State or private college

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

Published

Hi, I'm new to the forum. Thanks for having me!

I am currently attending Kent State University in Kent Ohio. I have all my prerequisites done and applied to the Nursing program. I was denied this entrance for fall 2017.

I now have to wait for the next program to start, possibly a year!!!

My question is, do I stay where I'm at (state college) or pay a boat load of $$ to get right into a private Nursing school (Chamberlin, Herzing ect..) even though the credits are different and possibly not transferable?

My employer has been covering up to $5200 a year of tuition costs. To this point, I have very little school debt >$2000! I would like to keep it this way but my family (wife) is really pushing me to "get it done". I am not so sure she realizes how truly difficult Nursing school is and what it is like working full time on nights with children ect...

My gut tells me to stick with KSU and emerge with a small amount of debt. I work at a hospital as a tech and work directly with other Nurses both young and old. The general consensus is if they had to do it again, it would be slower and less debt. The financial burden they faced after getting out of school hindered their enjoyment of the job.

Any thoughts??

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Please don't go the private school route, your debt to income ratio will be ridiculous and I'm sure you do not want that type of financial burden hanging over your family. Those type of private for profit school will cost you nearly 100k to become a RN which in my opinion will never be worth it to slave and pay it off.

So go for a cheap school (no matter the wait) and see it as an investment where you can be spending money to do things with your wife and kids then having to work a lot of overtime to pay off your debts and still feel like you've gotten no where.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Do you know why you didn't get in? Are there other programs in your area?

I'd avoid debt if at all possible.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Good heavens, stay where you are, get into the state university program, and stay away from the overpriced proprietary "schools".

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Mental Health.

Do you know how many semesters you would need if you went to Herzing? I'm not at a private school, but I was just looking at their tuition and it is actually less than a typical private school. Looks like two years would be about $40k, which really isn't ridiculous, that's about $20k more than you'd be paying for two years anyway. I would only consider that route though if you are very good with money, and were disciplined enough to take your extra income once you were an RN and used it towards your debt until it was gone, and make some sacrifices (getting beater cars) along the way.

Also do some math - figure out the difference in salary between what you make now and what an RN makes and calculate what you would "lose" for every year more you have to wait. My guess is that extra $20k would be more than made up by becoming an RN a year sooner, but I don't actually know what you make.

I am not at a private school and don't know much about them in terms of career outlook, but their tuition isn't as bad as a lot of private schools from what I can see. I would talk to them about credits transfers first though.

Edit: Everything I said gets wiped out by interest payments if you end up making minimum payments on this. lol

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Rionoir, I have sent my transcript to Herzing so they can tell me exactly what classes they accept and I will have to take. They haven't gotten back to me yet.

With that said, I'm good with money, however my three daughters and wife aren't! lol

I am having trouble justifying the cost of the school even though it would be paid back with the extra RN money. My work pays $5000.00/year of tuition. At KSU, I work for the hospital at the same time they pay for my education! I should have no to very little debt for just one more year in school! Compared to possibly $30,000 in loans!? The gamble comes if I get passed over again after waiting at KSU! I've already been given lots of bad info from the advisors about this whole process, so I don't trust them! My family is pushing hard to go private, I guess it's all part of the ride!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

ItsThatJenGirl,

It was explained to me by my advisor that Kent bases their admission into Nursing off of a points system each student accumulates with every class. This system is based off the quality of the class you take! Example, you take two classes worth 4 credit hours. You get the credit hours at the end of the completed class, however each one has a different "quality" rating. They use this point rating along with your GPA and class credits to determine who gets in and who does not! I also was told to take other classes (writing class & psych) in lieu of the couple needed to get in (bio Chem & Micro). Also observed several people in A&P who were also in the program at the same time!!?? Seems like pick and choose, when and where lies!

Oh, BTW, Kent does not tell you what classes are higher points than others?? UGHH

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Corrections, Surgical.

For profit schools are the worst. I have heard terrible things about them and there are so many post about them on this site. One guy in my class (Im at a local community college for associates in nursing) said he is $20K in debt from Keiser and none of his credits transferred over so he is doing everything over at the college. Please go to a community college and get the ADN and then go for the BSN if you cannot get into a university right now. When I first started I was scared that no one will hire me until I get the BSN but its just a myth ( at least where I live in Florida). Ive talked to so many nurses and they said as long as the employer sees that you are enrolled in a BSN program they will hire you if they like you. Plus its all about who you know at the end of the day. Remember you will not be making millions as a new grad nurse and alot of times new grads cannot work overtime right away. Graduate with as little debt as possible and you will be thanking yourself in the long run. That way when you get a nursing job, you can enjoy your paycheck without majority of it going to student loans. I thought about going to a private school as well in the beginning but $28K a year is just not worth it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Hi there!! Thought I would just jump in and add a few points. Herzing is a private non-profit university, as it states on their website. You can also see their tuition on their website, so you should check that out to see if the price will work for your circumstances. I noticed in one of the comments above there was the suggestion about looking into transferring your previous credits. That is a great idea, and I would also suggest getting in contact with the schools you're looking into to see if you can transfer anything. This is something that could also help you with price. As for the culture of the schools, you could check out their Facebook pages for reviews or take a tour of the campuses. Again, this might be a way to see if the culture of the school is the right fit for you. Good luck!! Tuition and Fees | Herzing University

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Ok, for everyone's knowledge I herd back from Herzing. I have 32 credit hours and a 3.7 GPA at Kent State University. Herzing will only take 4 of my classes and stated it will take 24 months for me to complete their program! One class they will NOT take is A&P2...stating they want me to learn A&P in their format, not KSU's! What a joke!

Needless to say I have now talked with every RN, NP, Dr, CC and now the Nursing Administrator here at the hospital (and you guys) which all say stay where I am. That's what I'm going to do!

THANKS EVERYONE!!!

I super appreciate your input! Keep up the hard work!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment