Not-for-profit vs for-profit colleges...did this make a difference?

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I am curious to hear from those of you that have attended for-profit vs not-for-profit colleges.

Did any of you, when job searching after completing your graduate degrees, have anyone say anything if you graduated from a for-profit school?

In other words, do you feel that you were discriminated against in any way or did it make no difference at all as long as you held the credentials?

Thanks!

BabyLady

Specializes in Mixed Level-1 ICU.
...and you also have to consider, for every article like that you find, there will be disgruntled students...you have to take their opinion with a grain of salt.

Sure, and for every article there will be supporters who probably own company stock...their opinions will not be objective.

Specializes in NICU, Post-partum.

...but some of this brings me back to my original question.

One of the schools I am looking at is Walden...which is fully accredited just like , not only that, their nursing program is accredited as well.

So, other than the fact that they are for-profit vs private or public...I am not sure why it would be lumped into the "degree mill" category..a school shouldn't be penalized for advertising on the internet, especially if they are a distance learning program..to me, that only makes sense that you would market yourself to internet users.

Another school, Liberty University, has an online program and they advertise quite a bit as well...I know of several people that have graduated from their program and it is a very well regarded college.

Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.
klone, here's what I'm wondering about WGU (based on the complainer's remarks):

1. Can you describe what an actual BSN course looks like? I understand that it's technically "not a course" but instead a self-study and then you take an exam. Is the self study a book or some sort of online material? I'm just wondering how academically throrough you have found it to be (compared to your previous 2-year nursing school) and how prepared you felt for the exams?

2. Have you found it to be true that they don't issue letter grades to your transcript until you actually graduate, and that before you graduate they only note "pass/fail" on your transcript? That seems very odd to me. I'm wondering if they do this so your WGU classes will be non-transferrable to other schools unless you actually graduate from WGU? Do you actually know whether you earned an A, B, or C in a class immediately after taking the exam?

3. Do you have any experience with how employers view a BSN or MSN from WGU?

Thanks for your help!! I'm not saying I believe all the complaints - just want to do my homework. :)

I would recommend searching the threads in the "distance learning" forum - there are several excellent threads with a ton of info about .

It probably does have to do with each individual ofr-profit college, but understand that they just don't have a good reputation. They are in the business of making money, so automatically the focus appears to not be on education. Whether that is true for a particular college or not doesn't really matter... first impressions are everything.

Here are two articles dealing with a for-profit school that is near where I live. The first is a beaming article about a school that opened up and was going to help people because they needed skills to get a job. The next is an article a year later talking about all of the people they screwed. I don't think that all of these programs are out there to help minorities or those in poverty. They found a market, and depending on the person, they will exploit their desperation.

http://www.inlandsocal.com/business/content/education_workforce/stories/PE_News_Local_E_ewestech19.467f319.html

http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_college03.214d025.html

Specializes in NICU, Post-partum.
It probably does have to do with each individual ofr-profit college, but understand that they just don't have a good reputation. They are in the business of making money, so automatically the focus appears to not be on education. Whether that is true for a particular college or not doesn't really matter... first impressions are everything.

Here are two articles dealing with a for-profit school that is near where I live. The first is a beaming article about a school that opened up and was going to help people because they needed skills to get a job. The next is an article a year later talking about all of the people they screwed. I don't think that all of these programs are out there to help minorities or those in poverty. They found a market, and depending on the person, they will exploit their desperation.

http://www.inlandsocal.com/business/content/education_workforce/stories/PE_News_Local_E_ewestech19.467f319.html

http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_college03.214d025.html

When the tuition costs more than what the degree will pay in a year, that is the first indication of a rip-off.

You can get into ANY medical assistant or phlebotomist program in any community college and probably pay less than $3K for the degree, not to mention Pell grants that will get you through.

I think that it isn't necessarily whether it is for-profit or not, just WHICH for-profit college you went to. Harvard is a for-profit college, and so is the University of Phoenix. There is a world of difference between the two :p

harvard U is a NOT for profit educational institution - meaning if they make one great but that their main goal is not just to make a profit. FOR profit colleges are there to do that in their mission statement - to MAKE money - which can be at any cost - usually to it's students!

Thank you everyone for this information! I never knew what regional accrediation was, or why it is so important. I think it is up to everyone to decided for themselves what is important to them. Interestingly, University of Chicago Medical center only accepts NLN accredidation. Just passing that on.

Specializes in NICU, Post-partum.
Thank you everyone for this information! I never knew what regional accrediation was, or why it is so important. I think it is up to everyone to decided for themselves what is important to them. Interestingly, University of Chicago Medical center only accepts NLN accredidation. Just passing that on.

...but at the same time, I looked up my state and well-grounded state schools were not on the list. I noticed that it was mostly community colleges.

I am sure there is a reason for it.

However, I do know that if a college is not accredited by the US Department of Education, you cannot get federal loans....so that is why many of the for-profit schools use PRIVATE lenders for loans.

Specializes in Gerontology, nursing education.
...but at the same time, I looked up my state and well-grounded state schools were not on the list. I noticed that it was mostly community colleges.

I am sure there is a reason for it.

Most BSN and master's programs are accredited by the CCNE (Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education). The NLNAC generally accredits practical nursing, ADN, and diploma RN programs. Some BSN, MSN, and DNP programs are accredited by the NLNAC but most are accredited by the CCNE.

Here is a link to the CCNE website:

http://www.aacn.nche.edu/accreditation/AboutCCNE.htm

Here is a link to find CCNE-accredited programs:

http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Accreditation/accprogs.htm

Specializes in TELE, CVU, ICU.

THIS is an informative thread. I am personally having a problem finding a graduate level forensic nursing program, I've started looking outside my area (SoCal) because the budget has adversely affected programs offered by the State Uni's. The only programs I've been able to find are offered by Kaplan (the subject of the PE news article linked earlier in the thread), Case Western (I cannot find it listed as an accredited school when I search on the site linked earlier in the thread), Xavier (its accredited, has a good rep but no online offering and its in Ohio), and an online post baccalaureate cert from Johns Hopkins. The DON at the hospital I work at graduated from Case Western it has not adversely affected her.

Specializes in Pediatrics & Med-Surg.
I'll be honest..I would give anything if I could find a brick-and-morter distance learning program at a reasonable tuition that have the elements that I am looking for, but so far I have not found one.

If you post it on this website, everyone says, "Oh, just look it up on the internet!".

Uh, like that never occurred to the person posting the question.

I would encourage anyone to TRY to search for a general nursing program on the internet...the first thing that pops up is all the for-profit schools..over and over and over again which makes a search hard and I have been looking for WEEKS for a suitable program.

So this is what I am looking for, in case anyone knows of a program and can recommend one:

1) Distance learning

2) No GRE

3) Nurse Educator focus...this is the kicker...some of these programs are designed for a nurse educator in a clinical setting (ie. hospital) and that is the focus of the program..others, focus on curriculum planning and design...THAT is what I want to learn to do.

4) Reasonable tuition...I have found programs that are $700+ a semester hour...not even going to go there.

You might want to check out http://www.ttuhsc.edu/son/ Texas Tech...they have an online nurse educator program.

Case Western as in Case Western Reserve Univ.? If that's the school you're talking about, I know it has an excellent reputation for their medical school - right up there with Tufts, Johns Hopkins, etc. They're especially known for research with their profs publishing regularly in academic journals. I tried looking for accreditation on their nursing program website, but their website in general is really hard to navigate! But I'm almost 100% sure they are accredited. They have PhD's & DNP's teaching their students and they offer the highest graduate degrees.

This thread has been helpful for me. For a moment, I was willing to consider for-profit online-only schools for RN-BSN bridge. But I have to say that now I am not. Even if there is a theoretical possibility that a few of these schools are good, I can't afford to put their general stigma on my resume. I think my minimum starting point to consider an online program will be that they actually have a bricks & mortar campus and they are fully accredited. Then I'll start comparing student reviews, tuition cost, # of courses required, user-friendliness of their web platform, etc.

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