College Network vs. Rue vs. Excelsior

Athomas · Oct 30, 2007

Yes that is true to always check into all of your options and please educate yourself on what is available especially before misguiding others. For instance, there is a such thing as an LPN to RN-BSN where you DO NOT have to be an RN to enroll because as stated above it is for LPN's who are wanting to bridge over the ASN/ADN. There are online programs available for that particular program as well as traditional programs at your local universities. So along with reading these blogs and threads please do your own research instead of being misguided by other outside of TCN, RUE and Excelsior because they don't always guide you the right way either. Thank you!

I graduated from EC by going straight through them. No College Network, Rue, any of them.
Their reps will try to fool you into believing that you need their study guides in order to make it through the program, and Colllege Network seems to be doing a great job of convincing people that they are a school that grants nursing degrees, when in fact, they only sell materials that are supposed to help you to pass exams through EC.
In all fairness, there are some here who say that these companies sold great materials and that they were very helpful, but they are VERY expensive and you get trapped into signing contracts with them.
Many people have started going through E-Bay and buying these study guides second hand for a much lower price, I would suggest at least checking that out first.
But please talk DIRECTLY to EC first, not these publishing companies. Take the first nursing exam and see how it goes. If you find that the exam was difficult and need additional help, then fine. But you may discover that you can study the material and pass the exams on your own without signing a contract and ending up with a much more expensive ASN degree by using College Network.
One more reason to get in touch with EC directly is that they will give you more accurate info than College Network, here's an example:
You mentioned that College Network told you that doing the ASN would be "better" for your circumstances than the BSN. I guess they either forgot to mention, or probably don't even know, that you as an LPN are not even eligible for the BSN program, it's open to RN's only. So you have no choice here. You need to get your ASN first, and then you can go on to the BSN if you want.
Do your research before you sign a contract with any of these companies. There are numerous threads on this topic here and you should read through them.

JDID · Feb 1, 2008

CAN SOMEONE TELL ME HOW TO GET MY MONEY BACK FROM THE COLLEGE NETWORK. This is not working for me and decided to take classes at the local college for my RN. TCN doesn't, of course, want to give me my six thousand dollars back. What do I do?

Editorial Team / Moderator · Feb 1, 2008

CAN SOMEONE TELL ME HOW TO GET MY MONEY BACK FROM THE COLLEGE NETWORK. This is not working for me and decided to take classes at the local college for my RN. TCN doesn't, of course, want to give me my six thousand dollars back. What do I do?

If you signed a contract, you're probably stuck. You could always seek legal advice regarding any loopholes that might exist in the contract, but that might cost you more in the long run without good results. You could sell your study guides on eBay to try to recoup some of the money, but they won't sell for as much as you paid for them.

chaxanmom · Feb 2, 2008

CAN SOMEONE TELL ME HOW TO GET MY MONEY BACK FROM THE COLLEGE NETWORK. This is not working for me and decided to take classes at the local college for my RN. TCN doesn't, of course, want to give me my six thousand dollars back. What do I do?

Um, no offense but you signed a legally sound contract. Why would you expect your money back? Sorry you changed your mind but that's not TCN's fault. Welcome to the real world.

psychnurse1998 · Feb 3, 2008

I am with EC, and also recommend EC over the publishing companies aleady mentioned. I liked the practise exams EC gives, I dont think they are available to non EC studentsk, if i remember correctly....They made all the difference in the world to me. The test were a good indicator of how good you might do in the actual test. I got all tests out of the way except for the CPNE...

bratbaby · Sep 28, 2010

Hello, I'm a first-time poster!

Just had my meeting with a rep from TCN this morning. I have been an LPN for 12 years and am a single mom of 4, including 3 teenagers. Whee!!! The community colleges here are affordable but have wait lists up to 2 years and my other options seem to be those for-profit schools you see advertised on late-night TV. I work better on my own and have to say that the program looks like a good deal to me. HOWEVER, now I see posts saying I could buy the study guides on ebay and test out directly through Excelsior. Well, I was going to go for the BSN program through Indiana State. Do they have a similar procedure? How do you know how pertinent the old study guides are? With as busy as I am it does seem like an advantage to have the guides sent directly to me but I don't want to be, as I keep seeing, a "sucker!" ;-) Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

caliotter3 · Sep 28, 2010

The Indiana State study modules can be bought used from other students. You would find them on the student communication forum through ISU. Look on ebay under "Excelsior College" for used copies of study material from the various publishing companies. The study outline is available on the Excelsior website on the publications link. You can download the first two study guides but won't have access to the others until you are an enrolled student.

jrjohnson35 · Sep 28, 2010

I used Lisa Arends study guides from E-Bay for all the Nsg plus Micro and life span psychology...that in conjunction with Excelsior practice exams was all I had to purchase.

Passed all on the first try though I would spend about 7-8 weeks on each. Sometimes life got in the way of study time.

I have friends who purchased RUE and College network and spend thousands and gave up because it was too much info to try and learn. Lisa's discs gave me the nitty gritty of what concepts etc. I needed to know. I also put a medical dictionary on my desk top and every term or diagnosis I didn't know I looked up as I went. Made it easier.

Hope this helps..Currently trying to CLEP Sociology......Waiting for my CPNE date!!!!

bratbaby · Sep 29, 2010

Thanks so much for replying! :coollook:

I guess the thought of having to hunt down all the material and schedule all the tests makes me nervous. At what point could i actually enroll as an Indiana State student? How does tuition work out? I feel like I know absolutely nothing. Would ISU let me know what classes I could test out of and which transferred? I guess I just worry that I would make such a mess of it that I would just throw up my hands and give up, and end up in some more structured program anyway. :confused:

caliotter3 · Sep 29, 2010

ISU was not forthcoming with me when I called with questions. They refused to talk with me and referred me to The College Network. Since I did not want to talk to a publishing company to get badgered into signing their contract, that was the end of my inquiry into ISU.

bratbaby · Sep 29, 2010

oh boy. won't be sleeping too easy tonight. looks like i'm caught between predatory study guides and multi-year waiting lists!

caliotter3 · Sep 29, 2010

oh boy. won't be sleeping too easy tonight. looks like i'm caught between predatory study guides and multi-year waiting lists!

I agree with you. Sometimes I think the Almighty should just come down from Paradise and bestow an RN license on the chosen.