Excelsior

Editorial Team / Moderator · Jan 29, 2008

A breakdown of expenses:

Info Lit..........$260

Enrollment......$895

Classes.......$2,645

CPNE..........$1,825

Total...........$5625

Those were my expenses with Excelsior. I took Info Lit in 2006, so it was a little less expensive then. "Classes" includes NC1 through NC7 (including NC2), A&P, Micro, AND all the practice exams for each of those exams.

I was fortunate enough to receive a $3K scholarship from the Ladies Board at the hospital where I work, and my employer reimbursed me for the CPNE (of course, if I fail it, I have to pay them back! Yikes.). I took A&P first, before I got my scholarship, and my employer reimbursed me for that as well. So I paid for Info Lit, the enrollment, and the A&P practice test out of pocket. Total for me: $1215. Can't beat that! And I actually have a $260 credit with EC right now -- a surplus from my scholarship -- so if I do things right (i.e., pass the CPNE!), my graduation will cost $235 (program completion fee of $495 minus the $260).

That figure does not include books/study guide costs, which I estimate at $300 ... and I re-sold many of my study guides on eBay, so I recouped that cost. (Mostly because my copy of Chancellor's NC1 sold for $178 ... that is crazy. I started the auction at $35!!)

So there it is ... not too shabby!

elpeon · Feb 6, 2008

I'm very interested in trying out excelsior, thanks for all the info.:cheers:

Diahni · Feb 6, 2008

This is probably in another thread somewhere and if it is I'm sorry but I'm a paramedic in Pennsylvania and looking into Excelsior college for my RN. I have a bachelor's degree already so most of the Gen Ed's should be covered. I'm looking into Distance Learning Systems to start. Anyone have any insight or advice on this? I'd love to hear all thoughts, good or bad. Thank you SO much!!!

Hey,

yeah, do it. I just started. I have a few reservations, though. It takes a long time to get the CPNE appointment. If you have all your prerequisites down, the entire fee will be about five thousand. I'm counting the nursing exam series and the CPNE.

One other thing - it's different to not really have colleagues, so I'm hoping this forum with be like having fellow students.

Diahni

Diahni · Feb 6, 2008

Holy Cow! Two in ten??? That's a scary statistic! I don't like that at all. With all the stressing about the nclex, both pn and rn, at least most people pass, and ones that don't take it again.

diahni

Editorial Team / Moderator · Feb 6, 2008

I doubt the "two in 10" is correct ... I believe the CPNE pass rate is in the mid-60s, percentage wise. Don't panic.

Diahni · Feb 6, 2008

i think you are a little off on your information. the total price tag for me was just over 3k of course i had all my classes done before i enrolled. however, anyone pursuing a ec degree can clep out of the majority of their classes (which is very inexpensive). you probably paid 2k more for your school than a ec student will for theirs. because ec is set up for students with experience you should not be teaching yourself any skills (refresh maybe).
during the clinical evaluation it is not a automatic failure if you mess up something. you will have the opportunity for one more try at passing. the cpne is nothing that you can just walk in and take. it takes months of preparation.
i also think your stats on the pass rate are off but cant back that up right now.

texasqueen,

phew, i feel a lot better, especially since i know you finished. have you done the nclex yet? all told, it does seem like the right thing for me - on one hand, my "real school" clinicals were a joke. in fact, i welcome the idea of drilling on skills such as iv. on the rare occasion that i got to actually practice something in clinicals, it was on the fly. no way to learn something, huh? but let me ask you a question - when i'm studying, who can i ask about specifics? the books are self-explanatory, but here's my first question: the new course outline includes a chapter about bioterrorism. (figures.) well, how "deep" do you have to get into the material? the only (and i mean only) advantage to the school i went to is that if the info was in the powerpoint lectures, then it was fair game for the test. (i went to a much more rigorous college for my ba where if it was in the book, it was fair game.) how do you know what kind of stuff to memorize? did you do other things, like the online practice exams, or whatever else they offer at excelsior? i'm a pretty good self-study type, but i'd like to be more clear about what i'm expected to know. let's face it, we're talking lots of info here!

diahni

exnavygirl-RN · Feb 6, 2008

I am almost finished with Excelsior. I have not found it to be that expensive. If you consider the cost of traditional 2 year or 4 year colleges, even non-private colleges it pretty much evens out. I'm in the "old" Excelsior Program. Each exam is about $250 and the clinical is about $1800. I did not go through any publishing companies (College Network, Rue, Chancellor's, etc) I bought all my study material used.

Right now i'm studying for Foundations (NC-7) and all I have left is the CPNE.

This has been a great program for me, however, if I decide to get my BSN I'm going to a local college...just because my circumstances have changed at home and now i'm able to go to school full time. :cheers:

Diahni · Feb 6, 2008

I am almost finished with Excelsior. I have not found it to be that expensive. If you consider the cost of traditional 2 year or 4 year colleges, even non-private colleges it pretty much evens out. I'm in the "old" Excelsior Program. Each exam is about $250 and the clinical is about $1800. I did not go through any publishing companies (College Network, Rue, Chancellor's, etc) I bought all my study material used.
Right now i'm studying for Foundations (NC-7) and all I have left is the CPNE.

This has been a great program for me, however, if I decide to get my BSN I'm going to a local college...just because my circumstances have changed at home and now i'm able to go to school full time. :cheers:

just remember that if your circumstances change again, you can always do it online. For instance, I know that you can go from RN to BSN at Umass in about a year's time.

Diahni

exnavygirl-RN · Feb 8, 2008

Diahni,

Thanks for the tip on UMass. The University of UNC-Chapel Hill has a similar on-line program, also.

nmfiredawg · Feb 12, 2008

I'm doing the same thing. Have NC#1 done and working on NC 2 and 3. I don't think it is too expensive for the course. Look on Ebay for study guides, and the books. If you look at the exam itself i.e NC#1, it is 4 credit hours, so it is about 60 dollars per credit plus books. Not that bad of a price. Now the CPNE is a little expensive, and I am a little scared of it bein a medic, but have a little ways to go.

So enjoy it. There is a lot of new stuff in here different the paramedic school, but most of it has to do with longer care.

Medic2RN, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Feb 13, 2008

But let me ask you a question - when I'm studying, who can I ask about specifics? The books are self-explanatory, but here's my first question: the new course outline includes a chapter about bioterrorism. (Figures.) Well, how "deep" do you have to get into the material? The only (and I mean only) advantage to the school I went to is that if the info was in the powerpoint lectures, then it was fair game for the test. (I went to a much more rigorous college for my BA where if it was in the book, it was fair game.) How do you know what kind of stuff to memorize? Did you do other things, like the online practice exams, or whatever else they offer at Excelsior? I'm a pretty good self-study type, but I'd like to be more clear about what I'm expected to know. Let's face it, we're talking lots of info here!
Diahni

EC has a content guide for each class which is a syllabus. It will outline the topics you need to know and the books/chapters to find the information.

The school has advisors and professors that you can contact regarding questions. I e-mailed my practice careplans to the CPNE professors about twice a week pre-CPNE. It was very helpful and I never had any problems getting questions answered.