WHY are LPN programs so expensive?

[jelly221,RN, MSN]

In my desperation to begin working in a hospital, I was looking at many differeny LVN/LPN programs in the LA area. They had one common denominator: EXPENSIVE! Why is that? I know most of them have hardly any waiting list, which is probably due to them being expensive. Does anybody know why they cost so much? It seems silly to spend that much money when you could go to school a little bit longer and just get an ADN. But hey, I've considered it, so, all silliness aside- what's the deal??

[Jo Dirt]

I don't know, but my LPN program cost $1200, it was several thousand more to get the ADN.

You are in a very expensive area, though.

[Quickbeam, BSN, RN]

OP, how expensive is it? Education costs have soared all over in almost every category. Entry nurse (LPN or RN) programs are expensive to run since they are so labor intensive. What are you comparing the cost to?

[jelly221,RN, MSN]

All the LPN programs that I've been able to find around here are private, and around 15-20K. Most (all) of the ADN programs are at community colleges and are around 1K startup and if you're a resident, are about 1000 more for tuition all 4 semesters. It just seems wierd that there's such a huge discrepancy, and that no comm. colleges or anything like them offer LVNs.

[GeneralJinjur]

In Colorado, you can take one extra course in your second semester of the ADN program and then take the LPN boards over the summer. If your CCs operate this way, they may feel that they are meeting the need for LPN training.

[Happy2CU]

I went thru my LPN program in Buffalo, NY and I paid approximately $7200.00, plus uniforms and some miscellaneous supplies. For me it was a good choice. The RN programs in the area that that time had fairly long wait lists. I went thru the program in my mid 40's.....so felt I didn't have a lot of time to wait around ~ LOL. Personally, it was a good investment for me. As to why the programs are so expensive, I really don't know. I can tell you I had excellent instructors with good experience, a great facility to train in and a good clinical experience. None of that comes cheap. I feel I got what I paid for and I would happily do it again. Best of luck to you!!

[llg, PhD, RN]

All the LPN programs that I've been able to find around here are private, and around 15-20K. Most (all) of the ADN programs are at community colleges and are around 1K startup and if you're a resident, are about 1000 more for tuition all 4 semesters. It just seems wierd that there's such a huge discrepancy, and that no comm. colleges or anything like them offer LVNs.

I think the big discrepancy is because you are "comparing apples to oranges." It seems to me as if the LPN programs you are talking about cost 15-20K for the whole program ... while the 1K + 4K that you are talking about is for a portion of the program. In order to compare the two, you need to calculate the expense of the whole program for the ADN. I suspect that you are missing some of the costs it takes to get an ADN from start to finish.

Also ... community colleges are generally the cheapest source of education because they are supported by the tax payers. They were originally established in part, to provide low-cost education to the general public. They receive a lot of government support that a private program does not receive.

[kcochrane]

when i went to lpn school in '04, it was $6500 at a local technical school. there is also another school that is for low to no income students. there is also a private school that i know is pretty expensive. my school is now close to $11k. i know that i will not spend even close to $11k for my rn, but i have not been dissapointed with the path i took. you get a lot of clinical in lpn school and the experience i have from being an lpn is priceless.

generaljinjur , a lot of states are not allowing students to set for their lpn boards while taking rn courses anymore. i know nys does not allow this anymore. i guess it has to do with safety/educations issues. just wanted to add that on in case that is going to be used for anyone's choice on where to go.

[Plagueis]

My guess is that the reason those LPN programs are so expensive is, as you mentioned, they are private, and not public LPN schools. Where I live, the LPN programs operate out of technical schools, which are public, so the tuition is around $6,000 to $7,000 for the program. (Which is a great deal to me.) I am asssuming that there are no public technical schools in your area, so the companies that operate the private LPN programs know that they can charge way more because there is no competition from publically-funded LPN programs.

Also, I bet that there is no waiting list for the private LPN programs, as opposed to the local ADN programs. Therefore, the private LPN programs know that there are people who would be willing to spend $15K and up to become a nurse within a year (or however long the LPN program is), as opposed to waiting 2 to 4 years to come off a waiting list for an ADN program.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

Just for the heck of it, call those schools to see if they offer any scholarships. Would not matter the cost if you can get it free or cheap.

[GooeyRN, ADN, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN]

In 2001 my lpn program cost $14,000. In 2003 my RN adn program cost $6,000. The lpn program was part of a vocational school and had no waiting list. The RN program had a 2-3 year waiting list.

[jelly221,RN, MSN]

Just for the heck of it, call those schools to see if they offer any scholarships. Would not matter the cost if you can get it free or cheap.

Hmm, maybe I will.

Thanks to everybody for the ideas... makes total sense. I wish there was a vocational LPN school around here that had night classes with Saturday clinicals. WAIT, then I'd be in Heaven.