Concorde Career Inst.

I just graduated from the VN program this month. I would recommend Concorde if you are looking to get into nursing and start making money very quickly, because it is VERY quick, no prereqs are required. If you have more time to take then I would say go for your RN at a community college or a community college VN program (because it's much less expensive). I still think I received a good education though, just a little too pricey in my opinion. It is approved by the Texas Board of Nurse Examiners, it is not accredited (apparently only a few number of VN schools are actually accredited still). I am scheduled to take my NCLEX in May and I feel pretty confident about passing. Just ask if you have any other questions I can anwser for you. Here's where you can get Texas BNE approved programs and NCLEX pass rates:
ftp://www.bne.state.tx.us/vnschools.pdf
ftp://www.bne.state.tx.us/VN-5YR-05.pdf

If you need to finish school quickly, then Concorde would be a viable option for you (as the above poster said). Even though most private LVN programs are not NLN-accredited, they are state-approved and you are still eligible to take an LVN-to-RN bridge program (if you wanted).

If you have 2 years of time on your hands, it might be more advisable to take a community college LVN or RN program because they're less expensive and accredited.

According to the TX BNE only about 3 VN programs in TX are accredited, so some community colleges programs are not accredited either. The main thing is that it is in good standing as an approved program with the BNE so you can sit for boards.

A newbie here. I too am considering Concorde for LVN. Can anybody tell me what the tuition is? Any good study guides to study out of before joining in the fall? Do they have an entrance exam? How hard is it? Guess I didn't have to mention I'm a newbie -- hard to miss with all my questions.

Also, does anybody have any information on the WIA program offered thru TWC where they pay the tuition? Do you have to be on unemployment? Great website, btw. Took me all day just to read 36 pages of the TX forum. <very...tired...>

Thanks heaps.

Tuiton was $18,400, that includes all your books and scrubs. yes, very steep, more like 4 times as much as a community college. You can get government financial aid though. Fortunately I had a great deal of help from my parents, otherwise I might not have considered it for that much. They do sell study guides for the NET, you just have to ask them. I didn't think it was very difficult, but then again that is subjective. I know there were a few students going through TWC that got their tuiiton paid, but I don't really know any details. Hope I could anwser some questions. Best of luck in your decision.

I just wanted to mention that Concorde is accredited by the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools, and approved by the TX BON, if it wasn't they would not have a 91% employment rate of their students after graduation.

I just graduated from Concorde 2 weeks ago. I went thru the evening program which is 22 months long and was $22,500 ; while expensive, that is everything from tuition, books, uniforms, stethescope/BP cuff kit, etc. That even includes a third party LVN review course that costs $200 and the fee (i think that is $200 or $300) for taking the boards. You pay the big bucks for the convience of short wait and no pre-reqs. I did very well, graduating with a 4.0 and took the boards this past wednesday and found out today (unofficial pearson vue results) that i passed! my computer had shut off at 85, though i had been pretty sure i passed. 3 days after i graduated i also got a job paying $18 an hour, which isn't bad for someone that in not only a new grad, but has no prior medical experience. ultimately you must make your own choice, but my experience was not bad. as for the comment about the NET test, i chose to buy the NET study guide, which was a help. my concern was math, as i did really well in school but had been out of high school for 10 plus years when i was getting ready to take the NET. it has all those coversions with good examples of how to convert frations to decimals, decimals to percents, etc, etc, etc.

pass rates can be found on the BNE website under the education tab. it lists all schools separated by RN and LVN programs and shows 5 years (i think that many) history of pass rates.