Did I take the bait (for profit school)?

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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I'll try to keep this concise, since most of you probably interested in my life story. Also, if it isn't annotated in your profile, can you post whether you're a student or nurse in your response? I've seen a lot of posts here that are making me question my decision to go the for-profit route for my school.

After a stint in the military and some time as a defense contractor, I'd realized that I wanted to move back home to MN, where I'd have to start a new career. I found that I was interested in healthcare, having performed some low level medical tasks here and there in the military (most complicated stuff we trained on were starting an IV and needle chest decompression) and found that I wasn't extremely queasy. A BSN seemed like the way to go. I applied to the University of Minnesota up here and was denied. This wasn't that much of a surprise since my HS grades were terrible, although I was hoping the 31 I got on the ACT, my veteran status, and the fact that 12 years had passed since I had been a student would factor in would swing it the other way. My backup plan was initially to go the CC route and hope to transfer to the U of M's BSN program, but I'd also found Herzing's BSN program about that time. I did some initial research and found that:

- They are approved by the state BON and accredited by CCNE.

- NCLEX pass rates for the first two graduated classes since the program was launched are 83% and 88%.

- Clinicals are done with an established local health network.

- Its a full 120 credit program.

To me, this passed the sniff test, but I've seen a lot of comments about for profit schools on here. I looked at student reviews for Herzing, and found many complaints across the country (its mostly an online school, but the BSN is 100% classroom/clinical), although there were only positive remarks left for the BSN program in MN. I'm trying to figure out if the comments on for-profit schools are solely aimed at obvious non accredited scam schools or if there are other downsides to these for-profit schools other than the prohibitive tuition costs. Am I going to use up my GI bill on this program and not be able to find a job or be at a serious disadvantage when trying to find desirable jobs? They claim a 97% employment rate after graduation, but I don't know if or how that can be independently verified.

My benefits are mine, not yours. They were part of the terms of my enlistment contract. Maybe I'm misunderstanding you here, but I'm not going to suck up thousands of dollars in tuition and get no transferable credits because you don't approve. I'm not sure how your spouse's service has anything to do with this. As it stands, a local community college will be accepting 14 out of the 18 credits I took at this for-profit school, with a "maybe" for the remaining 4.

Specializes in Prior military RN/current ICU RN..

Hey Dusky...that was LOOOOOWWWWW. He EARNED those benefits. I served 10 years and I used my GI Bill at a private school..Is that ok with you? Next time I will ask for your permission slip. Your money??? How about a simple "thank you for your service".

Hey Dusky...that was LOOOOOWWWWW. He EARNED those benefits. I served 10 years and I used my GI Bill at a private school..Is that ok with you? Next time I will ask for your permission slip. Your money??? How about a simple "thank you for your service".

Actually, it's not okay with a lot of us that taxpayer-funded GI bill benefits get paid to proprietary schools that provide poor quality education and are little more than scams to funnel public funds into administrator and shareholder pockets. I'm glad the Federal government is starting to clamp down on these schools.

Specializes in Prior military RN/current ICU RN..

Ok..so every check your husband gets is from the taxpayers. Should you have to account for every purchase you make to make sure you are not "wasting" it? You get socialized 100% free health care paid for by...wait for it... the taxpayers. So should they be allowed to make the decision whether you should be able to go to the doctor? It is HIS money. Every single benefit you get is FROM the taxpayers. When I served I had no wife and no children..so I received less BAH and never used any medical other than basic check ups. By you being a dependent you are automatically costing more than I ever did. He earned that money by serving his country and does not have to justify what school he chooses to go to YOU.

Actually, it's not okay with a lot of us that taxpayer-funded GI bill benefits get paid to proprietary schools that provide poor quality education and are little more than scams to funnel public funds into administrator and shareholder pockets. I'm glad the Federal government is starting to clamp down on these schools.

That's certainly true of unaccredited degree mills. As addressed in this topic, this is not the case here. This school, while pricey, is accredited by both HLC and CCNE. I've even called local hospitals to see if they hire grads from this school, and they do. Honestly, I'm disappointed in the responses here. I came here asking some specific questions, and received nothing but the "for-profit = bad" echo chamber. I'll be switching to the public system next semester, but that is only so I can attain the ADN at the two year mark, giving me the option to take the NCLEX at that point, allowing me to work part time while I continue school if I choose to do so. If I were to remain in my program, there isn't really any doubt in my mind that it would provide an honest shot at getting a job. This program is also three years (continuous, no summers off) instead of four, without the risk of being placed on a wait list.

Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

I am 100% for providing good benefits to veterans ... but as a taxpayer, I feel strongly that the government should protect our country's investment as well as those veterans by assuring that they are not being taken advantage of by shady businesses. That's especially true when those veterans invest their time and effort as well as their benefit money.

Unfortunately, a lot of shady companies prey on people coming out of the service -- trying to take advantage of those people who have little experience in the civilian world and grabbing a big piece of their benefits. One of the major players in the effort to regulate for-profit education is a Veteran's Group, whose members have seen for themselves how the scam artists work and who are trying to save their former military buddies from falling into their traps.

Society's resources are limited. We can't afford to be throwing that money away on bad education. And veterans deserve better.

I came here asking some specific questions, and received nothing but the "for-profit = bad" echo chamber.

Have you considered that there might be a good reason for the "echo chamber"??

Even if that is the case, they are bad to different degrees. There has not been any differentiation between unaccredited obvious scams and those who are accredited and produce nurses that land jobs in reputable hospitals. It gives me the impression that most of those giving advice here didn't read the topic. That is especially frustrating when some have gone on to lecture me on abusing "their" tax money, or make posts in a condescending manner when referring to veterans at large. They may not have been intended that way, but it is hard for me to see them any other way.

Update: as of 1 JAN 2015, Herzing is going non-profit. I'll continue dropping updates, especially at the end of the semester just in case somebody finds this thread through a google search (like the one that led me to AN in the first place).

I am applying to a private non-profit LVN program, should start Feb 9. Again, good luck to you and thank you for your service!

OK, final update. The lecture portions of the pre-req type courses were pretty good and I did learn a lot. The biggest sticking point was that their labs seemed starved for resources. I had to retake microbiology when switching to the local CC. Actually having all of the materials needed for lab is a huge plus. I can't compare A&P lab, since those credits were accepted as transfers, so I won't be taking them again. Strangely, my lecture instructor for both microbiology and A&P I/II, as well as the lab instructors for each, were all Chiropractors. I'm not really sure what to make of that. The lecture instructor was obviously knowledgeable, and seemed even keeled, as did the A&P lab instructor. The microbiology lab instructor was very into hippy type alternative medicine, but wasn't off the deep end anti-vaccination or anything. She was, however, very disorganized in general and inconsistent in grading. The entire cohort wrote her nasty end of class evals. I don't know if she had been there long or is still there, and at this point don't really care.

Some of the downsides of switching were that I have to take a freshman writing course that seems geared towards liberal arts majors. The big emphasis is on short MLA "thesis" papers. Please let me know if I'm wrong in assuming that this will not be a large part of my nursing education. The professors seem to have been teaching their entire careers and seem to be permanent residents, if not citizens of the "academic" world rather than the real world. Its hard to describe, but the two adjectives that come closest are pretentious and condescending. These are just pre-reqs/gen eds, so I'm hoping that it will be quite different once I start the nursing courses. The big issue is that I've completed several courses in a different order than the CC wants them completed, so I will have to probably take an extra semester out of pocket. The good news is that it is only two courses. The bad news is that I couldn't apply to the nursing program on account of not having completed a couple of English and psychology pre-reqs. I have to wait until the end of the year to apply for spring semester next year. That leaves me with two courses to complete over the summer and during fall semester. It makes me feel like I'm spinning my wheels a bit. I really don't understand why college students have the the summer off or why there isn't at least an option to forego the summer break. That is going to stretch school out by more than a year for me. At 31, it isn't like I'm an old man, but I'd much rather jump into the next part of my life sooner than later.

I don't have alerts turned on for posts to my topics, so if anybody has a question about anything I posted here, please shoot me a pm and I'll get back to you.

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