Regarding the PSU program, when I looked into a couple of months ago, I was scared off by the cost - as I also was by Temple and Drexel's programs. If I recall correctly, PSU was over $21,000 for the nursing classes alone. Has that been your experience?
It's cheaper if you go full time.
There is a tuition table here: http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/TuitionTable.shtml
If you have fewer than 59 credit hours, it is $481.00 per credit hour. If you have more than 59 credit hours, it is $517.00 per credit hour. Obviously, if you only need the nursing courses to graduate, then you have way more than 59 credit hours, so you'll be charged at the 517 rate.
The required nursing courses themselves account for 28 hours (22 hours that everybody takes and 6 hours of free nursing electives that you can pick): http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/BachelorinNursing_CourseList.shtml
However, Penn State requires you to take a minimum of 36 hours through Penn State in order to graduate with a Penn State degree. So, even if you had every core class finished besides the nursing courses, you'd have to find something else to take (History of Underwater Basketweaving, whatever) to get 8 more hours to make 36 total. (Notice that because of this, coming into the program with 2 or 3 core classes still needed doesn't really change anything because even if you had them, they'd still make you take something else anyway if the nursing classes were all you needed).
So, yeah. Minimum possible number of credit hours you can take to graduate from PSU is 36.
36 x 517 = 18612 for tuition alone. Assume 1000 for books and materials, give or take (depending upon if you plan on selling some or all of them after courses are over, will you buy new or used, etc) and you're looking at 19612 for tuition and course materials. And that's before fees (technology fee, etc) are considered.
However, this is where the "it's cheaper to go full time" deal comes in. Fee amounts and tuition very by the credit load you take each semester. The 517 price only applies up to 11 hours worth of credit in a given semester. If you take 12 or more hours, you're charged a flat rate of 6436.00 tuition and a 236.00 information technology fee no matter what (12 credit hours pays the same price as 18 credit hours).
So, my schedule for example would look like this:
Fall Semester 2011, 15 credit hours (5 classes): 6436.00 + 236.00 = 6672
Spring Semester 2012, 15 credit hours (5 classes): 6436.00 + 236.00 = 6672
Summer Semester 2012: 6 credit hours (2 classes): 517 x 6 = 3102 + 177 = 3279
Grand total = 16151 (tuition and fees) + 1000 (books/course materials) = 17141
Whereas if you didn't go full time and get the full time discount it would be: 517 x 36 = 18612 + (technology fee assuming 6 credits per semester for 6 semesters: 177 x 6 = 1062) + 1000 for books = 20674 for the whole shebang.
So, about a 3500 dollar discount for going full time.
The last nursing course, you have to take after all the other nursing courses are finished, so you couldn't be a real glutton for punishment and do 18 hours a semester for 2 semesters and have it come to be (6672 x 2) + 1000 = 14344.
But, I could make it cheaper by doing 15, 18, 3 instead of 15, 15, 6 so it would be (6672 x 2) + (517 x 3 + 80) + 1000 = 15975, but I don't think I could handle that.
Right now, I'm trying to gauge the feasibility of keeping the schedule I've descibed above while working full time. It's a huge incentive to not fail anything because if you do and end up having to take a class by itself, there goes the money you saved by going full time.
Note that people do that all the time at Texas Tech. Their program is set up for you to work full time and go to school full time and one of their semesters is even 15 hours over the summer session, which there's no way I would do. I'm wondering if Penn State can be done in a similar fashion.
Moral of the story: Kill yourself and don't fail if you wanna keep it under 20K. lol
