Nursing School Graduation Percentages

I think that the % that passes NCLEX is more important; however, the instructors teaching ability comes into question if too many students do not pass through certain areas of the program. It is a balance between everything that makes one school's program better or more effective than the next. I live in an area with a University and a CC and the CC has WAY better reputation than the University. They feuded a few years back by running nasty stories publicly in the paper. This was stemmed from the Universities probation because their NCLEX pass rate was too low. The University hit the CC college by saying their program was too hard because too many were failing and going to the University. Personally, all they did was make themselves look worse. Anyways, the point is that many things contribute to making the program 'better'. I would talk to graduates and see what they think.

There are a few more complexities as well - where do you count students who have to repeat a semester? My accelerated BSN class admitted 48. At least 2 didn't accept admission, and their spots were filled with people who failed a previous semester - I'll leave those two out of my numbers. Of the 46 then, 19 of us started our summer semester, and I'm actually not 100% sure how many graduated - only about half my class walked. I know 3/19 didn't pass the exit HESI the first try, but we get a second shot at it. Not sure who passed it the second try or not. However, we didn't have 27 fail or drop out. I know one who withdrew before he could be failed, and I'm sure we lost a couple others first semester before I knew them. Most of the other 27 chose to slow down their program, or may have failed one class and had to join the group behind us. The ability to slow down may be unique to accelerated programs, but I'm sure every class has people who fail a course or have to sit out a semester. I assume that's one reason schools have a tough time reporting graduation rates. However, if you look at stats for colleges in general, 4-yr schools typically report a "6-year graduation rate" to account for students who may not progress at the typical pace. I think it's very reasonable to expect NS's to report, for example, a 3-yr grad rate. They aren't doing it for all the reasons stated above - it's much easier to manipulate NCLEX passage scores. We'l probably get 100% again, but 16-19/46 are graduating on time.

In my program, the non-traditional learns are also the stronger students. The above mention reasons are probably correct but you have to factor in experience. How many non-tradintions have given birth, nursed a sick child or cared for an aging parent, not to mention their own personal experiences with health care. I know that assisting my son with preparations for the ACT/SAT, the vocabulary looks so easy now compared to what it did as a teen.