slow and affordable or Accelerated?

[delawhere2006]

I am a former teacher who is both a stay at home mom and student slowly updating credits. I'm now in the pre-health courses which expire within a couple of years for most programs and need to figure out what plan on.

I live where community college/and BSN completions are VERY affordable. There are NO legit accelerated options for me in state, so I would have to take 14 months away to study at CSU Pueblo. I have two little ones, so of course this would be a hard choice. However, in shaving off 3 years of nursing school, I think it might be worth it.

Another factor is, of course, finance. I would really like to avoid private student loans and only qualify for $12,500 a year through FAFSA for federal aid. Can childcare be added? I qualify for a number of payback programs (rural, under-served care, faculty, etc) both federally and locally, but as a 30-something I've already been burned by student loans in my previous higher education. I hear paybacks can be very bureaucratic and am not sure if it would be worth it.

Final factor that is worth mentioning is that my husband is supportive of any of this. Luckily he has a good salary that could cover our household expenses plus my local tuition. However, there's no way we could swing childcare, housing and the out-of-state/but reciprocated tuition in Colorado.

I'm hoping that some one has lived this before? What are your thoughts? Advice? Much appreciated! Thank you so much!

[Asystole RN]

Future annual gross - current annual gross = potential annual difference.

Slow program years - accelerated program years = time investment difference

Potential annual difference x time investment difference = potential gross from accelerated program

Slow program loan - accelerated program loan = education investment cost difference

Education investment cost difference + Potential gross from accelerated program = actual education/career benefit

Keep in mind when you calculate the actual education/career benefit you need to take into account the time investment difference and use it as a multiplier on the actual education/career benefit. The value of that multiplier will depend upon you but the one thing you cannot make more of is time. If the actual education/career benefit is a + or cost neutral the time investment multiplier means it is positive move to go accelerated due to the time savings.

[advsmuch08]

I went through an accelerated program and it was very intense. School is basically your full time job. Wake up early for clinicals, go to clinicals, eat a quick lunch, go to classes, come home to do homework, eat, shower, repeat. We only had like 2 weeks off between semesters. I was glad I went the accelerated route but you must be especially prepared for the time committment and be highly organized.