Excelsior College Costs

DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN · Oct 28, 2005

Hi, I'm new to this site and had a few questions about EC. First, I've checked the site and costs- not exactly sure I understand how that works. It tells the price for exams- NRSG Concepts 1 thru 7 cost 215.00 each. Is that correct? And then the other exams range from 165 to 255. I do not have to take courses- just the exams? And can I take NRSG Concepts 1 & 2 b4 I enroll at Excelsior? Or do I need to enroll? I only need like 4 basic ed classes, if the other classes I've had transfer. Then I pay for the CPNE, and the graduation costs? Even if I don't go to the graduation? And also pay the yearly students fee? I'm trying to find a rough estimate of the costs, before I start to sign agreements, and pay enrollment fees. Any help would be appreciated!:wink2:

I paid about $7,000 and paid as I went. I DID NOT use any for profit study guides. Check out this website for all the info you could ever want about EC. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rnstudygroup/ You can download EC's study guides for free at the site www.excelsior.edu and buy the texts used on www.half.com. I think I got a great education doing it myself and alot cheaper as well. I graduated 4 years ago.

BBFRN, BSN, PhD · Oct 30, 2005

First take the exams for NC 1&2 (you are correct that taking the exam- testing out, is different than taking a course). After you pass those 2 exams, then you enroll and start making monthly enrollment fee payments (via the Pay-Your-Way program if you choose). You will be charged a fee for every exam you take. If you are in the program for >1 year, you will also be charged a renewal fee every year. Your best bet is to try to get all your courses done and be signed up for the CPNE within the year. That'll save you several hundred dollars. There is another fee for the CPNE, which you can make installments on as well. THEN there is a graduation fee. It adds up, but like Dutchgirl, it only added up to about $7,000 for me too. I got tuition reimbursement from my employer, though. I began the program with tax returns, and then used each reimbursement for another exam. I took a little over a year, so I also used tax returns for the CPNE (I overtaxed/underexempted myself on purpose for this, so I would have a chunk of money "saved up").

lpncaltc · Nov 10, 2005

i also paid as i went along too. i did all my pre-req's in traditional college ( ca only charges $11 cr /hr) , then nc1 and nc2, a&p and micro before enrolling so i had everything done in less than a year. ( except cpne - i am waiting a test date now) this is the scariest part as the pass rate for the cpne is only 61%, but the nclex pass rate for ec grads is 97%. ( higher than national average - if you can get past the cpne as it costs 1625.00)

good luck,

tina b. :nurse: