Planning your studies

[Laurie888]

There are ways to time your tests to minimize your fees. For instance, most would recommend taking NC1 and NC2 before enrolling because you increase the odds of finishing within a year and avoiding the $430 renewal fee.

In reading another thread I found out that if you only have your CPNE left at the time of renewal you can request a waiver. I was just asking a nursing advisor about this because I am taking my last non-nursing exam in a couple weeks, and a couple weeks later my renewal is up.

What she told me is that you must have ALL your other credits done at the time that you become CPNE ELIGIBLE in order to qualify for the waiver -- it's not simply based on your renewal date. Sucks (for me) but you may want to keep this in mind if you were planning on saving any of those last 9 credits for after the CPNE or to complete while you were waiting for your CPNE date, if the timing is close to your renewal date you may want to re-think that plan. Had I known ahead of time, I could have made sure I took that last exam (psychology of adulthood and aging, for me) prior to taking that last nursing exam and saved myself a whopping $430.

So, theoretically, you could take NC1 and NC2 at leisure, finish as many non-nursing exams or classes as possible before enrolling with Excelsior, take all your other tests and as long as you have your last NC test complete before your renewal date you'd be eligible to have your renewal fee waived while waiting to take it.