Excelsior Nursing Program

[KittenMittens]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and need a little guidance. I was recently accepted into Excelsior's Nursing program, but before enrolling I would like to CLEP as many exams as possible. Although I will be enrolling in their AS program I plan on continuing on to their BSN, so my question is for the additional GenEd requirements for their BSN can I CLEP those credits or must the additional GenEd credits be upper level?

I wanted to warn you that Excelsior's Nursing program has some major and particular pitfalls to be wary of.

Please read: Class Action Suit Hits at Core of Popular Online Nursing Program - Higher Education

Nursing students sue Excelsior College | allnurses

You should read the comments if you can too.

Not to dissuade you from doing the program, but keep in mind that current pass rates for the CPNE are about 52% (& 47% the year before) and overall of 60%, but you can find that the pass rates have been going down over the years . If the trend continues the rates may go down even further.



As you may or may not know, the CPNE is the final clinically based practical that take at the end of the program and there is a lot of criticism about Excelsior’s Nursing program to the point that a class action lawsuit was filed against them about a year ago. I read on several websites that this CPNE exam is the main concern. The other thing is, and I'm not sure if there are any perceived savings through the program, but the Excelsior CPNE costs $2,225, plus fees of air travel or a + study workshop + car rental + hotel + and other miscellaneous fees [B][U]can go up to $4,000 - and that's with a ~50% first time pass rate [/U][/B]. Spending around $3,500 - $4,000 to have a ~50% pass rate does not sit well with me especially if you have to take it a 2nd or 3rd time doubling or tripling your cost to $8,000 - $12,000. You could do an entire associate's in nursing program through a traditional program through community college for about $4,000 - $8,000 total and that will definitely get you a job starting in an average city around $50,000 - $70,000. It is possible then you may not end up saving as much as you hoped and/or may less favorable employment prospects compared to nurses from typical institutions Keep in mind that where you do your CPNE matters just as much. Apparently there are some test centers that are more lax than others & you’ll have to research that if you are committed to this path and understand the risks going in.

Always consider the pros and cons of going this way versus doing a traditional nursing program through a community college. I would probably steer you towards doing an established nursing program than through a traditional brick and mortar institution. In the latter situation you don't have to do a "CPNE" exam in difficulty and rigor so it likely more straightforward. Online education is pretty established for many programs like business admin or liberal arts, and that has a lot to do with the nature and easier standards of these non-science programs, but has a long way to go for science based curriculum where you can't test clinical and lab skills as easily, so you end up as a "guinea pig" of sorts in these programs. In the case of Excelsior College's Nursing program, there remains a lot to be desired. Also, many hospitals now want BSes in Nursing and as time goes, are less likely to be hiring Associate’s level nursing.

Whatever you do, just make sure you are aware of the risks going in (if you didn't already). Do a lot of google searches, read allnurses forums, read comments of people, and see what the general consensus is in opinion and go from there, but again, I would urge you or anyone to go for a traditional program instead. Nursing is a great career and a lot of your success will come down to the quality of your education - don't hinder your chances of doing so for any anticipated convenience of doing it online which comes at a big cost. I don't even think you'd save that much money if any at all given how expensive that CPNE test is and/or its abysmal pass rates. The only slight benefit from this program is that you can do online coursework or exams I guess, but that comes at a big price.

"Feb 26, '14 by RN34TX
I'm an EC grad of 2003 and have mixed feelings on the matter. I joined AllNurses a few months after graduating and felt like I was the only one who "passed" who didn't sing the praises of EC.

It seemed in those days that if you dared to speak out against EC that you were labeled as bitter or sour grapes for not passing.

I even expressed my concerns about the exam after I took and passed it on EC's own "Electronic Peer Network" as it was called back then and was immediately shot down by EC staff.

But I did pass (the first time around) and more than 10 years later will still state that yes, it is most definitely a very subjective exam and was not consistent across the board in its testing practices.

I believe that any traditional nursing program has potential for favoritism and subjectivity and any school can have the potential for having students who have futures that are at the mercy of unethical and biased instructors.

I am very thankful for the opportunity to have had EC as an option and have enjoyed a very successful nursing career since graduating.

But I sometimes think that fellow graduates will defend the program to the end because they are afraid that negative remarks about the school will be a reflection on them as RN's who graduated from that program.

Having said that, when I enrolled in 1999 it was most definitely clear in the nursing catalog and student handbook exactly what was expected of me and the CPNE pass rate was 57% at that time and it was clearly stated."