Question RE: Excelsior NC Exams

NancieLNC · Nov 26, 2004

Hi, Everyone,

I've been reading your posts because I've been looking into the Excelsior RN to MSN program. I don't know if I can handle it because I can't even understand this program set up! Those exams are so expensive! They're to get credit for classes? Do I understand it correctly, that you also have to pay $995. per year for an enrollment and re-enrollment fee? Currently, I am taking classes at Jacksonville University. I am doing great with that program, but there isn't an RN-MSN online program. They have the program, but it is campus based. Can anyone give me a brief understanding of the Excelsior program? I'm 50, facing a brick wall, not a glass ceiling without at least a BSN. Money is a huge issue for me since I only work 30 hours per week and my husband just lost his job. I'm covering all home expenses; and, we've joined the ranks of the uninsured! Advice, please...

Thanks,

Nancie

BBFRN, BSN, PhD · Nov 26, 2004

Hi, Everyone,
I've been reading your posts because I've been looking into the Excelsior RN to MSN program. I don't know if I can handle it because I can't even understand this program set up! Those exams are so expensive! They're to get credit for classes? Do I understand it correctly, that you also have to pay $995. per year for an enrollment and re-enrollment fee? Currently, I am taking classes at Jacksonville University. I am doing great with that program, but there isn't an RN-MSN online program. They have the program, but it is campus based. Can anyone give me a brief understanding of the Excelsior program? I'm 50, facing a brick wall, not a glass ceiling without at least a BSN. Money is a huge issue for me since I only work 30 hours per week and my husband just lost his job. I'm covering all home expenses; and, we've joined the ranks of the uninsured! Advice, please...
Thanks,
Nancie

The prices are per exam- not per credit hour as with other distance programs, so they are actually cheaper than U of P, etc. The $995 enrollment fee is for your first year, but the re-enrollment fees are much cheaper (mine was around $425). You can do a payment plan on those, as well as any performance exams you'll have to do (there'll be 3 of those for you unless you are able to portfolio out of the CPNE). Also note that with EC's RN-MSN program, you're still doing the BSN curriculuum as well. Their MSN has a concentration in Informatics, so if you want to teach or plan on getting your NP, you'll be taking some unnecessary courses with EC. I know that in my area, MSNs are not making that much more than ASNs if they don't have their FNP, because there is an influx of MSNs around here (Louisville, KY). Check Salary.com for median pay for MSNs in your area to see if it's worth it to you. Now I know in our hospital, employee education MSNs make a little more money, but if you want to do something along the lines of that, I would recommend U of P- you can do an MSN with a concentration in Adult Ed. instead of Informatics, and get federal financial aid with them, since they are a Title IV school.

chris_at_lucas_RN, RN · Nov 26, 2004

I've been looking into the Excelsior RN to MSN program. .... Can anyone give me a brief understanding of the Excelsior program? I'm 50, facing a brick wall, not a glass ceiling without at least a BSN. Money is a huge issue for me....

I think if you compare the "bottom line" between Excelsior and most (if not all) other distance learning programs, you'll find EC is probably the most reasonable.

EC puts a lot of the responsibility on the student for how much a program will cost. For example, I just completed my ASN. I paid a set amount for tuition for the year, and I could take as many exams as I wanted, each exam representing one semester's work, for the set fee of $155. (This just went up to $205, and it might be higher for grad school, I don't know.) I noted that the re-enrollment fee (which is what I think of as tuition) was much lower for subsequent years.

My experience with traditional schools (nursing school and my BA and MA programs) is that EC's fees didn't begin to approach the costs of tuition and fees at those schools. At EC I wasn't required to follow somebody else's schedule, so I got it done in a lot less time.

I completed 7 semesters' work in about three months. My only hold up on the clinical exam (not an issue for a graduate student) was waiting for the opportunity to take it (there is now a wait of about 5 months if you can't take advantage of someone else's cancellation--which I did, so my wait was less than 2 months). This is an extremely unusual rate of progress. Most people take a bit longer, a few take a lot longer. I've heard of very few who have moved faster through it. My point is, if you can hack it, it's fine with EC. They literally do not care how or where you learn(ed) what you know, they only care that you know it.

I believe if you talk to EC and get a run down on the actual costs of your program--write it down!--and do the same with other online programs, you may find that EC is quite a deal.

IMHO, if you are a good student, disciplined enough to push yourself hard, and you can get a student loan, AND if the money you will make with the advanced degrees is worth it (financially and in other ways) to you, you should seriously consider EC. You can stretch out your loan payments (which shouldn't start until you graduate, if you progress at a minimal rate determined by the financial aid people) so that an additional shift a pay period can pay the loan off. (I'd also recommend that you not get anything more in your loan that what you need for school.)

I hope this providess the explanation you were looking for.

NancieLNC · Nov 26, 2004

Hey,

Thanks for the info. Actually, I was looking into Excelsior's MSN program because they did have a concentration in informatics, which is my interest. So, then, I would have to learn the master level courses and informatics at my own pace? Do they also offer online classes? I guess I will have to contact them by phone. I'm just tired of the hard sell some of these institutions give you; it's like buying a car. Well, I guess it costs as much as a really nice car too!!

Thanks again.

chris_at_lucas_RN, RN · Nov 26, 2004

Hey,
Thanks for the info. Actually, I was looking into Excelsior's MSN program because they did have a concentration in informatics, which is my interest. So, then, I would have to learn the master level courses and informatics at my own pace? Do they also offer online classes? I guess I will have to contact them by phone. I'm just tired of the hard sell some of these institutions give you; it's like buying a car. Well, I guess it costs as much as a really nice car too!!
Thanks again.

It's not so much that you have to go at your own pace, it's that you get to go at your own pace.

Never found a hard sell at EC. In fact, my experience was, they weren't all that sure they wanted me, until they got my transcripts etc. It's more like a "real" school, because it is a real school.

They have 17,000 nursing students. They don't need us that bad. And their advisors don't work on commmision. This is a school very concerned with its academic standing and reputation for credibility.

I think you will not find it at all like buying a car. (Let us know.....)

opalmRN · Nov 26, 2004

I became one with the material.

You're crackin me up! :rotfl:

BBFRN, BSN, PhD · Nov 27, 2004

Hey,
Thanks for the info. Actually, I was looking into Excelsior's MSN program because they did have a concentration in informatics, which is my interest. So, then, I would have to learn the master level courses and informatics at my own pace? Do they also offer online classes? I guess I will have to contact them by phone. I'm just tired of the hard sell some of these institutions give you; it's like buying a car. Well, I guess it costs as much as a really nice car too!!
Thanks again.

Yes, some of their MSN courses are online. If you click on the publications request link on the EC website, there should be a page you can d/l called something like "how much will my degree cost?" You can list what you need minus what you have, plus applicable fees, etc. That'll give you the best idea of what you're in for.

opalmRN · Nov 29, 2004

Hey,
I have read where students were able to do thier NC exams, like one a month. . .how is that possible?
Do you read everything that is required in the study guides?

Not me. I'm skimming and when I come across anything that seems unfamiliar or that I can't verbalize I am reading and googling.

Keep in mind all the "suggested reading" is given to aid students cover all areas for each exam. You may not need to read some of the information on a certain topic whereas someone else may have very little knowledge or exposure to it and need the full monty.

Set your own pace. If you get stuck, post your question here on allnurses. There are so many EC grads/current students to help you out.

Jo Dirt · Nov 29, 2004

The NC exams in all seriousness are not as hard as I thought they would be. I'm sure that anyone who wanted to go ahead and get them done could move through more than one at a time. I think the issue with a lot of people is money and scheduling a time with Prometric to take the tests. The Prometric in my area is always booked up several weeks ahead of time. After I get this A&P out of the way and I get the go ahead from Excelsior to take the rest of the courses I'm going to take NC 3 and 4 together, or perhaps I will allow one or two days between the two. Then, I plan to take 5 and 6, and the last one, all hopefully within a couple of months. I've got the study guides from EC and going through the material there is no reason why a person can't knock these courses out in no time.

That is the beauty of Excelsior. Being an LPN the material is all familiar, it's just a review with some extra information added in.

Then CPNE here I come. That is the Big Daddy of the exams I'm worried about. I tend to be very nervous and all thumbs.

But get a load of this...if I finish as soon as I am hoping I STILL plan to keep my job as an LPN until the job is either eliminated or the little lady I take care of dies...I've got the best job in the world. I get paid as much as many RN's in the area and my job consists mostly of sitting around watching tv or surfing the net on my laptop (or reviewing for my EC exams.)

Anyway...I'm really excited about finishing my nursing degree through Excelsior.

Spazzy Nurse, RN · Nov 30, 2004

The NC exams in all seriousness are not as hard as I thought they would be.

How wonderful that you are feeling so optomistic about this. How many NC exams have you taken so far?

BBFRN, BSN, PhD · Nov 30, 2004

The NC exams in all seriousness are not as hard as I thought they would be. I'm sure that anyone who wanted to go ahead and get them done could move through more than one at a time. I think the issue with a lot of people is money and scheduling a time with Prometric to take the tests. The Prometric in my area is always booked up several weeks ahead of time. After I get this A&P out of the way and I get the go ahead from Excelsior to take the rest of the courses I'm going to take NC 3 and 4 together, or perhaps I will allow one or two days between the two. Then, I plan to take 5 and 6, and the last one, all hopefully within a couple of months. I've got the study guides from EC and going through the material there is no reason why a person can't knock these courses out in no time.
That is the beauty of Excelsior. Being an LPN the material is all familiar, it's just a review with some extra information added in.

Nto to knock the wind out of your sails, but that's an awful lot of material to be studying at one time. I wouldn't recommend taking more than 1 exam a month. NC 1 & 2 are not as indepth as the others. And it's better to study the material enough to keep it in your long term memory so you KNOW it- not just enough to pass the exam. The rest of the NC exams are very close to the NCLEX. They will test your ability to apply the information you studied. Same as the CPNE. Don't memorize- go over everything like you will be applying the info to future patients which you very well could be if your present patient dies, as you so eloquently put it). If you rush through this, you are setting yourself up for problems...I've seen it happen to lots of people. And if you go into this with the attitude that you're just reviewing your LPN program, then you are setting yourself up for CPNE failure. If you just memorize the NC material long enough to pass the exam, then you're setting yourself up for NCLEX failure. Don't set yourself up. Fast and easy is not always the best way.

DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN · Nov 30, 2004

Hey,
I have read where students were able to do thier NC exams, like one a month. . .how is that possible?
Do you read everything that is required in the study guides?

I was an LPN for 26 years and worked mainly in Doctor's offices and Private Duty. I've been an RN (graduate of EC) for 3 years now and work on an acute med/surg floor. I feel if I could take the tests over again now I could pass without a great deal of studying. We have LPN's on the floor who have been there for like 10 years. I think they could pass them all very quickly. I think your level of experience is the key to how fast you can go through the program. It took me 2 full years.