Did anyone who Graduated from Excelsior College had problems when trying.

Nurses LPN/LVN

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Hello,

I've just sent in my first payment to start taking classes from Excelsior to get my ADN. When I called the school where I got my LPN, I was told by the director that Colleges are not recognizing ADN from Excelsior college because they do not have a Clinical Component. Is this true, I did call Excelsior and was told that California will no longer accept students from Excelsior to sit for the Boards. But those that are already enrolled will be allowed but no new students. Has anyone had any problems in the past or present with going on to get your BSN from a different colleg? Say Pace University or Stony Brook? Thank you for any information you can give me. I don't want to be halfway through with Excelsior and find out it will be useless to me..

Thanks:)

Good luck getting your license as an RN if you have graduated from a school which is not NLN accredited. I wouldn't waste my time with a school that couldn't meet NLN standards. Is this another California trend?

The bottom line is that the NLN accreditation didn't do a thing for Excelsior in California. The only thing that matters is whether the BORN approves the school, and if the program complies with state law. Excelsior didn't.

As far as trends, the California Nurses Association (CNA) sponsored the first nurse ratio law in this country. It's improved working conditions, and that's why tons of nurses are moving here. The BORN has been flooded with license applications and the ratio law has been touted by many nurses on this board.

CNA also successfully lobbied to disqualify the Excelsior program.

If you don't like our trends, no problem. Lots of nurses do. That's why they're moving here.

:rolleyes:

ok so i'm beng lazy (not checking for myself), how many other states do not accept EC? is it CA, IL only? Also i noticed that it seems that CA won't even accept reciprocity for licensing, is that true of the other states that aren't accepting EC new grads? Just curious because I know of a few EMT's that are planning to go this route, so they can "make bank" doing travel nursing, this seems like an issue they should look into.

i just now got off the phone with the lady at the california bon. anyone can feel free to call for them selves and discuss it, their phone number is 916-322-3350. choice "0" will get you a live person. i asked several questions preventing several senerios, the answers are below.

if you have an adn or lpn and attend excelsior for an advanced degree (rn/bsn/msn) as of 12/06/03 the cali bon will not accept it.

if you live in outside cali and hold a license in that state based solely on your being an excelsior grad, as of 12/06/03 the cali bon will not issue you a license.

if you live in another state and hold license based on the education (adn/lpn) at an approved school and then attend excelsior and earn an advanced degree (rn/bsn/msn) as of 12/06/03 the cali bon will only issue you a license based on the lower level degree earned at the approved school.

regardless of the promises any school makes it is up to the student to verify that information with their bon.

again, i encourage everyone with a question or a doubt to call the cali bon at the number above.

edited to remove information i was given via phone as it conflicts with info on the cali bon website (and i got different answers on different phone calls)

thanks for taking the time to notify all of us...i bet you helped many out...reguarding my state (ct) now i know to verify everything first.

thanks

Like Chris has already posted, there are many companies that will tell you that you can earn your RN thru with no clinicals yada, yada, yada. These companies don't usually tell you that you will have to still pay Excelsior as well. Excelsior has an excellant website. I have downloaded many things from them for free. I have bought some of my books off ebay, because you can find out on the website the exact edition of the book you need. They also have a statement on there not to go through these companies. Rue & Moore are just 2 that comes to mind. Yahoo does have some wonderful groups for support (free like Chris already stated) Good luck to you! ~Robin (working on RN thru Excelsior at the present time)

I just called the board for CA and the above info is NOT correct. If you are an ENROLLED student on or before December 6, 2003 then you are fine and can sit for boards upon completion of the program as long as you were enrolled on or before this date and remain actively enrolled until completion of the program...hence you will be allowed to sit for boards and get licensed. Now if you enrolled after this date you will have to go by new rules set forth for Excelsior including clinical hours. At this time Excelsior can't offer what is required there fore Excelsior stopped allowing Ca students to enroll after Dec. 6, 2003. Got the word right from the horses mouth...anyone enrolled on or before 12/06/03 can get licensed when they complete the program.

Kim

The reason why so many distance learning programs offer RN-BSN programs and so few offer LPN-RN or basic RN programs is because EVERY state requires that you have a certain number of supervised clinical hours (the actual number varies from state to state) in your educational program to be eligible to write the NCLEX-RN in that state. So, distance programs that would offer entry RN programs have to figure out some way to assist you to get those hours (which is not easy).

NLN accreditation is optional; but nursing programs must be accredited, or recognized, or whatever it's called in a particular state, by the state BON for you to be eligible to write the NCLEX.

It's always safest, if there are any questions, to just ask the BON in the state you're in (or going to), since their answer is the only one that really matters, anyway! :)

I just called the board for CA and the above info is NOT correct. If you are an ENROLLED student on or before December 6, 2003 then you are fine and can sit for boards upon completion of the program as long as you were enrolled on or before this date and remain actively enrolled until completion of the program...hence you will be allowed to sit for boards and get licensed. Now if you enrolled after this date you will have to go by new rules set forth for Excelsior including clinical hours. At this time Excelsior can't offer what is required there fore Excelsior stopped allowing Ca students to enroll after Dec. 6, 2003. Got the word right from the horses mouth...anyone enrolled on or before 12/06/03 can get licensed when they complete the program.

Kim

Interesting, that is a the direct opposite of what I was told. I think I will call them again and see what I get told today.

I just called them this morning and spoke with them. The man also directed me to their web site and to click under news...it clearly states there that unless you are an enrolled Excelsior student by Dec 6, 03 then the news rules apply, but if you are enrolled and stay enrolled until the completion of the degree program you will be fine to sit for boards. He stated the info you posted above was incorrect. Regardless anyone who wants to know call themselves...get it for yourself right from the source. I did.

Kim

well that was fun.

call #1, 10 minutes on hold got me the same lady as yesterday, very cranky that she keeps getting "these kind of calls", and re confirmed what she told me yesterday.

i read (c&p below) to her what it says on their own website (http://www.rn.ca.gov/news/news.htm) her response was "i am telling you what i was told".

decision regarding excelsior college

the california board of registered nursing adopted the following motion at its board meeting on february 6, 2004:

"the following action supersedes and replaces the december 5, 2003, board action related to excelsior college.

"excelsior college graduates, like other out-of-state graduates, must meet the requirements set forth in california business and professions code section 2736, including supervised clinical practice concurrent with theory, in order to be eligible for examination and licensure as a california registered nurse. this eligibility requirement applies to students who enrolled at excelsior on or after december 6, 2003."

call #2 and another 10 minutes on hold got me another lady. she agreed with my observation that there is a lot of conflicting info coming out of the bon. she stated that the web site is correct, students who were enrolled on 12/06/03 will be allowed to complete the program and sit boards but it was her understanding that the rule only applied to california residents and that the things i was told yesterday about out of state licensure by endorcement are still true:

if you live in outside cali and hold a license in that state based solely on your being an excelsior grad, as of 12/06/03 the cali bon will not issue you a license.

if you live in another state and hold license based on the education (adn/lpn) at an approved school and then attend excelsior and earn an advanced degree (rn/bsn/msn) as of 12/06/03 the cali bon will only issue you a license based on the lower level degree earned at the approved school.

i give up. it sounds like the cali bon doesn't really know what is going on either. i will correct my previous post.

It's really not confusing. Cali has decided Excelsior is not an acredited school. Those student currentlyl enrolled, will be permitted to sit for their boards when they graduate.

If you go to excelsior, sit for boards in another state and later go to Cali, you will not be considered a graduate of an acreditted school and they will not grant you a license.

Having a license in one state does not gurantee you a license in another. Never did. Each state has a list of acredited schools. If you school is not on their list, you can not get a license.

This may add to the confusion, but there may be a possibility that both accounts are correct. I agree that the language approved by the board does seem to grandfather in people by December, 2003.

However, the statute cited in that same board order regarding license qualifications, also says that an applicant must:

"Have successfully completed the courses of instruction prescribed by the board for licensure, in a program in this state accredited by the board for training registered nurses, or have successfully completed courses of instruction in a school of nursing outside of this state which, in the opinion of the board at the time the application is filed with the Board of Registered Nursing, are equivalent to the minimum requirements of the board for licensure established for an accredited program in this state."

The key phrase here might be "in the opinion of the board at the time the application is filed."

Since the board officially determined the EC program does not qualify, they might be able to deny applications, regardless of what the previous order says, since the statute may allow them to do that. The statute may prevail in this case since, afterall, it's the law.

So this whole thing may boil down to staff discretion, and whether they want to approve the application, or not, on a case by case basis.

Here's the link, and the quote comes from Section 2736.

http://www.rn.ca.gov/practact/b&p.htm#2736

:coollook:

People have now actually called the California BON, spoken with real people and discovered that what people have been saying about Excelsior College and EC grads all along has been true, and so has what Excelsior College has been saying is true.

If you were enrolled before December 2003, you can be licensed in California. If not, then not.

But there might be two positions? And it might be confusing? It's here, it's clear, and anybody who wants to check it out can all the California BON and find out.

California Board of Registered Nursing

400 R St., Ste. 4030

Sacramento, CA 95814-6239

Phone: (916) 322-3350

FAX: (916) 327-4402 Contact Person: Ruth Ann Terry, MPH, RN, Executive Officer

Web Site: http://www.rn.ca.gov/

BTW, California didn't decide not to accredit Excelsior College. Google and find out. Here is a nice, clear explanation:

The United States government, unlike many other countries, does not directly approve or accredit higher education programs and schools. The government allows certain agencies to perform accreditation functions. Accreditation is an entirely voluntary process and schools are not required to participate in these agency programs.
Isn't it a shame that we had all this garbage about Excelsior College and graduates slung about this BB, and it turns out it was wrong and we (and the College, incidentally, on their website) were right.

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