What is the best track to becoming an RN for a nursing student?


This Question From New York LPN Programs | 1 Answer


I was accepted into a State University of New York certificate program for Practical Nursing, but with classes beginning on January 25th, I was just notified that I will lose my financial aid if I continue to pursue the program due to having attempted too many credits. I have been a Liberal Arts major while completing the pre-requisites, and intend on graduating with an Associates Degree in Liberal Arts in the Spring, and therefore have completed 65 credits towards that degree while also having completed the pre-req’s for the Nursing Program. My intention was to complete the LPN program, work for a year or so, then continue my education towards becoming a Registered Nurse (BS). My financial aid advisor advised me to pursue a different major, although I’ve spent the past couple couple years attempting to get into a nursing program, which means changing majors at this point would have made the past couple years worthless. Options I am considering right now are as follows: 1) Continuing to pursue the LPN certificate until I graduate in the Fall of ’10, and graduating from Liberal Arts in the Spring without my financial aid. In this case, I’d need to take out approximately a K loan per semester, which would be for this Spring, the Summer, then the Fall. After working for a year or so, I could then eventually apply to the few schools that offer an LPN to Bachelor’s RN accelerated program, which I’d be able to continue Financial Aid for (since it’s a higher degree) with also the assistance of loans. OR MY OTHER OPTION 2) Fore-go the Practical Nursing program, and complete my Liberal Arts degree in the Spring while maintaining my Financial Aid, since I can still attempt more credits for Liberal Arts since it’s an Associates Degree. Once I achieve that degree, I will look into transferring and applying to a Bachelor’s RN program for the Fall.

I am trying to decide which options would be the most cost efficient and less difficult as far as the stress of being accepted and denied in the future, since competition is so high for Nursing Programs right now. I’ve already purchased my uniform for clinicals for the LPN program, and became certified in CPR/AED for Healthcare Providers, as the program had called for, so I’ve already invested in the program. My uncertainty right now is revolving around the worthwhile of taking out loans for a degree for a career in which I wasn’t intending on continuing for long. My intention was always to become a Registered Nurse, so is taking out a loan of approximately K for a certificate in Practical Nursing worthwhile considering I was planning on returning to school to receive a Bachelor’s Degree for Registered Nursing?

1 Comment so far

  1. Diane A on August 29, 2010 1:52 am

    Well, only you can weigh all the options; but to me it seems that 30K is pretty high. But if you were going to work as LPN for say, 5 years, than the 30K is not so bad. If you only plan on say, 1 year, than forget it. How about an associates degree RN? Pretty much the same job benefits and perks & salary but less cost to attend.