Best path to a BSN?

Charliesch
Tue, 29 Sep 2015 17:42:56 +0000

Other people can comment about alternatives within California.

I’d still look at a larger geographic area and see if you can find an affordable 4 year direct entry BSN degree, including considering out of state colleges. Some private colleges are very affordable with need or merit aid. In fact, private colleges now discount their tuition by 50% on average. The cost of housing, food and other factors are likely to much lower outside of the big metro areas of California. Also, a few western states have public universities with affordable out of state tuition.

You can apply to multiple types of programs (such as a community college) to keep your options open for a future decision.

Many government and university financial aid programs are only available for 8 semesters. Therefore you may find that taking a 9th or 10th semester to graduate is extremely expensive. Many colleges with a BS to BSN degree program do not offer any financial aid for those students. There also are limits on the amounts of federal loans that can be taken out each year. After that amount is used, the cost of borrowing greatly increases, including upfront fees in some cases.

If you decide to do a non-nursing bachelors first and then go for a RN at a different college, most people would major in biology for their first degree. You want to get as many required classes out of the way as part of your initial degree, so that the second degree does not take an enormous amount of time and tuition dollars.