Has anyone in Tennessee heard of Accelerated Learning Center? PLEASE HELP!

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I am an LPN trying to become an RN. I am looking at a place called Accelerated Learning Center. Has anyone heard of it? I met 2 nurses during my clinicals that were going through them and they had nothing but good things to say about it,but I cant find anything else about it ANYWHERE! Please help!

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I believe the link is rnsooner.com. I went to their office down in the metroplex area last year before starting my LPN program. They seemed nice. Unfortunately, I do not know much about the program. They were not forthcoming with the tuition amounts or the actual time it takes to finish due to my lack of LPN status last year.

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This appears to be a testing preparation vendor. They likely will provide you with study materials to take the Excelsior College (LPN-RN) degree program exams. You should contact Excelsior College directly to see if they are recommended at excelsior.edu.

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Actually, I am the President of ALC. We have been in TN for 5 years now. We provide Masters and Doctoral level instruction focused on the Excelsior College exams. We also provide a CPNE Lab, as well as a NCLEX Lab.

Classes are one day per week, for 4 hours. There are both morning and evening classes available, including Saturdays. This means that you can maintain a full-time pace and still keep your job.

For those of you who know Lynn Frederick, you may want to ask her about us. She has visited me at my office in Nashville, TN and seen our operation for herself.

StateBoardFacts: Excelsior no longer runs that partnership program. I wish they did.

As far as fwardlaw147's concern about not disclosing rates, there was no point since she was not qualified for Excelsior's program. Although our rates have not changed in 2 years, who knows if they will or not once she graduates from LPN school?

As a matter of policy, we do not sign up a new student until they have our rates, as well as any they will take for EC, exams, clinicals, books, etc. in writing. I don't believe in "surprises" of this nature.

Anyway, hope that clears things up.

BTW: I may be wrong about this, but I believe that we are the only non-traditional nursing program allowed to speak to Tennessee Tech's LPN classes on site, prior to their graduation.

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Please contact the Board of Nursing prior to signing anything with Excelsior or RN Sooner!! Ask them about the programs.

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Agreed! Please do check with the TN Board of Nursing. One of my instructor's DON is a member of the TN Nursing Board. Also, check with the Better Business Bureau. You will find zero complaints in the 5 years we have been in operation.

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allizfulloflove :what did you find out? did you decide to sign up? please share, I am considering. I just started looking. But I was completely astonished with the $$. I am researching. I just don't know if I can do that right now.

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I was completely astonished with the $$.
I'm not quite sure what you expected. If you need all of your General Ed classes and all the nursing classes - then add in the CPNE lab and NCLEX lab - then add in your books and Excelsior fees - all that totals less than 1 year's tuition at a traditional nursing school!

We pride ourselves on doing everything possible to make our program affordable and flexible enough to accommodate any work schedule. Plus we have a pass guarantee second to none.

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no offense drgraden, i was just shocked.

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No problem. Give me a call and I'd be glad to discuss it with you.

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Tuition is not the only thing this school is not forthcoming about. It is a For-Profit school, although there is nothing wrong with that. A review of their website at www.rnsooner.com reads more like a late-night get-rich-quick scheme than any kind of school. There is very little info and lots of "Look at how much you can make". As long as the website is, they disclose almost nothing. They boast an NCLEX pass ratio of 94% but fail to disclose the percentage of students that actually make it to the test-rumored to be around 64%. That is pretty poor. I did contact them and found them to be just as unforthcoming on the phone. I have found out from a friend who attended that you are charged for practice tests. Each one. She also said there were fees every time she turned around. You will notice in this thread that the director bristled at the notion that his school (of which his wife is the CFO) is expensive but he will not disclose any fees up front. Have you seen any other school that does this? It is also concerning that this school os no longer ascociated with Excelsior. Why is that?

The bottom line is there are some real questions that deserve some real answers before you turn over your hard earned money to this school.

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I just spoke to Excelsior College. They are regionally accredited and their course credits would transfer to other TN universities. Accelerated Learning appears to be a test-prep "school" that prepares you for Excelsior's tests (Excelsior admissions said they have not heard of Accelerated Learning but that they are aware of places like this that prep students to take exams). My understanding is your degree would be from Excelsior, not Accelerated Learning. This being the case this may not be a bad program, just be aware that it is not truly a "School". I myself have taken courses similar to this before taking licensing exams for both insurance and real estate. In both cases I found the classes extremely valuable in passing those exams.

I do wish Accelerated Learning would be more clear about what they truly are. They have had reps speak at the LPN program at TTC Nashville but in the instances I am familiar with their answers were vague and it was presented more as a sales pitch. Be aware that this course can run $10,000 or more! Hope this helps!

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