Penn Nursing students seek partial tuition refund due to COVID related virtual clinical training

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Philadelphia Inquirer  9/09/2020

Penn Nursing students seek partial refund of tuition, saying virtual clinical training isn’t worth the full cost

A group of students at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing have published an open letter to administrators outlining what they see as a failure to provide adequate financial and academic support as well as clinical training during the coronavirus pandemic.

As of Tuesday morning, 125 students had signed the Aug. 24 letter, published on WordPress. It calls for issuing each student an itemized bill outlining the costs of clinical training, a refund of all clinical-related fees for Summer 2020, and a retroactive 10% reduction of the general fee, in line with what Penn has instituted for the fall semester. The letter also calls for regular meetings between a nursing student working group and administrators to discuss how the School of Nursing can offer more effective academic and financial support.

In the letter, students said that they had been without the resources and instruction comparable to what the School of Nursing, currently ranked by one leading authority as the top nursing school in the world, provides under normal circumstances. Despite the lack of in-person simulation lab training, which allows students to practice their skills in realistic situations, or clinical training since March 5, tuition and fees have not been reduced.

Most of the students who signed the letter are enrolled in the School of Nursing’s accelerated program, which is for people who have a bachelor’s degree in a non-nursing field. The price tag of the program, which lasts for five semesters, is $180,857 including estimated living expenses. ...

...The Penn students are not alone. Since campuses in the Philadelphia area closed for the Spring semester, college students have launched dozens of petitions seeking refunds and also have filed lawsuits because they were unsatisfied with the quality of virtual classes....

https://www.inquirer.com/health/penn-nursing-letter-protest-tuition-20200909.html

https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/coronavirus-tuition-university-of-the-arts-temple-drexel-west-chester-lawsuit-refund-20200416.html

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Specializes in Long term care.

I think they have an extremely valid case. Also 180k for nursing education is ridiculous. We want to encourage people to go into nursing, not dissuade them.

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

180,000 includes housing too for 1 yr accelerated BSN.

Penn State-- our state university is 40,000+/yr with housing for BSN program

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Acquaintance from the past wanted to, or actually did, attend this school. If she did get her BSN there, wonder where she found the money.

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Specializes in CRNA, Finally retired.

The five semester option appears to be the direct entry BSN-MSN option so you would expect to pay a lot more for the second degree.  Ivy league education is always exorbitant but I don't know that it a good investment on your return, even with a 40 year career ahead of you.  It MIGHT be but I have no idea. 

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Yeah, well, it’s all loans and gifts anyway, right?  
 

pro-tip:  if you need a briefcase full of $20’s to pay for one semester of nursing school, you’re probably paying too much to qualify for a job that requires you to deal with bodily fluids on a regular basis.  

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Specializes in CRNA, Finally retired.
On 9/23/2020 at 1:41 PM, rzyzzy said:

Yeah, well, it’s all loans and gifts anyway, right?  
 

pro-tip:  if you need a briefcase full of $20’s to pay for one semester of nursing school, you’re probably paying too much to qualify for a job that requires you to deal with bodily fluids on a regular basis.  

I don't think the graduates of the MSN program at Penn are in jobs that require dealing with bodily fluids on a regular basis.  

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5 hours ago, subee said:

I don't think the graduates of the MSN program at Penn are in jobs that require dealing with bodily fluids on a regular basis.  

Theres a post above that says $180,000 for an accelerated BSN.  I sincerely doubt MSN students are worried about access to the sim lab.  

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Specializes in Dialysis.
On 9/20/2020 at 7:37 PM, MichelleMacRN2017 said:

I think they have an extremely valid case. Also 180k for nursing education is ridiculous. We want to encourage people to go into nursing, not dissuade them.

There are multiple options, this is an accelerated program at an Ivy league school

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Specializes in CRNA, Finally retired.
4 hours ago, rzyzzy said:

Theres a post above that says $180,000 for an accelerated BSN.  I sincerely doubt MSN students are worried about access to the sim lab.  

I went to the Penn site to investigate myself.  The ONLY program that is 5 semesters is the accelerated BSN-MSN.

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Specializes in oncology.
On 9/16/2020 at 9:55 AM, NRSKarenRN said:

In the letter, students said that they had been without the resources and instruction comparable to what the School of Nursing, currently ranked by one leading authority as the top nursing school in the world, provides under normal circumstances.

If they feel their instruction was sub par, they can have their tuition money back and the credits will be negated. They paid for the credits with instruction provided, not instruction specifying  X number of hours of clinical practice a week, X sim lab experiences etc. Just a greed grab.

And of course the ambulance chasers are right on it!

https://www.collegerefund2020.com/

Here are the schools that the attorneys have started proceedings against: https://www.collegerefund2020.com/find-your-school

And they started right away in April!

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