Should I rule out 30k/yr schools?

Paying for College
1

<p>I am currently in community college taking care of pre-requisites for their RN program (cna right now). I am twenty, looking at colleges for my rn-bsn because my college needs a list of schools when I am accepted into the nursing program (to make sure I am meeting their requirements as well).</p>

<p>My father makes $45000/yr, but has six children the FAFSA says are dependents. I live 1,000 miles from home, and get absolutely no aid from my parents. They do not have two pennies to rub together, to be clear. I was told by financial aid to start looking at student loans, because I would be lucky to get much of anything in the way of grants. (I am not looking for the government to give me a free ride, but with a 4.0 average thus far, and little money to my name, I think I deserve a little help. )</p>

<p>For community college, I am sure I can make it financially. University, not so much confidence. Trying to find a college that doesn't require the rn-bsn be taken online, with a reasonable price-tag, is proving impossible. Is 30k/yr for two years completely unreasonable, when I will be working as a nurse for those years?</p>

2

<p>What state are you in? </p>

<p>Since you’re a transfer student, your best bets may be instate publics IF your state has state aid to add to federal aid.</p>

<p>Is there a state university close to where you live that offers a BSN?</p>

<p>You can only borrow $7500 each year for your jr and sr year. You probably also qualify for a $5500 fed Pell grant. If your state also gives aid, then that will help.</p>

3

<p>What state are you in? Most states have schools with nursing programs that should cost less than that. Will you be completing your RN at CC and then go to an RN-BSN program or transfer from CC to the BSN. As you know, different schools have different pre requisites. The RN- BSN may be a bit shorter if you can get the RN at CC.
Also- there are nursing scholarships that require you to stay in an underserved area for 2 years after nursing school. The financial aid office of nursing schools should be familiar with these. It’s a good way to reduce your debt, and get 2 years of experience which helps in the job market. There are external scholarships as well, but they are usually smaller.</p>

4

<p>If your CC has Phi Theta Kappa, you need to be nominated and join. There are many scholarships at universities that are limited to Phi Theta Kappa members only.</p>

<p>With a 4.0 average, you may be able to get merit scholarships as a CC transfer student.</p>

5

<p>I am in Illinois. It seems that most state/public schools only offer online courses. I was considering going for my bsn in New York State, as I plan to end up in the city eventually, but the ideas of out-of-state fees and trying to get my license transferred in such short time doesn’t thrill me too much.</p>

<p>I am getting my rn at CC. With the way my advisor explained it, financial aid won’t cover me at all if I transfer before getting a degree.</p>

6

<p>Any chance you can get your RN at your community college, then get a job? You could pursue your BSN part time while working.</p>

7

<p>That is the plan, however 30k is still a stretch, don’t you think?</p>

8

<p>Are you considered in-state for IL since you live 1000 miles from home?</p>

9

<p>“Home” is Florida, I should have mentioned. I have lived in Illinois with my aunt as a roommate for two years. I pay my own bills, and am basically independent, but of course the FAFSA choses to be ridiculous :p</p>

10

<p>If you are a Florida resident, why can’t you do an online RN-to-BSN program from a Florida state university? Florida Atlantic University, Florida International University, and University of West Florida all offer this program. You can do your clinicals at home in IL where you live and take the classes online, and it would cost you the amount of a FL resident. They are all accredited programs, so you can maintain your licensure. Or if you are already thinking about moving, you can move to Florida and begin studying immediately, since you are already a Florida state resident.</p>

<p>Given that you are 20 - that is going to be a barrier. My original suggestion is to move to NYS and work for 1-2 years as an RN to establish residency, then apply to a CUNY or SUNY RN-to-BSN program. But you will be considered a dependent student and likely a resident of Florida until you are 24 years old. I mean, you could move to New York and live there for 4 years until you turn 24, working as an RN until then, and then return to school if you wanted then.</p>

<p>Oh, but to answer your question - assuming that you are talking about a 2-year course of study to finish the BSN, that’s about $60K a year (assuming that $30K is the whole cost of attendance). Bachelor’s educated nurses can reasonably expect to make about that much, as the median salary for registered nurses is something like $66K right now. So I don’t think that’s too much to borrow for a BSN, provided you finish the program and actually work as a nurse. Especially if you intend to move to NYS; nurse salaries are quite high here in the NYC area.</p>

11

<p>GIven how well you have done already in your courses, and given the job market for an RN, I don’t think borrowing $30K/yr is too much to get a BSN. But can you even borrow the money? At age 20, you are still dependent on a parent when it comes to financial aid for college. Unless you find a program willing to give you in-house loans for the difference, you can only get federal loans that are far less than $30K per year. Going private will involve a credit worthy cosigner willing to be on the hook for all of that money sitting on the credit report until every cent is repaid. It’s not like signing for a car loan that’s paid in 3-5 years with collateral, is diminishing, and not nearly that amount. If you can get that loans, good for you, go for it.</p>

12

<p>Cpn…I disagree. $60k in debt for a BSN is too much. Not only that, but who would co-sign that much in loans?</p>

<p>Also, it’s NOT necessary for anyone to borrow that much for her last 2 years. </p>

<p>She could work for 4 years as a RN, reach 24 and establish residency in the state where she’s working/living. </p>

<p>Or she could do online thru a Florida school where she seems to have instate rates.</p>

<p>Brielle…did you pay OOS rates for ILL cc?</p>

13

<p>I am an Illinois resident. I am registered to vote, have my id, got my address changed at the social security office.</p>

<p>I am also avoiding online courses. My high school experience was entirely online, and I could not stand it. Rates for online classes at, say, Illimois State, are much less than 30k/yr, but I am being forced to look at private colleges, for an in-classroom setting.</p>

14

<p>Brielle…no one is forcing you to go to a private university to obtain a BSN. That is your choice.</p>

<p>You may have your drivers license, etc in Illinois, but for tuition purposes…are you still considered a Florida resident because that is where your parents reside?</p>

15

<p>Why don’t you get your BSN at a Ill public?</p>

<p>CCs use different standards to determine residency. Universities may not consider you an Ill resident, even with a DL and voting. They may still consider you a resident of Florida for tuition and aid purposes.</p>

16

<p>In today’s job market, I would avoid as much debt as possible. There are other less expensive ways to get a BSN at a public college… as suggested.</p>

17

<p>College is different from high school. First of all, you will have some contact work because you will have to do nursing clinicals where you live. Secondly, high school is free and college costs money. Doing an online RN-to-BSN program at a Florida public college will be much cheaper than going to a private university in Illinois. I checked FIU’s website and for the academic year, tuition and fees are $5,678. If it takes you two years to do this program, then you have only borrowed about $11,000 in tuition. You already live at home with your aunt so you don’t have to pay more rent than you already do - so you’ve only borrowed $11,000 compared to $60,000. The only sacrifice you have to make is taking your classes in a modality that is a bit different than you want.</p>

<p>Or you have the option of working as an RN for four years, once you finish that program at your CC, until you hit 24. Then when you are a resident, you could attend an Illinois state university for an RN-to-BSN program. UIC has this program, and the cost is $18,510 for the entire program. It’s fully online, too, though, but still, $18,000 vs. $60,000. If you want an in-person program, though, it makes more sense to do the Florida one because it’s cheaper and you can do that immediately.</p>

<p>Or you could move to New York and work here for four years, establishing residency and independent student status, and then attend one of our public universities. CUNY-Hunter and CUNY-Lehman have RN-to-BSN program that are not online; using their tuition and fees calculator I estimate the program will cost you a little under $10,000 in tuition and fees.</p>

<p>So you have a few options:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Start an RN-to-BSN program immediately at FAU or FIU, online. The Pell grant you’d likely be eligible for would cover almost all of your tuition and fees. Graduate debt free, in 2 years, and you’ll have your BSN and a higher salary. The only con to this is it’s online, but that’s not really a con IMO, because you can still work as an RN, pay your bills, and reduce any debt that you have to take.</p></li>
<li><p>Move back to Florida once you’ve gotten your RN, and then transfer into a traditional BSN program at a place like UF or Florida State. If you are eligible for the full Pell grant, that will cover your tuition. I checked out UF’s and Florida State’s residence halls and it appears that the cost can be covered by a federal Direct loan (they’re about $3,000 a semester at Florida State and about $2,000-$2,500 a semester at UF). You may even be eligible for Florida Bright Futures or some transfer scholarships at the school, given that you have such a high GPA right now, especially if you make Phi Theta Kappa. And then you can work part-time as an RN. UF has an academic health center; if you made $17/hour and worked 15 hours a week, that’s $1000 a month in incidentals/personal expenses. During the summer, you could work full-time as a nurse, or you could opt to take summer classes and continue to work part-time.</p></li>
<li><p>Work for 4 years, move to NYS (or any other state where there’s an in-person program at a public university), establish residency, and do the program in-person. The cons are that you have to wait four years, and that you’ll have to pay for housing in New York, which is expensive. Not sure how you would do that unless you worked full-time and did the program part-time, and then it will take you longer to finish. Here in the city, most of the schools don’t have affordable on-campus housing. If you went to another state, or if you went to a SUNY school upstate somewhere, that may be a more viable option.</p></li>
<li><p>Go to a private university in Illinois (not sure which one) and borrow $60,000 for a nursing degree.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>IMO, with it all laid out, doing option 4 is somewhat foolish. Option 1 or 2 sounds best. ANd M2CK makes a good point…who is going to co-sign those loans for you? If you are going to move, why not move back to Florida where you are a resident? You can apply for Florida universities in your final year of your community college as a transfer student.</p>