

supremekizzle · Jul 4, 2011

I would actually prefer not to pay out of my orifice for school but there is just too much finality in deciding where to go. It would really blow to complete my gen eds and pre reqs and then apply to the nursing program just to hear that I am one of 2747583837462 students that applied and they only have 2 seats open a year. Ideally I could take my gen eds and pre reqs anywhere I wanted and then apply to 10 or 20 different nursing programs. Do gen eds and pre reqs generally transfer to any public school? Or does it only work like a partnership? Eg: I take all my gen eds and pre reqs at college A in Colorado. After completing those I apply to 20 different programs around the country for just the core nursing program. Do public schools usually transfer credits this way?

THELIVINGWORST, ASN, RN · Jul 4, 2011

^^^when I say private schools i mean for profit nursing schools. The ones that say "hey! come to our school and pay $40000 for a nursing degree!" or " sure we are only provisionally accredited but give us your money and if you pass the NCLEX then you can work in this state!"

Those kinds of schools. IMO when people say "should I just pay X amount of dollars in order to save time" it just means they are impatient and are looking for the easiest and fastest way out.

BTW where I live ADN and BSN take the same amount of time and BSN's make $1-2 more per hour plus our CC has the best reputation and other nursing programs look to our program for advice on how to better prepare their students for the NP....everyone has to work hard to get what they want...i just don't get the concept of paying so much more when the only thing you gain is less time in school. Regardless of the actual scholarship of a student body....private schools have bad reputations.

Im not going to argue on the internet. OP just do your research and make sure you don't bite off more than you can chew. My schooling is free and it took me 2 yrs for prereqs and it will be 2 yrs for NS. PS i support myself and work full time no kids.

THELIVINGWORST, ASN, RN · Jul 4, 2011

You always have the option of applying to more than one school...there is nothing final about it. It just feels wrong to buy my way in to a program. I want to be the best and be among the best. I worked hard and got only one C in two years going to school full time and work full time. The rest of my classes are A's and I know I will be in NS in January because of that. I hear that schools in CA are impacted with applicants and have superlong waiting lists because of that. BUT california is not the only state in the country. We have no waiting lists here in Nevada because it is all Merit based...meaning people with the best credentials get in. You can't just get all C's in your classes and expect to get in....cause you won't. NS is intensive and they want to know you can handle the workload. BC especially in dosage calculations, if you miss more than one question you get one more shot...if you miss a second time you are out of there. If you can look at schools outside of your area i think you would be surprised

nkoyko · Jul 4, 2011

Well you don't necessarily have to go the whole insanely large loan route. You'll need to fill out a FAFSA at fafsa.ed.gov and have the report sent to the schools you are wanting to attend and you will also have to apply for them all in order to get a financial aid offer. The way financial aid is given varies by school so you can't base one school off of another.

Getting your pre-reqs from a different school can sometimes be a good idea but you need to make sure that the credits will transfer and transfer correctly.

And since you say you want to go the public school route, I would be looking at the schools reputation. No one is going to want to hire you if the school you attend is a joke or is pumping out unprepared nurses. Always do your research before you agree to a school or anything that they might offer you.

NewSN13 · Jul 4, 2011

You should look at PBS Frontline's report online about for-profit schools called "College Inc." and then check out the other report called "Educating Sergeant Pantke." These two investigative reports are a must see for anybody considering taking this route. Very informative!!!

I just watched "College Inc." on Netflix and completely agree that it is a much watch!

There is also an excellent sticky on this forum about NLNAC and CCNE accreditation. I've heard a few horror stories about students in non-accredited programs not understanding until they graduate (and they've dumped a bunch of money into their education) the implications of attending a non-accredited program.

vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN · Jul 4, 2011

Hey! I don't want to argue, either SlinkyHead. :) I hope you guys are all having a happy fourth of July!!

PS I want my education to be as cheap as possible, too! I'm take classes at a community college and my goal is to earn a GPA high enough to get into the competitive California State Nursing school in my city.

If I don't, then I'm totally willing to apply to the ADN program through the community college.

BUT, if I don't get into either program, I am willing to consider paying for my BSN through a private school with a good rep that is affiliated with a large local hospital.

Slinky: I reread your post and you made an EXCELLENT point about the Merit based system. It's funny that you bring that up, because this is a big part of the misconception of getting in. Even in Cali, the CSU programs are merit based. Only the CC's aren't, but some of them are. This is why I am focusing on getting stellar grades. I'm so glad that you have earned mostly all A's, so far. That's awesome.