According to figures determined by adding course fees and additional spending estimations, the most expensive program on campus is nursing, followed by art, then family and consumer sciences.
In the cases of all three majors, students spend additional time and money on their academic programs, but all agree that the time and money are excellent investments in their futures.
Nursing
Senior Aaron McGaughy is a nursing major and said he is spending more than $1,000 in class fees this semester on top of normal tuition dollars. Additionally, nursing majors drive to clinicals in Little Rock twice a week, adding hefty gas prices, and regularly spend more than $800 in textbooks per semester, according to McGaughy. Senior nursing major Victoria Wood said nursing majors also have to buy supplies such as scrubs, special shoes and socks, a stethoscope, penlight and blood pressure cuff.
According to Harding’s website, nursing majors should expect to spend at least an additional $8,000 during their four years in the program. McGaughy said he thought this estimate was accurate, if not a little low.
Nursing is also considered to be one of the most rigorous academic programs on campus. Wood said nursing majors start their days early, either with classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday or clinicals on Tuesday and Thursday. Wood said she starts classes around 8 a.m. and gets home around dinner time. On clinical days, she said she often works 12-hour days before driving home to fill out paperwork and start homework.
“People trust you a lot, so you can’t go into nursing half-hearted,” McGaughy said. “The people who want to do nursing really want to do nursing, so all these things you have to do to become (a nurse) don’t seem as big of an obstacle as it may appear to other people.”
According to Wood, 100 percent of the nursing graduates from December passed their NCLEX examination, the test that every nursing major prepares for during their time in the program.
Art
While the nursing program only encompasses one main major, the second most expensive program – art – contains several majors.
For those who major in art, class fees and additional money spent usually go toward purchasing supplies.
“Because we are studio-based and not lecture-based, we learn through hands-on experience,” Sarah Wilhoit, interior design program director, said.
Interior design students need supplies and materials for projects, and each project includes a number of phases from conceptual structures to complete life-sized vignettes, Wilhoit said.
Additionally, students are required to buy materials for their portfolios, research notebooks and presentation boards. The result, Wilhoit said, is some of the best interior design students in the nation. Wilhoit said students are finding jobs in great locations and constantly getting positive feedback from professionals and alumni.
“It’s all used for them to learn what the real world is like as a designer,” Ana Pia Clairday, adjunct interior design professor, said.
Similarly, senior Erin Chambers said she approaches the fees and extra costs for her fine art in painting major as an investment in her professional future.
Chambers said her major requires “everything you have” in terms of time and money. Chambers said she buys new paints and brushes periodically, but the bulk of costs comes from buying and framing canvases.
John Keller, chair of the department of art and design, said art majors could spend anywhere from $100 to $2,000 on their senior shows, all depending on the materials a student chooses to use.
“I choose to use materials that are more expensive because they’re better quality, and that’s what I want my work to be,” Chambers said. “I’ve put my time into it, and I’ve put my money into it, and I’ve done (everything) in college from the standpoint of a professional artist.”
Chambers said she looks at the costs, both time and money, as an investment in her future.
“One day I’ll get it back,” Chambers said.
Family and consumer sciences
The third most expensive program, as determined by course fee estimates, is family and consumer sciences, which encompasses eight different majors.
According to Elizabeth Wilson, chair of the department of family and consumers sciences, all course fees represent added value to the student.
“None of the fees attached to the courses provide funding for the department or university,” Wilson said. “The fees attached are there to provide required supplies or experiences or to save the student money.”
Fees are used to cover the cost of supplies for classes such as clothing and textiles laboratories, cost of travel for trips to provide networking and learning opportunities not available in Searcy, and professional liability insurance and background checks for field experience courses.
