Chamberlain vs Excelsior

SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN · Dec 1, 2011

I did Chamberlain. It was much more expensive. I started with Excelsior but they had a lot of requirements that I could not possibly fulfill. As an example, I was supposed to perform a focused cephalocaudal assessment and record it, preferably in an exam room. I had no access to one, nor did I have a film crew. I dropped and enrolled where it was, for me, more reasonable.

classicdame, MSN, EdD · Dec 1, 2011

Have done neither, but have some questions for you to ponder.

#1Have you determined if your state has a state supported school (University of Texas, for example)? If they have a nursing program with online classes it will be MUCH cheaper, plus they may have contacts for question #2

#2 Ask if clinicals will be required and how they are managed. If they say you have to find your own preceptor, that might be a problem. Our facility will not allow students unless we have a contract with the school (risk mgmt). We will not contract with those schools you mentioned because they get paid and we don't yet they expect us to teach for free. Also, there are administrative reasons, such as malpractice insurance.

Your state school may be more helpful.

luvfall · Dec 2, 2011

Thank you both for your input and advice. Appreciated!

AgentR · Dec 2, 2011

I had the exact experience that SuesquatchRN did. Chamberlain was more expensive, but has less ridiculous hoops to jump through. I am 2 weeks away from finishing all of my classes for my BSN and very happy with my experience. One thing to look at is how many credits you can transfer in to each school. Although Chamberlain was more expensive per credit hour, it ended up that many of the programs would have been a similar cost because they wouldn't accept as many of my transfer credits.

luvfall · Dec 2, 2011

Thanks AgentR for responding.