So for example, if I was choosing between Villanova or Penn State at $60k or Pitt at $40k, would the answer then be Pitt because it is the cheapest of the three? Or are there other factors due the schools posed?
Or imagine this post was for a business degree. Is a Harvard business degree worth the money, or should everyone just pursue the cheapest options?
(My dad said I sound whiney so I’m sorry for that- thank you for all your help!!)
@RocknDE - I don’t think you have mentioned how you would pay for the additional cost of Pitt, if Pitt is chosen, over Duquesne. If you are taking out $20,000 in loans each year to offset the shortfall, then absolutely you need to consider the most economical option. There is no sense in coming out $60,000 - $80,000 in debt for the same degree.
Are there younger siblings who will be college in the next few years? Again, I would consider the most economical route to help out your parents and younger siblings.
Have you tried to appeal the Pitt offer by asking if they can match Duquesne’s offer? That may be worth a try.
My daughter is declining many of the schools you have mentioned. Besides the finances, the fit was really, really important to us even if we had to pay a little more [but without taking out loans]. My daughter attended an all girls high school for 9th grade. From the 2nd week of school on, she hated it - each and every day!! We all suffered that year. She changed high schools for 10th grade and she has been much happier the past 3 years. So, for us, the fit - where she will be the happiest the next 4 years, where she feels comfortable to achieve her goals and to be challenged along with getting an excellent nursing education in a program with a high NCLEX passing rate without straining us financially was how my daughter made her decision.
One of my daughter’s best friends was accepted to USC. USC only offered her a bunch of loans. The family is taking out $5500 in Stafford and $30,000 in parent plus loans - total $35,500 in loans for the 1st year and total will be $142,000 in loans over 4 years and there is a younger sister who will be going to college in 2 years. All these people are seeing is the neon lit USC! USC! USC! Even though she is commuting distance from USC, she insists she must live on campus. The neon lights my family sees are YOU’RE CRAZY to get yourself into that kind of debt. She has other more economical choices too.
I think everyone’s posts have supported the fact that a BSN degree from either school is pretty equal. (Unlike a business degree which for most people will still have a value threshold. There was a recent article where someone took a full Alabama scholarship over an Ivy (Harvard I think) because he would not have to take out loans.)
And while the degree is the end result - it is 4 years of your life in a place - fit should come into play. If the degree is the same value, why is Pitt stronger for you than Duquesne? And is that difference worth $60,000 to you?
For many of us that amount of money makes it an easy decision which is why so many posts suggest you strongly consider UD or Duquesne. But it is not our money (or loans if that is the case - but if it is…please read about people regretting the school debt they have!) and we will not be the ones in the school for 4 year : )
Best of luck to you and let us know where you decide. You have great choices and a wonderful experience ahead of you!
Pitt was my S16’s first choice for nursing. I had him apply to Duquesne just in case. He was accepted to Duquesne (Honors) with a scholarship. We chose Pitt over Duquesne based on fit. It was difficult for me to turn down that scholarship! But he wanted a larger school/campus, a strong program with a high number of clinical hours, the opportunity to participate in research and hospitals nearby. The location is an added plus - walking distance to green space, museums, restaurants, etc. He was also not interested in attending a Catholic university and had concerns about it being a suitcase school.
I should also add that my S wanted a more balanced male to female ratio for the whole school (considering that nursing is 5-10% males typically). Duquesne has a higher percentage of females over males.
RocknDE:
IMHO the simple answer to your question in post #19 is No. Looking at things from an overall perspective (ie cost, career plans) the most important thing is getting into a well respected Nursing Program (all three you are considering), apply yourself to the best of your abilities, and the bottom line here, from a career perspective especially related to Grad School admission and cost, is obtaining the highest GPA as possible. GPA is probably the most important factor in the areas of finding Nursing positions following graduation at the top Academic Medical Centers and in Grad School admission. Our D graduated from UD and did very well academically. Following graduation she landed a highly competitive entry level Nursing position (nearly 1000 applicants for only around 15 positions) at Cornell Presbyterian Medical Center in NYC. After 2 years there she applied to Nursing Grad Programs and was accepted into some of the top Nursing Grad Programs in the country (including Penn) but decided to attend the Univ. of Miami where she ontained her MSN as FNP. She is now on the Nursing Faculty at Miami. I seriously doubt she could have done any better if she attended Pitt. Just my perspective. Good luck.
Thanks again for the input RyanG1207/BlueSkyForever/kchamp…And that really is the gist of the decision - Potentially sacrificing fit/happiness (or I should say level of happiness) for money. We also had similar concerns with Duq which I think is why we are struggling with the decision. She liked the Duq campus but we both felt the smaller size, less students, less diversity etc. would lead her to be bored after a year. She too went to Catholic school K-8 and chose to attend a public STEM charter school fit h.s. and has been extremely happy. My fear is she will be happy with the nursing program but unhappy with campus life which will obviously reflect on her entire undergrad experience. If she chooses Pitt, she will have to take $5k/yr in subsidized loans if offered. She did appeal to Pitt and “due to the high level of academically talented applicants” she was denied. We the parents will not occur debt for this but it could potentially impact our younger daughter’s options. So this is where we are and kchamp nailed it - is fit/happiness for your kid worth $60k+?? I don’t feel like we are falling into the neon lit Pitt! Pitt! trap - though I did feel a little of that with Villanova! 
But whether it’s incurring debt or taking from savings, it is still real money out of pocket that could be used elsewhere down the road. My D posted above and read your comments last night and I could see the disappointed look on her face after coming to the realization that we are going to be swayed toward Duq based on everyone’s input. She truly believes this choice will alter her entire path in life which it may. But ahhh to be young again and not realize how many life altering choices are ahead of you
How about UDel for BSN and Pitt for grad school? She can get an off campus apartment and take out her own grad loans. Maybe you can help with rent during grad school and/or buy her a car with the undergraduate savings at UDel.
Oh and I think for freshman year the max subsidized loan is $3500, the remaining $2000 is unsubsidized.
So are you saying you can easily pay the $40,000 it would take for Pitt?
@RocknDE
Based on my S16’s high school experience, we knew that the campus experience could potentially affect his success so this played a major role in our decision. We don’t have plans to pay for any graduate school and this does not affect D18. It still hurt to turn down that scholarship, but this was the best decision for our family. Good luck! Please let us know how it turns out.
If she chooses Duquesne, it is not far from Pitt, and there is good public transit in the area. She can make friends at Pitt and attend some of Pitt’s events, games and activities.
Mommdc - plus 1800 subsidized nursing loan and 7k grant (all year 1 only). We don’t need to wheel/deal with her - just want her to be happy and get a great nursing education. RyanG1207 - it sounds like your S likes the Pitt program…Thanks for the POV. Concerns we had with Duq’s program was fewer clinical hours (800 vs 1300), not being able to get into all clinical rotations, and when visiting they mentioned they were dropping the sr. preceptorship because it was getting too hard to match students. How has your son’s clinical experience been at Pitt? That alone would lead me to believe the added cost is somewhat justified. Charliesch - we’ve echoed the same point to her regarding hanging out at Pitt - Thx all! Anyone aware of any Duq parents/students on this forum?
He will be in the freshman class this fall so I can’t comment personally. I’ve reached out to a parent of a Pitt nursing student and a current nursing student through Facebook when I had questions. I can try to connect you if you are interested.
If you search Duquesne and nursing on this website, you will find posts from people who were happy with their program. You can also find the people who made those posts and message them.
wow… tough choice. My dd(dear daughter) got into all 3 schools. We were never in Pitt before and after visiting Duquesne, she decided she didn’t like the city so never made it to U of Pitt. She is going to UD. WE are out of state so have a higher tuition. Duquesne offered her tons of merit but she didn’t like the city. She also wants the preceptorship. I would’ve pushed looking at U of Pitt (depite her not liking a city school) but there was no merit and considering she wants to get a masters later on. In fact, UPitt didn’t have that program she wants.
I know you don’t like UD nursing, but did recall one nursing student there was from DE and very happy. At first she wanted to be be out of state (JMU in VA) and changed her mind. But if you don’t like the program thats another thing.
I hear a lot of stuff about on clinical hrs and the concern that more is best. . I asked a friends daughter who is a fairly new RN about that. She said no one will ask you that in an interview. They are mostly concerned about GPA. Of course, if you want more clinical hrs then go to the school that provides that. Another school we looked at, in the south, said a lot of kids can’t get right in there to do hands on clinical (due to HIPPA) and thats why they don’t start clinicals until later (like UD). Not sure about this whole HIPPA thing, but that is what the Prof. said. And the other thing is that all those students doing pre-nursing don’t have clinicals until JR/SR year anyway. I was just reading the other day that the NCLEX requires a certain amt and its not 1000 hrs. So i think that is a personal thing and won’t make or break being a good nurse.
As far as opportunity and jobs, like it was said, if you do well then you are fine. Someone here states that it doesnt matter where you go to school for an RN.
We were in this situation with my other kids and despite me pressing for the better and more expensive private schools (they went to state schools) they are doing incredible. Its nice they saved me lots of $$
ALso keep in mind, that the tuitions go up about 5% a year on the average.
Duquesne is a National League of Nursing Center for Excellence in Nursing Education. There are only a few
nursing programs in the US that have that distinction.
The way the curriculum is set up at Duq., sophomore year courses include health assessment, fundamentals of nursing and adult health and illness. Those classes would qualify to receive CNA [certified nursing assistant in CA] but on the east coast it is called LNA [licensed nursing assistant] endorsement by education in many states. Thus, one could work as a CNA/LNA during the summers in between soph and junior and junior to senior years. By working 10 weeks/40 hours per week that is 400 hours per summer for 2 summers would be 800 more hours of nursing/clinical experience added on to the clinical hours in the BSN curriculum. The curriculum is rigid and does not allow for very many free electives. I was surprised that Psych 101 isn’t a required prerequisite. I counted 3 religion type classes. Some religious affilliated nursing programs at other colleges have 4-6 religion/philosophy required courses.
In March, my daughter and I attended the admitted student day at UD along with a nursing program presentation by 3 current UD nursing students - a freshman, a junior and a senior. The students explained that freshmen year the nursing students are starting to learn their nursing skills in the sim lab which, by the way, the sim lab was state of the art and the most realistic hospital environment sim lab I have been in. Sophomore & junior years there is much more sim lab time and in senior year they start their clinicals in the hospital. All 3 nursing students liked how the UD nursing program was set up and they are felt that they were being well prepared. It seemed to me that since they spend so much time in the sim lab, they become very comfortable with their nursing skills thus when they transition to the hospital they are very confident with their skills and knowledge base. Again, more nursing/clinical hours could be obtained during the summer months working as a LNA. Christiana Hosp., used by the UD nursing students, is a 900 bed teaching hospital.
Thanks again! We really appreciate the great insight. Cali60 thanks for the note and sharing your experience - my daughter and I read it in the car on the way to school this morning and really appreciated your kindness. BlueSky, we too attended in March but the reality is we live 5 minutes from campus and are in Newark almost everyday. She has always been attracted to the big city and fell in love with Pittsburgh. So all else equal Duquesne wins out! We have decided to go with the advice we’ve been given since the very beginning - go to a good program with least expense, minimize/eliminate debt and do well in school. With that said she has chosen Duquesne. Again thank you all and we will let you know how her experience is!!
Congrats on a decision @RocknDE ! I know it was a hard decision to make. Best of luck to your D!
Congrats.
For anyone else comparing a moderately priced choice to an expensive choice, here is a general rule of thumb: If you figure out that you can just barely afford a college, that really means YOU CANNOT AFFORD IT.
There will always be unexpected expenses. Tuition and fees will go up each year. Nursing students need uniforms, shoes, clearances, equipment and very expensive textbooks (which they usually keep for studying for certification, as opposed to re-selling). Also, housing costs often increase substantially after the first year, whether on-campus or off-campus. The freshman dorms are deceptively cheap compared to what you will pay later. Some cities are extremely expensive for off-campus housing.
In 95 percent of the country, a nursing student will need a reliable car to get to clinicals, especially during odd hours when you cannot rely upon mass transit.
In addition, a family has to assume they will face unexpected non-college expenses, such as unexpectedly needing a need roof or a new furnace or expensive car repairs.
Furthermore, way too many parents sacrifice their own retirement savings to fund an expensive college. There is an important thread on CC about the problems with taking out large amounts of Parent PLUS loans. In addition to the high fees and interest rates, paying back those loans will make it much harder for parents to save for their retirement. Some parents tell their kids: Yes, I’ll pay for you to attend NYU for a zillion dollars a year, as long as you agree you are going to let me move into your house when I run out of retirement savings. Oh, and I’ll complain constantly that the house is too cold, and that you are out of oatmeal.
I will tell you we were faced with the exact same dilemma between Pitt and Duquesne. Pitt would not budge on the academic scholarship, even though they wanted my student for their honors program and Duquesne’s scholarship made it cheaper than our in state school (NY). My daughter also felt Duquesne was more caring within their nursing program and more personal. Duquesne is very respected within Pittsburgh and their students are high profile within the city. It would have cost us an extra 8K per year to attend Pitt. We are not PA residents. My daughter is finishing her junior year at Duquesne, has enjoyed most of it and gets the same clinical placements as Pitt students,(sometimes better). She is a member of the Honors College and has a close relationship with her professors and has been very involved on campus as a student leader. Because she finished two clinical rotations at Duquesne, by the end of her sophomore year, she was eligible for, applied to and was selected for a paid VA nursing internship last summer. (which is not customary) She was also accepted into a paid internship in one of the top hospitals in Pittsburgh (organ transplant and surgical oncology rotations) for this upcoming summer. Duquesne will afford you as many opportunities as you can take advantage of and the two campuses are only about 10 mins away from each other by car. I think it will all come down to where your student feels most comfortable and what you want to shell out. Graduates from both schools are hired by many healthcare systems and Duquesne nursing students get internships at UPMC facilities. If your student eventually wants to return to your area after graduation, it really makes sense to go to a nursing program where you would be happy to live after graduation, since your nursing contacts may be key in obtaining employment. Best of luck! PM if you have any specific questions.
Best to your dd! Im sure she will do great and Duq is a very good school.