Tough predicament, need guidance

[OsceanSN2018]

Sorry that I am new and do not know where to put this topic but I am a 19-year-old college student who has been accepted into a BSN program starting August.

This is all great news and everything but this program has low NCLEX pass rates and they are on their 3rd year of probation sadly. Their NCLEX pass rates are 73%, 73%, 64% respectively within 3 years. They admit 100 students every semester and this is a private nonprofit university that is apart of my university as a "sister branch".

I did not know this when I applied, or when I invested 2 years of my time taking specifics prerequisites for this one program (60 credit hours). I did know anything about the profession at the time and did not thoroughly research what the NCLEX really entailed. I only recently found this out from reading this site and doing more research.

That was the bad news, the good news is that this program has a great reputation going for them since 1894 and was once considered one of my states top programs for their high NCLEX pass rates and new grad job placement within 6 months (93%) since 2014. But that percentage has gone down to 82% for 2016. I spoke to a lot of the seniors who attend this college at the tour and they told me that they recommend this college and it has been a great experience.

I even emailed and spoke with the dean of nursing and she told not to worry about the pass rates as their getting it under controlled with the new curriculum put in place by CCNE and that they don't plan on losing any of their accreditations (they have membership and accreditations for more things than I can count including NLN and Higher Education.)

I also would like to mention that their admission standard are low and they do give students sencond chances if you have a really low GPA but at least maintained a 2.5 GPA in the last 48 credit hours. But I also heard the program is very tough and rigorous and some of their courses require an 85% or above to pass and move on to the next level.

My mother and family say I still should go since its a great school but I'm still conflicted at this point on what should I do. I want to be a nurse but not one that doesn't graduate from an accredited school...

My mother also has already set up a payment plan with the school and if I don't go there she may not fund my education as my younger sister will be starting college soon as well and she doesn't want to pay for both of us at the same time.

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

82% is not outstanding, but I wouldn't consider it low enough to look elsewhere. If it was in the 70's then look elsewhere. NCLEX questions are revised every few years and schools need to adapt. That could explain the drop from 93% to 82%. If they are consistently getting worse over a 5 yr span, then that is an issue.

[OsceanSN2018]

82% is not outstanding, but I wouldn't consider it low enough to look elsewhere. If it was in the 70's then look elsewhere. NCLEX questions are revised every few years and schools need to adapt. That could explain the drop from 93% to 82%. If they are consistently getting worse over a 5 yr span, then that is an issue.

Thank you for commenting, and yes I do believe job placement is a major part and they do pride themselves on theirs students being the "preferred candidate" as it is even in their mission statement. Also what I found out is that doing those 3 years of low pass rates they had a terrible dean of nursing who had set forward a lot of budget cuts, one being the simulation lab which limited students time there.

[dishes, BSN, RN]

What does it say on the BON about programs that are on their third year of probation? That is the red flag you should be looking at, not reassurances from the dean about implementing a new curriculum, as the dean is biased.

[OsceanSN2018]

What does it say on the BON about programs that are on their third year of probation? That is the red flag you should be looking at, not reassurances from the dean about implementing a new curriculum, as the dean is biased.

I looked it up, and it says that the college is on their 3rd year of probation for low NCLEX pass rates and has received a comprehensive review from CCNE and will receive another one in 2021. But from what I can tell they are still in good standing with the BON and their accreditations.

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

Two thirds of their students are passing. You do your part to make sure you're in that two thirds. If you do something like Kaplan NCLEX shouldn't be unreasonably hard to pass.

[OsceanSN2018]

Two thirds of their students are passing. You do your part to make sure you're in that two thirds. If you do something like Kaplan NCLEX shouldn't be unreasonably hard to pass.

Thank you for commenting, I read that their new curriculum has put in place a semester long NCLEX review class and you must pass it with satisfactory along with the examination to pass the course, if not the course has to be repeated.

[dishes, BSN, RN]

I looked it up, and it says that the college is on their 3rd year of probation for low NCLEX pass rates and has received a comprehensive review from CCNE and will receive another one in 2021. But from what I can tell they are still in good standing with the BON and their accreditations.

If the BON hasn't approved the program for three years how can it be considered in good standing?

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Moved to student nursing forum

[OsceanSN2018]

If the BON hasn't approved the program for three years how can it be considered in good standing?

It's just a guess because their license has not been revoked yet and their students can still sit for the NCLEX. But no you're right I shouldn't have considered it "good standing" under the circumstances.

[Heylove, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

I don't think you should worry so much about NCLEX pass rates, as you only need to worry about whether or not YOU pass. A semester long NCLEX class? Oh, for heaven sakes - I would not be pleased, just saying! We had a five day NCLEX seminar, and that was very helpful. You have plenty of time to worry about NCLEX after you graduate, and as others have mentioned, Kaplan is an excellent resource.

In our program, all of our exam questions were basically worded just like NCLEX. Students who would ask specific questions about NCLEX were told "don't worry about NCLEX yet, you need to get through the program first!"

[kkbb, BSN, RN]

The school I went to went into probation about the time that I started there. I read the official documentation that the BON put out that showed exactly what the complaints were. I went to the school and wanted to know what was being done about the issues. Because there had been issues, the program was changing while I attended. I felt okay about the situation because I knew what the problems were and I saw what the school was doing to fix the situation.

NCLEX pass rates are important, but if the school is addressing it then that is a good sign. What are they doing in the semester of NCLEX prep? What outside resources are they using (ATI, HURST, Kaplan)? Is the school changing other courses? Ask specific questions and expect specific answers.