Why Are So Many Students Worried About Expensive Tuition

Cindy-san · Jun 8, 2009

First of all nursing is one of the highest demand jobs on the market right now. Most graduates get hired before they even take their NCLEX, i'm speaking from a NY point of view, second how sick are we talking? Paralized to the point where you cant even move a limb for the rest of your life??? On the other hand I do understand if they realize that nursing isn't for them that makes sense, no one should be stuck unhappy with a career for the rest of their life.

I'm from NY. I didn't make $70 my first or 2nd yr. And what I did make, the gov't took quite a large chunk of. NYS taxes are killer.

Oh yes, and my big fancy hospital was on a hiring freeze for quite a while (and plenty of others still are). I'd hate to have all those loans and no job.

And to paraphrase my grad school: nsg is a demanding job. You have to be physically capable of doing it, or your out (of school).

kerric511 · Jun 8, 2009

I was joking to that ... although I would LOVE to get out of little maine. BUT, I have a job, and thats more than most people have right now.

khiasdestiny · Jun 8, 2009

Honestly I didn't know RNs out of NYS start at $22/hr, that is what LPNs over here start with. At New York Presbyterian Hospital-Cornell the RNs start with like $35/hr.

GilaRRT · Jun 8, 2009

Hehe, kids these days. You get that 70K a year job and see how much of that money comes your way. Then, look at living expenses. Unless, you plan to live in a studio, eating ramen noodles, and riding you bicycle to work every day, your living expenses are going to cost just a little bit. Paying off those loans are a bit more complicated. Of course, this is assuming you nab a 70K a year job as a new grad.

rngolfer53 · Jun 8, 2009

I was reading other threads and I came across students who were accepted to private nursing schools but declined their acceptance because of the tuition. If nursing is your passion by any means necessary you should do everything to accomplish your goal. In NY, nurses start off with 70K+ a year:yeah:, so in a rough estimate its possible to pay off large loans within 5-10 yrs. The cheaper schools are much more competitive to get into. If you get accepted into NYU, PACE, LIU etc. just go for it. Is anyone with me on this?

Like any other profession, nursing is also a job used to support the nurse and possibly the nurse's family, so economics matter.

If the would-be nurse already has adult obligations such as a family, older parents, etc, the burden of high tuition may be simply unbearable.

It certainly isn't the job of posters on a board to imply they aren't sufficiently passionate about nursing because they take a look at financial reality.

jRN2be · Jun 8, 2009

I am a Tele Tech at the hospital that I work at right now, and they offered tuition reimbursement when they opened a year ago, and now they say, due to the difficult economical times, there will be none. That will not stop me from being an RN, my dream since I was 16.

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Jun 8, 2009

costs vary around the country. impossible in pa to get bsn for total tuition of $15,000

costs at state universities is $15,000/year tutition plus another $10,000 for living expenses if living on campus

penn state: http://collegecostestimate.ais.psu.edu/isapi/collegecostestimate.dll/submit

temple: http://www.temple.edu/bursar/about/tuitionrates.htm

$15,000/yr tuition only = $60,000 /4yrs

+ $10,000/yr on campus housing = $40,000/ yrs

$60,000 to $ 100,000 4yr bsn degree

private colleges tuition + board :

drexel ~$40,000/yr

[color=#2200cc]la salle university $ ~26,000/yr

gwynedd mercy ~ 35,000/yr (only school with 2 asn+2 bsn option eastern pa)

[color=#67989c]holy family university tuition ~ 24,00/yr

villanova ~$45,000/yr

community colleges average 3 years to complete prequisites + major:

community college of allegheny county nursing program produces more nursing graduates than any other two-year college in the united states $1,800 - $3,302.40/ 18 credits/yr

rn program course progression.

tuition calculator

community college of philadelphia ~ $3,450/yr

delaware county--only delaware and chester co residents may attend nsg program ~ $2,045.00 -$3,485.00/yr ( sponsoring vs non sponsoring school district)

fuzzywuzzy, CNA · Jun 8, 2009

Feel free to spend YOUR money however YOU want, but please don't wag your finger :nono: at other people. It is none of your business. Why do you care anyway?

MurseMikeD · Jun 8, 2009

Some of us didn't have to buy our way into nursing school.

You're way out of line man. You're saying that because I earned my BSN at a private university where the tuition was $32,000 a year I must be less qualified than you, right?

Wrong. There are a lot of reasons people choose to go to a private school for nursing and accept higher tuition.

I was changing careers after several years working in fire/rescue and EMS. I wanted to make the change as quickly as possible, and travel wasn't an option. The private university I went to was less impacted (probably due in large part to the cost) and thus had a space for me. It was close to home too. Also, their NCLEX-RN pass rates were higher, the class sizes were smaller, and they had better clinical placements.

Don't for a second think it's okay to generalize students at private universities as buying our way in. It's incredibly insulting and ignorant.

elprup, BSN, RN · Jun 8, 2009

I "did not worry about the cost" of my private school tuition when I was accepted. Now that I graduated I am soo thankful that I applied to many scholarships, grants, and loans because my total bill for 3.5 years came to $197,000.00!!!! OMG, if I had not been awarded a full scholarship through the CA Dept of Health I would sure be in trouble right now, because I graduated May 08 and have yet to find a secure paying job as an RN, and I have a BSN. Many of my friends are struggling trying to pay $500 month in loans plus regular bills while still looking for a job. It's very difficult right now.

eriksoln, BSN, RN · Jun 8, 2009

I also would have to agree with others. I live in NC and Duke University is a very well know school. Their tuition is 28,000 a sememster and there is no way that I would go in 114,000 debt to work in NC as a nurse starting out making $20 an hr. I bet a loan like that would be $600-800 a month and thats hefty when your only bring home $1200 every two weeks. So IMO its not worth going to a private college if you know in the long run you cannot afford it, no matter how bad you want it.

I was more than a little vocal about the debt people are racking up in one of those other threads the OP mentioned. Why cant people use the simple math given them in grade school to reach the same conclusion you did?

Problem is, the media floods homes with messages that nurses are doing well, make more than ever and can get a job anywhere/anytime they please. People fall for it, and then start thinking "70K for a nursing degree is fine, you can have it paid off in a few years" like the OP does.

IDK, there just isnt reaching some people.

NC Girl BSN · Jun 8, 2009

People keep saying that if you make 70k a year, you can have the debt paid off in a few years. Most throughout the world know that average nurse don't make that much money and if they do their cost of living usually reflects that. I think education is great from private, state or CC. Its just when you have the mentality that your gonna rack up tons of debt to get a degree and worry about paying it later is the problem. Well, later comes before you know it and your stuck. I have about 12k in student loans from yrs ago when I graduated from 4 yr college with another degree. I borrowed 5k more than I should have because I figured I will get a job. It didn't happen like that and I found myself paying the minumum balance month after month. So maybe since I have my RN, I can work harder at paying it off. I told myself I will not go back to school unless someone else is paying for it! If it means that I have to get all "A's" to get a scholarships or wait till the economy is better then I will.