yes - IMO UMass Lowell and Boston would turn out to be cheaper than other private and out-of-state colleges (especially with merit).
However, the colleges - SUNY Binghamton, Adelphi, and Simmons cost of attendance would be a close second with only 7-8K more per year.
Ah! thanks for the clarification
A few years back, I was considering a private-sector job vs. a state job and decided to take the private sector one because of additional money hoping to save up for kidsâ tuition. At that time, I didnât know or realize that one of the benefits would be the âtuition waiver in state schoolsâ
Yes, all state employees qualify for waivers at state schools. A year or two ago, the UMass system changed the way they do their budget with the state, and they retain much more of their tuition, so they changed the way they provide waivers for state employees.
On a private college note, my hubby works at one and there are several tuition programs where dependents can potentially pay no tuition at partner institutions. Many offer full tuition but some offer a reduced scholarship of $40k (22-23 academic year). Room and board is typically not included.
First time posting about my daughterâs choices for direct admit BSN programs since we now have all of the acceptances. She only applied to direct admit programs or ones where she pre-qualified for the direct pathway based on HS stats.
Stats: 3.89UW/4.33W GPA, 33 ACT, Biomedical Program (PLTW), CNA, hospital volunteer, 2 summer healthcare/nursing camps, pre-professional ballet program and competitive dance team
Criteria: direct admit program close to home (SW Ohio) at a medium to large school (must be bigger than her large HS) at an affordable cost (Goal < $26k per year) with no need based aid (EFC = $94k)
Results: Accepted to all 9 schools she applied to. Here are the schools and merit offers as well as the final direct cost (tuition, fees, room & board only - does not include misc. costs) for the first year. All merit is renewable for four years.
IN STATE (OH):
Miami U - Oxford: $9000/yr merit (Cost = $23k/yr)
U of Cincinnati: merit info will come out Feb 19 (Cost = $26k w/o merit)
Bowling Green State U: $9500/yr merit (Cost = $14k/yr)
U of Akron: $7500/yr merit (Cost = $15k/yr)
Wright State U: $2000/yr merit (Cost = $18k/yr)
Note: All the in-state schools offer Tuition Freeze Guarantee for all four years
OOS:
U of Pittsburgh: no merit or not yet received? (Cost = $57k/yr)
West Virginia U: $17500/yr merit (Cost = $23k/yr)
U of Southern Indiana: $14000/yr merit (in-state tuition plus $2000) (Cost = $18k/yr)
Marshall U: $14000/yr merit (Cost = $18k/yr)
I believe at this point, she has it narrowed down to Miami, UC, BGSU, or Akron, so any feedback about these or the other options would be appreciated. Miami and BGSU have very new programs, so it is hard to gather info. Miami used to only offer their BSN program at their regional Hamilton location, but started a program at Oxford in 2018. BGSU used to have partnership with University of Toledo and send student to Toledo for the final two years of the program but just started offering their own four year program in 2021. We recently visited Akron and will be visiting BGSU in February. We will also be revisiting Miami and UC in February even though we have already been.
Wow! thanks for sharing the details.
So Fairfield came back with about 11k grant aid and added to the 22k bellarmine scholarship, the school is now within reach at 36. Only issue is that with fafsa rules changing, the aid might change. I will have to call financial aid. They do look at the css profile as well, but I would hate to lose that grant $ next year and be stuck. We havenât toured yet. Has anyone looked at the school and nursing program? What was the campus vibe?
What fafsa rules are going to change and how could that effect merit? I thought once merit was given, you kept it for 4 years just as long as you kept a certain GPA?
WE looked at FAirfield for nursing. It was OK, campus is nice but the buildings seem on top of each other compared to other campuses. My daughter really likes Sacred Heart and Quinnipiac for nursing also. We will have to decide between the three of these. She got into SUNY Bing for nursing also but we didnât hear anything about merit and we are OOS, but I am going to have her reach out to them and ask if sheâs getting any merit.
Not meritâŠshe got 22k merit, but then they added 11k in aid which I donât think will stick next year when fafsa rules change
Fairfield is a top 30 direct admit BSN program as per niche and probably the best in CT and perhaps among top nursing programs in the New England area. It is a Jesuit/catholic university so no concerns (for a parent) regarding too much partying! LOL
We visited and liked the campus. My daughter is not into attending religious-based universities though!
My DD got a presidential merit scholarship for Binghamton Decker school of nursing a couple of months after her admission, in the postal mail. Didnât see any update in the status portal thoughâŠ
We looked at Fairfield and really liked it (my daughter unfortunately was deferred). We went to the nursing info session. The nursing building is great. Very new and state of the art. The sim labs were great. The nursing students who spoke were very impressive. They even have a therapy dog (Dakota) who kind of roams the nursing building and will sit it on classes.
Fairfield is a really cute town. Great downtown area about a mile from campus. It is a gated campus which I love when sending a barely 18 year old off on her own for the first time.
And I did read the comments about it not being a party campus and have to say we know a fair amount of kids there now and at least according to their social media posts there are definitely a lot of parties going on. Lol
It is a very highly regarded program so if the finances are going to work out I think it is absolutely worth a visit. Good luck!
I love hearing about students being happy with Creighton - I am a third generation alum (2000) and now my daughter really wants to apply for the direct nursing program.
Wish I had found this thread earlier! I have two older girls who earned/will earn BSN in 2020 & 2022 from the DA program at Florida Southern College (oldest was recruited athlete there and younger followed her b/c of the weather)!
My DD Class of â22 has applied to the following BSN programs:
Xavier ($24k merit)
Seattle U ($25k merit)
U of Michigan (postponed/deferred to RD)
Boston College TBD
Michigan State (awaiting Nurse Scholar, their DA pathway, decision) ($1,500 merit)
Because weâre in-state, Michigan State is our most affordable option. We think sheâs being considered for it as they emailed to ask a question. Fingers-crossed for a positive result very soon!
DDâs statsâ
Always homeschooled
Residential pre-pro ballet school for 9th-12th grade
UW GPA 4.0/W GPA 4.47
ACT 34
8 APâs (6 completed with 3-5âs; 2 in progress)
She has also been accepted to an Accelerated 5-year BS Biology/MS PA program. Sheâs leaning more toward Nursing, but itâs such a difficult âspotâ to land and they gave her great merit, making it very affordable, so Iâm really torn. Of course, older sisters think BSN is better, more flexible route than PA.
Good luck to everyone awaiting RD results!
Congratulations! Your older daughter is correct. As an RN for the last 29 years, I can share that the evolution of nursing has been astounding. The sky is the limit, she can work as a bedside nurse, school nurse, legal office, pharmaceuticals, consulting. She can switch from ER to cardiology, oncology, community home care and even change working hours to accommodate a young growing family, when that time comes. This is just a small snapshot to what an RN can do. As I said the opportunities are limitless. The PA route, they are âconfinedâ to what they trained for, i.e. cardiology, orthopedics. Hope this helps.
I will just say, being a PA is also very flexible and one can switch fields easily as there is no training in a specific field.
Any input on Univ of Maryland? it seems the program is in college park for 2 years and if you meet the requirements you can transfer to nursing school in Baltimore. My daughter loves college park and wonders if she wonât want to leave after 2 years. Not ideal I guess.
If I can help at all with Cincinnati, please let me know. I have a senior BSN student there.
Can you share any negatives/positives about Florida Southern, my child has been accepted but not showing any interest, a bit too small.
Anyone have expereince with FAU nursing? Proâs/Conâs
thank you