I am having such a terrible time. I went to a school named Ideal Professional Institute in Florida and paid $16,000 dollars for an associates degree. I did everything including the HESI online while proctored and attended clinicals in person, and I currently live in Houston.
After I graduated and applied for NCLEX, the Texas board of nursing is rejecting my application and several other students. I just found out that the school is under probation in Florida for LVN and is permanently banned for RN. I did RN.
The school officials are refusing to give me my refund. I sent my affidavit of graduation and they are not replying to TBON's demands. I feel stuck and they won't refund my money. I am so depressed.
How do I get a refund? I'm poor so I can't afford a lawyer, How do I report the school and get it shut down? They are still scamming other students currently.
While the Commission for Independent Education regulates non-public, postsecondary, educational institutions like practical nursing, RN diploma and private associate and bachelor degree institutions.
I'm not sure I'm reading this correctly but it sounds like the Florida BON is the entity which is granted the final seal of approval of a program that can't be visited on-site, nor can they have any control of curriculum or quality control. In that case, why are they even involved in the process of program approvals if they have no authority? Florida:(.
Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.
Subee:
You have interpreted education and nursing regs correctly. Florida is PRO BUSINESS. However, due to numerous scam schools and low NCLEX scores (less than 20% while national average is > 85%), state legislature passed law in 2014 that professional nursing education programs must obtain national accreditation ACEN or CCNE by 2019 (for nursing schools open in 2014) or within 5 years of date of enrolling first students for those approved after the 2014 date.
Therefore, education CIE monitoring NCLEX rates to ensure maintaining acceptable passage rates and disciplining schools, performing role other states board of nursing perform.
Just spit balling, but would you be able to take the NCLEX in Florida? Then, once you have a license in one state it is usually just a matter of paperwork and a little money to license in another state...
This is called getting an endorsement, which I have done myself with a Florida license. I live in NC, but went to a school in Florida. Once I finished school I was able to sit for the NCLEX in NC at a local Pearson Vue testing center. Once I passed the NCLEX on October 17, 2022 I received a "single state" Florida nursing license. I immediately applied for license endorsement to have it switch over to a "compact" NC nursing license this was completed on November 1, 2022. Also the cost to do it all was not much at all. The fingerprinting with the sheriff was $30 and license verification was about $30.
You have interpreted education and nursing regs correctly. Florida is PRO BUSINESS. However, due to numerous scam schools and low NCLEX scores (less than 20% while national average is > 85%), state legislature passed law in 2014 that professional nursing education programs must obtain national accreditation ACEN or CCNE by 2019 (for nursing schools open in 2014) or within 5 years of date of enrolling first students for those approved after the 2014 date.
Therefore, education CIE monitoring NCLEX rates to ensure maintaining acceptable passage rates and disciplining schools, performing role other states board of nursing perform.
I can't post the article that the Tampa Bay Chronicle published on December 16 about this very subject. They claim that Floriduh's most recent pass rate is less than 2/3's which would be even worst than your 20% figure. We have seen many posts here on AN about Florida students who have been scammed by these programs that open up instantly on an interstate highway. This is what happens when business is given a top priority over the welfare of Floriduh's citizens. They seem to be happy with their leader so let's just carry on with scamming and failures.
state legislature passed law in 2014 that professional nursing education programs must obtain national accreditation ACEN or CCNE by 2019 (for nursing schools open in 2014) or within 5 years of date of enrolling first students for those approved after the 2014 date.
ACEN and CCNE are programmatic accreditation. Not for profit universities look for regional accreditation along with program accreditation and for profit look for national accreditation.
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The Education Department has canceled its recognition of an accrediting agency that oversees mostly for-profit colleges, placing in jeopardy the survival of schools that serve about 5,000 students.
The decision bars colleges certified by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools from participating in federal student aid programs unless they can get approval elsewhere. Schools will have 18 months to find new accreditation.
We have seen many students come on here and say their program is nationally accredited but that does not ensure any program quality. It is just to qualify for federal aide.
Pass rates on the national licensing exam are the lowest in the nation, with dire implications for health care.
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...Fewer than two-thirds of them passed the exam in 2021. That's the lowest pass rate in the United States — falling more than 17 percentage points below the national average, according to a new report from the Florida Center for Nursing, based at the University of South Florida.
Not all Florida nursing programs are failing. The majority of the state's public universities, community colleges and nonprofit institutions have pass rates at or above the national averages for both registered and practical nurses. The problem lies with a subset of private, for-profit programs that enroll thousands of students every year, many of which have pass rates below 50%.
The report comes amid an unprecedented nursing shortage, said Florida Hospital Association CEO Mary Mayhew.
More than one in five nursing positions at Florida hospitals is vacant, Mayhew said, and staff turnover is at a historic high.
Florida is producing more licensed nurses than ever before. More than 12,400 registered nurses passed the national exam in 2021, up nearly 30% in the past five years. It's the largest graduating class of licensed nurses in the nation, but still not enough to meet soaring demand.
The state is heading for a cliff unless educators can graduate more nurses capable of passing the final exam, said Rayna Letourneau, an assistant professor of nursing at USF and executive director of the Florida Center for Nursing, which is focusing on finding ways to ease the shortage....
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On average, the pass rate at for-profit programs was less than 60% in 2021. That rate is even lower in southern Florida where average pass rates at for-profit schools fell below 50%.
Compare that to the nearly 84% of registered nursing students from Florida's public universities and colleges who passed the exam in 2021 — nearly 20 percentage points higher than the statewide rate and on par with the national average. Private nonprofit schools across the state performed similarly well....
....In 2021, 187 graduates from the Florida College of Health Science took the national exam — only 48 passed. Between 2014 and 2021, the for-profit school with locations in Tampa and Orlando has never had a pass rate above 30%. In those years, more than 600 students left the school unable to become a licensed nurse.
When someone is an RN in one state, do they even have to show the next state their diploma/transcript or is the license in the other state enough to be granted a license in the next?
No Trippy,
You have to send your transcript from your school. California requires specific courses and lab hours.
Hello, I am in the same boat as you are right now also in Houston. Especially now with this nightingale operation going on in Florida right now. Were you able to sit for boards?
Why did it take federal investigators to get these schools (is this just a fraction of them.)closed instead of nursing own certifying bodies? It makes the argument that out own agencies require their own corruption investigations.
Specializes in Critical Care, ER and Administration.
I'm sorry this happened to you. You are a victim of fraud. You should report this to the police. There may be a class action lawsuit against these fraudulent schools. I would start there. Your case should be a huge lesson to people to do some research before they enroll. Check with the state you plan to work into see if that school is accepted for their NCLEX.
subee, MSN, CRNA
1 Article; 6,088 Posts
I'm not sure I'm reading this correctly but it sounds like the Florida BON is the entity which is granted the final seal of approval of a program that can't be visited on-site, nor can they have any control of curriculum or quality control. In that case, why are they even involved in the process of program approvals if they have no authority? Florida:(.