I feel like someone has put time on fast forward......I truly can't believe it is Friday the end to another week and only 10 days till the kids go back to school!!! Yup just 10 days, for all you parents that can't wait for school to begin...it won't be long.
It's funny how fall is often the start of new beginnings. I love the fall. I always have. I love the crispness in the air....I love the colours....I love the great produce you can get from the farms...there are just so many things I love about the fall. I know it isn't fall until September 21st....but the air is different...although the sun is shining the dew on the ground is heavy in the mornings....the air is crisp and fresh and the leaves on some trees have already started to change colour. With this along comes a new chapter in my life as well. I am going back to school in September. Well part-time. It will be mostly distant education for the first two semesters. I am really excited and scared at the same time. I have been toying with the idea of going back to school for sometime. Actually, three 
years ago I started the process but my life was in such a state of flux that there was no way I could focus on school. So here I am three years later starting the process all over again. This time I am committed, and generally when I set my mind to something, it happens.
years ago I started the process but my life was in such a state of flux that there was no way I could focus on school. So here I am three years later starting the process all over again. This time I am committed, and generally when I set my mind to something, it happens.The process of applying for university and registration has been a real eye opener for me. I am astounded at the hoops one must jump in order to be accepted into university and then comes the cost. The cost .....I can see why they say higher education is for the privileged. I mean when you are young and go to university right from high school it is different. Often one's parents are footing the bill or you take out student loans and work when you can or 
you have been fortunate enough to get a scholarship. It just seems that applying for student loans is the norm and an almost given. But going back to school at my age, the financial obligations are different. I don't want to go into debt to go back to school at this stage of my life but I do want to go to school. I don't want a student loan....so I am going to try and pay as I go. I am amazed at how the universities and colleges can ding you for everything. Transcripts for example...the university request so many copies which all cost money. Then there is your non refundable registration fee, your course fee and then your books and supplies..and it just keeps on going. In my case I am doing what they call Post RN to BSN program. The university wants proof of my being a member of my nursing professional body......well I have my current card that says I am full paying active member of the Nursing association of BC....but that is not good enough....I have to go to the college of nurses and have them send a letter to the university....at a cost of course. Then I look at the courses they want me to take....first and foremost I have to take a course they call "Bridging" it's suppose to help me understand the current terminology used in nursing and health care......hmmm, let's see I have been in the nursing field for over 15 years now.....I think I know the terminology....then they want me to take an English course. Ok granted sometimes my grammar and or spelling leave much to be desired...but I mean really....and when they say you have to take ANY 2 credit courses of your choice......I wonder what's the point of that? I am all for education....but why on earth does it have to cost so much...why on earth do I have to take courses that don't necessarily have anything to do with nursing but I have to take them because I need the credits. You know I have 5 years of post secondary education under my belt....but it doesn't count for anything now days as I need to get more letters behind my name and that costs money. It is a requirement of my job that I maintain my standards of practise and that is obtained by updating my ACLS, CPR anything to do with current modalities in the delivery of health care. I am forever reading and researching drugs and treatments and current practises...but that isn't good enough if I want to move from bedside nursing into any form of administration or community nursing or just advance period. I am not pursing my degree to get into a management position....I am pursuing it for the personal satisfaction of knowing that I did it, and that is the best reason of all. But I don't want to have to sell myself in order to achieve my goal.
you have been fortunate enough to get a scholarship. It just seems that applying for student loans is the norm and an almost given. But going back to school at my age, the financial obligations are different. I don't want to go into debt to go back to school at this stage of my life but I do want to go to school. I don't want a student loan....so I am going to try and pay as I go. I am amazed at how the universities and colleges can ding you for everything. Transcripts for example...the university request so many copies which all cost money. Then there is your non refundable registration fee, your course fee and then your books and supplies..and it just keeps on going. In my case I am doing what they call Post RN to BSN program. The university wants proof of my being a member of my nursing professional body......well I have my current card that says I am full paying active member of the Nursing association of BC....but that is not good enough....I have to go to the college of nurses and have them send a letter to the university....at a cost of course. Then I look at the courses they want me to take....first and foremost I have to take a course they call "Bridging" it's suppose to help me understand the current terminology used in nursing and health care......hmmm, let's see I have been in the nursing field for over 15 years now.....I think I know the terminology....then they want me to take an English course. Ok granted sometimes my grammar and or spelling leave much to be desired...but I mean really....and when they say you have to take ANY 2 credit courses of your choice......I wonder what's the point of that? I am all for education....but why on earth does it have to cost so much...why on earth do I have to take courses that don't necessarily have anything to do with nursing but I have to take them because I need the credits. You know I have 5 years of post secondary education under my belt....but it doesn't count for anything now days as I need to get more letters behind my name and that costs money. It is a requirement of my job that I maintain my standards of practise and that is obtained by updating my ACLS, CPR anything to do with current modalities in the delivery of health care. I am forever reading and researching drugs and treatments and current practises...but that isn't good enough if I want to move from bedside nursing into any form of administration or community nursing or just advance period. I am not pursing my degree to get into a management position....I am pursuing it for the personal satisfaction of knowing that I did it, and that is the best reason of all. But I don't want to have to sell myself in order to achieve my goal.
What do you think......do you think the cost of higher education is just getting out of control....like in this picture are the doors being kept closed for some?
10 comments:
I believe that the costs are very high as compared to years ago.
But so is everything else. Things cost so much more and then you have the overhead of wages. The professors and teachers are wanting, and deserve, higher pay.
I agree about the sticker shock.
As far as your returning to school...
I think that it's great.
I just finished up my second degree, a BS, and I'm 49 years old.
You will have a totally different perspective in class and I'm sure you'll enjoy it tremendously.
Best Wishes!
I think the cost of higher education is "higher" than it should be.. keeping many away from it.
Higher education costs are out of control. I paid for school myself, out of my own pocket. I did get some money from scholarships and I did get a (small) loan, but for the most part I paid everything out of pocket. The things they charge you for is crazy. My last year at my college they started doing construction to update the labs...guess who got charged for it? Yep. Me. A person who would be long gone before the project was completed.
My parents want me to go for my Masters degree. I want to go for my Masters...but I am tired of juggling work and school and not having time to breath. And like you, I'm just not willing to put myself into debt.
The whole thing is just insane at times. I'm doing it tho. The cost is out of control. The hoops to jump through are endless.
But - it's worth doing. It is. It has to be.
Yes, the cost of higher education has gotten so out of control that it is restricting some from attaining that goal.
I have recently applied for a postion as Receptionist in the Surgical Family Waiting Room of a local hospital for part time work. I'm sure this is something I would really like to do!
Hugs, my friend!
Higher Education should be a right not a privilege. It is fast becoming based on how it used to be - only available to the rich!
Most work these days requires higher education of some sort and all too often, that requirement puts finding decent employment out of the reach of too many who can't afford the costs of getting the basic requirements to begin with. It's a sorry state of affairs in far too many cases. And, financing with student loans leaves the student with huge payments upon graduation on top of the bills for necessities of life -food, housing, etc. Unless, of course, one is fortunate enough to have a degree in a field notorious for high starting wages or if you live in an area that has a very low unemployment rate and can find a decent job. Lots of times it is a huge Catch 22.
Is there an option for you to test out of the English class via essay writing or a research paper? It is worth investigating since you are an excellent writer...
The cost of higher education is simply ludicrous!
RN, I see it this way. Higher education results in improved skills, and improved skills benefit society. The cost of higher education has gotten out of hand. I think higher education is a privilege, not a right, but with a different twist.
I used to work as a lab tech/tutor in a college computer lab, helping college freshmen master basic computer skills. Ironically, almost half of these high school graduates, most scions of comfortable middle class families, were functionally illiterate, and the biggest challenge I faced was teaching them to read the instructions.
I think that higher education should be a privilege for those who have adequately prepared themselves to do the work, but that those who can do the work should be subsidized to whatever extent necessary for them to focus on that work, rather than struggle to survive in the process.
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