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By Cynthia M. Piccolo (Career Questions)
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Dear Cindy: 

I have a haunting and troubling question which, maybe, you can answer: Why are our nursing programs so difficult to get into, and the cost so high, if we have a shortage of nurses? And to add to that, why do we import foreigners, and pay and educate them for free to fill these positions, when we have qualified and willing citizens right here, who cannot afford the costs to get started?

I have been in the healthcare office management for more than 20 years and would like to start a career in nursing, but I cannot afford the cost. I am not eligible for free loans. What advice can you give to me in terms of getting started at a reasonable tuition?

Sincerely,

A

Dear A: 

While certainly I've heard of foreign nurses completing the CGFNS and NCLEX process and becoming licensed to work in the United States, I've never heard that foreigners are being educated for free in the United States – if this were the case, people would be beating down the doors at every port of entry to get in.

One reason that education is so expensive is that, unfortunately, education is an industry, and in some cases, institutions are for-profit. Otherwise, schools do need to cover salaries, heat/cool buildings, pay for equipment, etc. And as you know, some schools are more costly than others – look at Ivy League versus state schools.

And one reason that nursing programs are difficult to get in, is that there are far more applicants than there are vacancies, so there is a lot of competition. A 2005 release from the National League for Nursing (NLN) said that entry-level nursing programs (i.e., diploma, Associate's, and Bachelor's programs) turned away 147,000 qualified applicants. And one reason that there are not enough vacancies is that there are not enough nursing professors to meet the need. If cost is holding you back, research different programs to find which one is best for you financially. You can use a tool such as DiscoverNursing.com's Nursing Program Search (and also see their page of Nursing Programs Without Waiting Lists), the NLN's Accredited Nursing Programs page, or AllNursingSchool.com's program search to look for options. And if you aren't eligible for federal student aid programs, such as the Stafford, look at other financing options, such as:
  • state student aid
  • private student loans
  • scholarships and grants – check sources like DiscoverNursing.com's Nursing Scholarship Search, the National Student Nurses Association, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, and/or your state's nursing association for more information and leads
  • institution-based aid – contact the financial aid office at schools to which you would like to apply; they can tell you about programs specific to their institution and other nonspecific programs
  • hospital/health system-based programs offering full or partial reimbursement for completion of a period of service with a their organization – you can search for these online (to give just one example, Duke University's Watts School of Nursing has such a program)
  • government programs offering varying amounts of loan repayment after completion of a period of service in an underserved area (e.g., the HRSA's Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program)

    • Good luck.
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