Excelsor College

Nurses General Nursing

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Any nurses who earned their degree from Excelsior College :confused: I've read both good and bad posts about excelsior college. Has anyone gotten a degree and now is an RN. How is it really. I heard it's more expensive then regular college. What's the real deal???

Originally posted by Cay

..... It would be great to physically talk to a few RN's who have taken the Excelsior college and see that are real people....

My suggestion is to call Excelsior and they can put you in touch with alumni from your area you can talk with. They also can and are very willing to answer any of your questions. I can't say enough of how much support you have before, during, and after enrollment.

Good Luck!

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Specializes in Hemodialysis, Home Health.

There are MANY( "real live RNs" to talk to).. and right there in N.C. too ! If you call the 800 number, Excelsior can send you the info packet for the nursing program, as well as costs per exam. etc. Best thing to do is contact them for further info and ask them to mail you the nursing program packet.. also ask them to give you a rundown of current exam costs. The exams themselves are taken at Prometric.. used to be Sylvan Ctrs., now Prometric . Doesn't matter which one you go to.. they're all the same, you can take any one of the exams in any state, too.. not just the state you happen to live in.

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Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

If you are in California check to see if as an Excelsior graduate you can take the NCLEX. I'm not sure about this site but it seems to say NOT. http://www.rn.ca.gov/pdf/elcmin%2001-03.pdf

8.0 APPROVE/NOT APPROVE REMOVAL OF RECOGNITION OF EXCELSIOR

COLLEGE NURSING PROGRAM AS MEETIN CALIFORNIA NURSING EDUCATION

REQUIREMENTS

The New York State Board of Regents established Excelsior College in 1971, formerly NY Regents College.

Approximately 15 percent of the students enrolled in Excelsior College come from New York State; the remaining 85

percent from all other states and many foreign countries. The Commission on Higher Education of the Middle State

Association of Colleges and Schools accredits Excelsior College. The ADN & BSN programs are accredited by the

NLN. The Board has received increased inquiries regarding Excelsior College graduates eligibility to take the NCLEX

in California. Questions and concerns center on the following areas: (1) Whether their curriculum theory and clinical

meet California regulations; (2) students are receiving clinical experience in places of employment from persons not

approved by the board and allowed to perform procedures, and/or activities they are not lawfully licensed to do; (3) the

clinical performance in nursing examination (CPNE) only covers adults and pediatrics. In order to acquire more

information about Excelsior College Nursing Program, the Board researched other states and learned the following: (1)

Georgia and Vermont do not accept graduates from Excelsior College Nursing Program; (2) Florida requires the

graduates to have been Licensed Practical Nurses; (3) Illinois will accept the Excelsior graduate only after being

licensed as a registered nurse in another state for 2 years; (4) Washington only accepts Licensed Practical Nurses with

documentation of at least 200 hours of supervised experience (preceptorship) in the role of an RN.

ACTION: Approve Removal of Recognition of Excelsior College Nursing Program as

Meeting California Nursing Education Requirements

MSC: Erickson/Morales-Board

Public input: Patricia McFarland, MSN, RN, Executive Officer, Association of California Nurse

Leaders (ACNL) spoke in support of removing recognition from Excelsior College.

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Specializes in Postpartum, Antepartum, Psych., SDS, OR.

What about Diploma nursing schools? I checked with a few on the net and they seem to be more expensive than local community colleges. Thanks for the help!

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

According to Excelsior if you are currently enrolled in the nursing program you may sit for the cal. NCLEX. When Time comes the new applicants will not be able to., There is a meeting in sept. here to discuss that. I am currently enrolled and am on wait lists at other schools to cover myself. They key they tell me is to stay enrolled. The big thing here is the clinical aspect. I here Kaiser has a problem with it. But there are plenty other places besides kaiser to work.

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Specializes in Outpatient/Clinic, ClinDoc.

Just as an FYI, I am an excelsior (Regents) grad, and I work at Kaiser. It wasn't even mentioned at my interview, so at least my Kaiser area has no problem with it.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

I did the LPN to RN (ADN) bridge program through regular college. However, am now online for the BSN/MSN part at University of Phoenix. We have quite a few Excelsior students in classes. They are doing fine. I personally like online stuff. However, since I'm already an RN, there is little clinical time. Go for it!

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Specializes in Outpatient/Clinic, ClinDoc.

According to the California BRN website:

EXCELSIOR UPDATE

Action on Excelsior College has been deferred until the September 12, 2003, Board Meeting. For further information contact Excelsior College at 1-888-647-2388 (toll free within the United States) or 518-464-8500.

So I guess it's still acceptable for the moment.

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I graduated from Regents in Nov 1999. I was an LPN and full-time working single mom at the time. it was the only way that I could have done it. The most expensive thing to me was the CPNE. I had a good experience. I took my time and had a few interruptions in the process. I had a hysterectomy and took care of my dying father for two months. I had all of my prereqs before I enrolled and with my interruptions It took my about 16 months. I could have finished sooner but I wasn't in that much of a hurry. The thing that helped me was being able to pay for the tests as I took them. I did get A's on all and graduated with honors. The CPNE was mostly memorizing the "critical elements" but I passed the first time. I was extremely nervous but honestly the instructors don't want you to fail. They were all very nice. Don't waste your money on outside agencies. That's where the big expenses come in. I downloaded the free study guides on the school's website and bought the recommended books. I went page by page in the study guide, used a lot of flash cards and saved myself a lot of money by not using RUE, Moore, etc. Good luck to anyone that has chosen to complete their degree with Excelsior. It takes total self-motivation but it's worth it in the end.

Kelly

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