Degree plan for Bachelors degree in nursing?

[dfrecore]

Our BSN degrees at the schools where I see are all 8 semester BSN programs. There are no 4-semester BSN's. How would it be a 4-year degree if you only went for 4 semesters? Strange.

When looking at my local CC, they have the ADN, which is basically a 2-year program for your AA/AS, and then an additional 2 years of the nursing component (you need to have all of your core courses graded and they count in a point system towards getting into the ADN program); the AA/AS costs roughly $3000 for tuition, with the nursing portion costing an additional $5,000. The RN-to-BSN at my local state college is an additional 14 months (accelerated online program) and costs an additional $11,500. Total $20k

If you want to go straight to the BSN at that same 4-yr state school, they show it being completed in 8 semesters, but it does not include 8 core courses that you need to complete before being accepted into the program. You need those courses completed with grades at an RA school, along with a TEAS score, to continue on in the BSN program. So it's more like a 5-yr program than even 4 years. And at about $16,000/year, it works out to $80k to get that degree.

Not saying that you have to get your RN first, but where I live this is the most common way to do it, for cost alone. You can get your RN and go start to work so you can pay your way through the BSN part-time program. 5 years straight through is an expensive and long way to go through the program, vs. having it broken up into different parts and being able to pay as you go. The nurses I'm friends with all paid their way through with no student loans by doing the ADN/RN route, or the RN-to-BSN route.