Tuition Hikes Make Nursing School Pricier Than Med School

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.

Nursing school officials explain that they had just a few weeks to cut $1 million out of their budget.

They say the changes in the Family Nurse Practitioner Program are preferable to canceling it.

"We believe in quality. We will serve this state in the best possible way that we can. We will work to make sure everybody has access to these programs, and we aren't through yet," said Marla Salmon, UW Nursing School Dean.

But for now, the nursing program will cost students more than $26,000 a year. That makes it more expensive than studying to become a doctor. Medical school tuition is now just under $21,000 a year.

Kelly Jensen plans to use her Family Nurse Practitioner degree to serve the disadvantaged in this country and overseas and says such sharp tuition increases send the wrong message.

"That message is very disheartening for us. Wanting to go into this field because we love it, because we believe in it and it's very disconcerting," Jensen says.