Preparing for NCLEX is a scary step in your journey to RN . . . trust me . . . I've been there.
The last thing you want to worry about is $$.
In this post I want to break down the costs involved in preparing for the NCLEX and the actual cost of the NCLEX to help ease your mind.
How Must Does The NCLEX Cost?
If you live in the United States or Canada (as of 2023), the NCLEX is administered through Pearson Vue.
The registration fee for the NCLEX is $200 for RN and PN in the US and $360 (CAD) for Canadian residents.
Now, the NCSBN is not afraid to charge you extra for nearly anything and there are $50 fees to change the state, language, or location of your exam.
How Much Does NCLEX Prep Cost?
The cost of NCLEX prep will depend on how you like to prepare, how long you need, and your budget.
Textbook Prep - $0
You could opt to use the textbooks you already purchased in nursing school. If you go this route you will not have to spend any more than you already have. This method is fine if you did relatively well in nursing school and are confident in your existing knowledge.
NCLEX Prep Book - $40-100
If you feel that you need a bit more help and/or want more text or practice questions, you could opt for a separate NCLEX prep book. The two books we recommend are Saunders and NURSING.com Comprehensive NCLEX Prep Book
The NURSING.com Comprehensive NCLEX Prep Book costs about $40 and includes NextGen prep material is highly visual and has dozens of cheatsheets.
NCLEX Question Bank - $20-700
This is where you can spend a huuuuuge amount of money. The cost will vary widely here due to the size of question bank, name of company, and length of time you need. For example, UWorld can cost up to several hundred dollars if you are looking for two years of access.
A word of caution here . . . there is a plethora NCLEX practice question apps and websites online and on app stores. I HIGHLY recommend against using any random site or app for question prep. These sites use poor sources for their content and could in fact be leading you astray.
If budget is an issue, I would recommend using your textbooks. Your textbooks come with hundreds of NCLEX practice questions. In all likelihood, your college library has additional nursing textbooks that you can checkout and use the questions.
NCLEX Prep Course - $0-$500
Look. I'm not gonna lie. I recommend NURSING.com over any other possible source your might find for NCLEX prep.
I believe in it so much that we offer you a 200% NCLEX pass guarantee.
Within NURSING.com you can access videos, questions, cheatsheets, NCLEX simulator and other resources that match your learning style.
Other options for NCLEX prep can start as high as $500 or even more for video courses.
The best part about NURSING.com NCLEX Prep is that you can start for free or for very little investment up front. Most other tools require you to pay before you even get a chance to test out the product.
So How Much Does NCLEX Prep Cost?
From the examples above you can see that the cost of preparing for NCLEX prep can start as low as $0 and go as high as over $1,000 depending on how many resources you choose to purchase and how much support you feel that you need.
This is why we've created free trial options of NURSING.com - this is an expensive and stressful time in your nursing journey.
So try out NURSING.com today.
