Career training solutions in fredricksburg, VA? I need more info about this school

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Can someone give me more info on this school?

They said their next set of classes start in march and their RN program is 15 months long (because there are no breaks) The tutition is quite high and I would have to relocate to go there, but I personally wouldnt mind if I can have my RN by next June!

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Well, by glancing briefly at the website I can see that this is a proprietary (private-for-profit) school that is not accredited by a regional academic accreditation organization (general academic accreditation), and not accredited by the NLNAC or CCNE (nursing-specific accreditation). So, any courses that you take there are unlikely to transfer to "regular" colleges and universities, and you would have difficulty furthering your nursing education or applying to healthcare employers that require you to be a graduate of an NLNAC or CCNE accredited program (which means most college/university higher education programs in nursing, and a growing number of healthcare employers, including some of the most desirable healthcare employers in the US (university medical centers, the entire VA system, the entire US military, many others).

FWIW, my Google search also returned (first thing after the school's own website) a college ranking site on which three of the four reviews of CTS were bad. Career Training Solutions - Reviews

I realize nobody asked my opinion, but, in this day and age, I can't see the point in paying tuition (esp. highly inflated, overpriced tuition!) for courses that will not transfer to other schools or to attend an unaccredited program. No point in closing off any future educational and professional opportunities for yourself this early in the process.

Best wishes for your journey!

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Thanks so much for your reply! I saw on their website that they are accredited by the commission of the council on occupational education and virgina board of nursing, but I don't really know too much about it. To be completely honest, I don't really want to get a BSN, so I'm fine with just obtaining my RN. I'm mostly just afraid of getting into the program, making it, say, half way through and then failing and my credits won't transfer and i'd have to start ALL over. That, and not being able to get a job.

What if I went there and then applied for a job in NC? do you think it would be easier or harder?

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To be completely honest, I don't really want to get a BSN, so I'm fine with just obtaining my RN.

I realize you feel completely confident and sincere about that now, but, believe me, many, many nurses (including myself :)) felt that way when we started out -- and then, once we were in nursing for a while and saw the wide range of additional opportunities only available to those with BSNs (or higher), we started to see things differently, and went back to school. Look at how many threads there are, just on this site, about nurses going back to school, or wanting to go back to school, or trying to decide about going back to school ...

If you go to an appropriately accredited program and never do decide that you want more nursing education, no harm done. However, if you go to a school like this, that does not have the same general academic accreditation as "regular" colleges and universities and isn't NLNAC or CCNE accredited, and decide later in your career that you want to further your education -- or just work for a healthcare employer that has a "graduates of accredited programs only" policy (and there are more of those every year) -- you will be at a serious disadvantage.

Does it really make sense to spend a lot more money than necessary and, at the same time, really restrict your future opportunities before you even know whether you will want to pursue them? Schools like this stay in business (and make big profits) because many people who want to become nurses aren't already knowledgeable enough about how higher education and nursing work to recognize that they're selling you an inferior "product." I'm not criticizing you for that; I and lots of others on this board started out not knowing how important this stuff is, either, but I encourage you to take advantage of the knowledge of those of us who have "been there."

Best wishes!

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Thank you so much! I think I'm going to take your advice. I guess I was so in love with the idea that I could start a RN program in march and be done by next june...but it's not worth it if I will not be able to get a good job or be able to further my career in the future. Thanks for your input! I really appreciate it. :)

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No prob! Good luck!

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