Okay, I looked this up! I have no idea whether those cc’s are rural or in cities, but… they’re indeed additional possibilities:
This college has housing, lots of health programs, and would be affordable: https://www.southeast.edu/health-program-transfer-information/
This made me think of the list of the “super cheap” colleges… like Chadron or Minot State.
Chadron’s cheap (the OOS surcharge is only $1!) but it only ha spre nursing, after that the students must transfer to University of Nebraska.
However Minot State does have a native, complete, nursing program! http://www.minotstateu.edu/nursing/
Your daughter automatically qualifies for a $5000 merit scholarship at UMaine Fort Kent and they have nursing but I don’t think it’d still be affordable. https://www.umfk.edu/nursing/
My concern with her going the ADN route at the CCs is that so many jobs are strongly preferring the BSN or requiring their ADN nurses to finish their BSN within a timeframe. If she did an ADN and then transferred to a 4 year university it seems that transfers receive less financial aid and lower preference for admittance in nursing over the students who began at that school as a freshman. I know there are online options for RN-to-BSN but I have no idea what they cost, if there is aid available for them, or how competitive they are. It’s another route to consider, definitely, but in the long run (assuming she eventually gets/needs the BSN) I’m not sure it really will be less expensive. If I am misinformed in any of these assumptions about transferring to a 4-year program or about RN-to-BSN programs, I’d love to hear any insight.
I will look into the CC options you both have mentioned. She doesn’t really care about location (our town is under 4,000 so rural is no big deal). Is there a best way to go about figuring if they do have waiting lists or will I need to be calling each possibility? It is like pulling teeth to find info on our local CCs lists and wait time, even when asking directly. Is there even any possibility of doing ADN in two years and then the BSN bridge in two years? If it’s longer than 4 years total (even if they are not consecutive years), then there’s even more cost to consider.
We do have a tiny handful of affordable 4 year options for BSN that we are just waiting on hearing admissions from (Capital, Marshall, Berea). She just applied at 3 more in state, one on the high end of affordable, the others probably out of reach but they are all located near each other and we are hoping to compare and maybe use different financial aid offers to her advantage.
Yes, the BSN is now the most commonly required degree for nursing.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed that between the colleges she’s applied to, one will be affordable.
@momof113 If you’re talking about Capital in Columbus Ohio she will get a seat in the nursing program if she meets their admission criteria (21 I believe on the ACT) D16 got her letter about two weeks after she applied. I’m not sure if I posted this on this thread but we visited there and they have no cap on the number of seats and they are direct admit.
We literally just found out she got accepted to Capital! As long as their NPC is fairly accurate it is definitely affordable for us. The only better option, as of now, would be Berea where they do a full tuition scholarship and often grants to cover much of the rest of the costs, but their location and possibility of transferring credits from them are some drawbacks.
@kandcsmom we did talk about their attrition at Capital. I would have to hope that because they are kind of a unicorn for us (direct admit + financially affordable) that my DD would not be one of those kids. She does know the struggle it has been to find any matches, and she’s pretty set that nursing is her thing, so I think it should be alright.
@momof113 so glad she was accepted to Capital & if their aid comes through it is affordable.
As I posted up thread, we also struggled just finding any school that was affordable for DS’s engineering major. He was only out of state 2 or 3 times in his life & now he is 15 hours away. If your daughter is committed to nursing, is well aware of the financial limitations & how fortunate she is to be able to attend, she will manage.
I haven’t seen my DS in 3 months. Yet, he is making friends and thriving on campus. Best of luck to your DD as well.
It occurs to me that you might also look at Muskingum. A friend’s D turned down Capital for it (I think the FA offer was better), she’s direct entry nursing, and is doing well, she’s a senior this year.
I’ll just add some info for anyone else interested. One doesn’t get an associate’s in nursing and transfer to a four-year the way a typical student does. An ADN looks for a school with an RN-BSN bridge program.
An ADN is rarely a 2 year program. There’s a year of prereqs and then, assuming cut off scores are met, the program starts.
While a few big name hospitals and few regions of the country can demand all new hires hold a BSN, they are in the minority. There are not nearly enough BSN credentialed nurses to meet need in the entire country. In fact, the majority of new grads in nursing each year hold an ADN, and those new ADNs are getting jobs in hospitals, even Magnet hospitals. BSNs also are not typically paid more than their ADN counterparts, so for many students with financial constraints, going for the BSN right away doesn’t make sense. Both ADN and BSN nurses have to take and pass the exactly the same licensing test.
So, for someone with financial issues, the first year’s schedule at the CC will often include classes that may count as a gen ed OR be required for a BSN (like stats or chemistry) to keep the student full time. In those cases, the RN-BSN bridge can be completed more quickly as the gen eds are done.
When the ADN candidate takes the NCLEX and gets a job, he or she can often complete the RN-BSN bridge while working. They take 1-2 years depending upon the needs or each student. Students who choose part time study will take a little longer.
