Nursing School Tuition Hits All Time High

Earning a nursing degree is way less expensive that going to med school right? Maybe not. Students at the University of Washington are seeing a steep increase in the cost of tuition for some nursing programs – making them even more expensive than medical school tuition.

A group of UW Nursing students is struggling to stay in school after facing a big increase in tuition and a big change in the financial help the university is offering.

These are students studying for a doctorate in Family Nurse Practitioning. They say it’s one of the most cost effective ways to deliver quality health care services.

They met with nursing school administrators Thursday because their studies just got a lot more expensive.

Gillian Ehrlich is studying for a doctorate in Family Nurse Practioning.

“Getting a nurse practitioner degree, I’ll be able to treat people cradle to grave. I’ll be able to order tests, interpret labs, refer to specialists and basically follow people through their lives for primary care,” Ehrlich says.

Right now, her tuition is heavily subsidized because she’s a nurse at the University’s Harborview Medical Center, but budget cuts are eliminating that subsidy, among others.

“My tuition is going from $650 a quarter to $6,800, and I have three weeks to pull together almost $7,000 for summer quarter,” she says.

The high cost of tuition at many traditional colleges is playing a part in the popularity of online nursing schools. There are many online schools that offer great program at a significantly lower cost than many traditional schools. This is definitely something to consider in our current economic climate.

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