Half the class expelled... help.

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Last year in November, half of the class including I were expelled from our college. We were 3 months away from graduating after being together in classes for 2 years... all because of a false accusation. I would have taken the loss if we were actually in the wrong but no, we were the ones who were wronged. I am here not for pity but for serious advice, I will try to make it as short as possible.

I have been an LPN since 2012, a little over 2 years ago I decided I wanted to go for my RN. I made nearly straight A's and I even did my part with the school and attended each open house for people interested in becoming students for our college. I was passionate and it was stressful (nursing school!) but I had so much fun thanks to my classmates and our teachers. It was roughly half a year before we got expelled when the school went downhill as our dean had quit and so did over half of our teachers. We would come to class and clinical just waiting and wondering if a teacher would show up to teach, (the clinicals that were missed were never made up). They changed the way the testing was to not be covering our source material. So on and so forth.

There was a big chain hospital that our school did clinicals at. They required us to have done these little quizzes that ask about hand-washing, fire safety, and how to be polite to patients. We completed them half a year before we got expelled and gave them to our teacher (who was the dean at the time and later quit half into our class period which hurt us in the end because we could not get a hold of her). It was 4 months after that in which our recent dean asked for them again over the phone while we were in clinical (we could hear him screaming at our teacher over the phone who was 40 yrs old and pregnant with previous miscarriage). I faxed our saved copies to the email provided, it turns out they came out distorted and they believed them to be fake. The big hospital chain's IT told me they delete records every 90 days... so we literally had no actual proof we did these quizzes. We got in trouble and were told we were on suspension and that we would be held up with a panel of a handful of faculty to discuss our fates. The panel never happened, the dean ended up calling us in one by one with our pre-printed expulsion papers and even after I cried to him and pleaded and begged to him that we did not make these up he didn't care. In fact his emotions and posture were scary and so negative... he nearly threw his chair across the room. NO COMPASSION from a NURSE who is in charge of FUTURE NURSES... not a great example. He didn't even have a teller to record information for some of us... So here I am with unaccredited classes even though they are A's and over 30,000$ of debt on me because of false accusations...

I cannot explain to you all how heart-broken and soulless I feel every day of my life. I have cried so many times because a man decided to hold me back from my dreams. I absolutely was ecstatic to have been able to hone my skills as an RN in a hospital setting. I even wanted to be NP one day... but it is impossible for me now as I have a large loan over my head. What can I do?? Should I seek legal advice? Thank you for listening to my story and for your time..

Specializes in Mental Health.
14 hours ago, LoveGuineaPigs said:

For-profit and it was accredited when I applied over 2 years ago, but since they have lost their accreditation (I have heard rumors that the nursing board is very unhappy with the state of the school too)... so I can't even find a school who will take my credits.

I am just lost... I had to see a psychiatrist and therapist about the state of my mental health that the expulsion has done to me. The monthly bills are too much I feel like I'm drowning. An old co-worker of mine suggested I go to the courthouse and request in to see a judge about the matter (I'm still very young so legal stuff is kinda new to me, I don't have parents I can fall back on for help so this is sort of why I decided to post here).

Seems like they were just trying to get rid of students so they didn't have to give refunds when they lost their accreditation. Also, the emails you sent should be saved in your sent mail on whatever server you sent the email from. Should be pretty easy to provide the evidence.

Specializes in Community/Public Health.

If the school has lost accreditation, would you be allowed to sit for NCLEX if you won readmission?

Specializes in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology RN.

Aaaaand thats why people should never go to for-protfit, sketchy schools.

Specializes in Psychiatry, Community, Nurse Manager, hospice.

I agree that you should get together with the other students and find a lawyer who will get you a refund on your tuition.

Good luck. I will be sending you all the good vibes.

Specializes in ICU, trauma, neuro.

A few points:

1. Of course you should consult with an attorney. Perhaps, several of the students affected might be represented together. There might be grounds for defamation/libel or other torts.

2. Some federal student loans have provisions that do not require repayment if the school loses their certification. Again find an attorney experienced in medical/nursing law. There is a guy in Ohio "The NP dude" who has a podcast and is both an attorney and NP he would likely at least write you back with a perspective.

3. I do not believe that all "for profit" schools are bad (just as I don't believe that "for profit hospitals" are bad. Even the most distinguished schools ultimately often behave in a "for profit manner" with mountains of waste and layers of administration. Still in most cases you are likely to have a better outcome with state schools (or better private schools).

4. I wouldn't give up. Rather find an instate school that you can afford and try again. 30K in the scheme of things isn't that big a deal compared to a career where you might end up earning well over 100K (eventually as an NP or travel nurse) depending upon what you earn now. Also, the knowledge you have gained from your effort will still serve you in the future. Trust that God/universe has a plan and that if you commit yourself that in the end good things will happen.

Wow that is crazy. I'm sorry this happened to you. I have a friend who went to a for profit school and had a scenario like this happen to her as well. She was able to graduate 6 months later after she and a bunch of other nursing students who still wanted to fight got together and lawyered up. If you can get in touch with more of those students, you might have a good case on your hands.

I’m thinking that, even though this is a heartbreaking event, it’s a total win for you. It doesn’t sound like you had a good education from this facility. Starting over sucks, but sometimes it must me done.

hopefully you can get reimbursed for the money spent or salvage some of your hours. Good luck.

Specializes in Peds cardiac icu.

If the hospital required them, which they all do, they should have proof of them being done but unfortunately it does sound like it may need to be escalated to an attorney for consultation at least (typically free consultations).

Specializes in LPN.
On 10/23/2019 at 4:29 AM, Rose0313 said:

If the hospital required them, which they all do, they should have proof of them being done but unfortunately it does sound like it may need to be escalated to an attorney for consultation at least (typically free consultations).

On 10/19/2019 at 8:35 PM, myoglobin said:

A few points:

1. Of course you should consult with an attorney. Perhaps, several of the students affected might be represented together. There might be grounds for defamation/libel or other torts.

2. Some federal student loans have provisions that do not require repayment if the school loses their certification. Again find an attorney experienced in medical/nursing law. There is a guy in Ohio "The NP dude" who has a podcast and is both an attorney and NP he would likely at least write you back with a perspective.

3. I do not believe that all "for profit" schools are bad (just as I don't believe that "for profit hospitals" are bad. Even the most distinguished schools ultimately often behave in a "for profit manner" with mountains of waste and layers of administration. Still in most cases you are likely to have a better outcome with state schools (or better private schools).

4. I wouldn't give up. Rather find an instate school that you can afford and try again. 30K in the scheme of things isn't that big a deal compared to a career where you might end up earning well over 100K (eventually as an NP or travel nurse) depending upon what you earn now. Also, the knowledge you have gained from your effort will still serve you in the future. Trust that God/universe has a plan and that if you commit yourself that in the end good things will happen.

I have recently moved to another state 3 months ago. Should I consult an attorney in this state or the state I was in when I was going to school? Thank you all for the wonderful advice, you have given me hope.

Specializes in ICU, trauma, neuro.

The lawsuit would probably need to be filed in the state where you went to school. Keep us up to date on your progress and let me know if I can help in your future educational endeavors. Try to stay focused on your goals and understand that your pain and frustration are shared by many it is not a burden you must carry alone.

Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.
On 10/18/2019 at 8:44 AM, Mergirlc said:

The only other thing I might suggest is contacting your loan company to see if they can make your payments income-based or extend the length of your loan to make the payments smaller. I know there is no way to not repay the loan, but at least if you're working, they may work w/ you to bring the payment down some so it's a bit less of a burden. Keep in mind, you'll still be accruing interest regardless, but it could be some relief until you find a solution to going back to school or getting a lawyer to perhaps help you.

The outstanding loans are the main reason I would be looking at suing the school if I were in this unfortunate situation. Better yet a class action with all affected students involved. You should not be stuck with massive student debt for a course of study that did not result in a degree and with credits that can't even be carried over to a different school to finish that degree. You should all get together and sue for the cost of that useless schooling plus time lost with future earnings since you all need to start the entire process over from the beginning.

Specializes in Adult Primary Care.

Definitely lawyer up and get the help you need. I'm so sorry this happened to you.

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