Hello fellow nurses! I'm looking for some sort of guidance here. I've been through plenty of threads on here and am 95% convinced I should bypass the "middle man" and go straight through EC for my LPN-RN courses. Anyone know if EC is REALLY cheaper in the long run? Right now, my biggest thing is the cost. I know I don't need extra study materials - so that's why I'm on the fence. My experience with Rue so far has been kind of strange. I contacted someone through the website for more information - within 20 minutes, she had sent me the contract and wanted me to sign it. Without verifying anything. For two weeks, I'd received reminders daily to sign this contract. That's when I decided to look more into it. After I had told the woman from rue that I needed to think about it more, she changed the "grant" she was offering - this grant has already changed three times. Now it's up to 125$/month x6 years AND at the end of it, Rue will pay hotel fare for my clinical...PLUS give me a 3 day vacation... HELP! Is this a scam?
JustBeachyNurse, LPN 1 Article; 13,952 Posts Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager. Has 13 years experience. Aug 4, 2014 It's not a scam per se but all costs are on top of EC costs. They cannot guarantee admission to EC. Since they are neither affiliated nor endorsed by EC there is no guarantee that the study guides have up to date information. Check the fine print for interest rates. You do not pay back grants. They are not paying for your stay for the CPNE, you are with interest. Check the fine print. It's likely a loan or financing with interest.
JustBeachyNurse, LPN 1 Article; 13,952 Posts Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager. Has 13 years experience. Aug 4, 2014 Sounds like a loan $125/mo x 72 months = $9000. At what rate. No grant for school attendance that I have heard of, with the exception of graduate research, is paid out monthly over 6 years
Sarahbellum0525 10 Posts Specializes in Telemetry, Psychiatry. Has 4 years experience. Aug 4, 2014 True, I didn't think of that (that I'm paying for the stay with interest). They want to charge me 12%. It just doesn't seem right.
JustBeachyNurse, LPN 1 Article; 13,952 Posts Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager. Has 13 years experience. Aug 4, 2014 You can probably get a credit card with a lower rate. You are obligated to pay the full $9000 even if you drop out of EC.
Sarahbellum0525 10 Posts Specializes in Telemetry, Psychiatry. Has 4 years experience. Aug 4, 2014 Yes, and they don't allow deferment from what I can see. I asked the woman from Rue to kind of explain to me what I'm gaining from Rue that I won't be getting from excelsior, and it was all a bunch of bad mouthing.. "Excelsior is so expensive, excelsior doesn't do this or that..." But anyway...Are you currently a student or graduate from either?
elkpark 14,633 Posts Aug 4, 2014 Yes, and they don't allow deferment from what I can see. I asked the woman from Rue to kind of explain to me what I'm gaining from Rue that I won't be getting from excelsior, and it was all a bunch of bad mouthing.. "Excelsior is so expensive, excelsior doesn't do this or that..."Interesting position for her to take, considering that everything that RUE is going to charge you is IN ADDITION TO whatever EC is going to charge you. And there's no deferment option because these aren't conventional student loans; you would be financing a purchase, same as buying a car or large appliance "on time."Take a look at some of the (many) other threads here about RUE; most people seem to feel they've had a bad experience. Best wishes --
777RN, BSN, RN 295 Posts Specializes in Geriatrics, dementia, hospice. Has 6 years experience. Aug 4, 2014 Hi Sarahbellum0525!I would definitely recommend working directly with Excelsior.I do not see any good reason to use a middleman like Rue or College Network, even for someone who needs extra help and study materials. Excelsior offers advising as part of their fees and plenty of resources as well. I know firsthand, as I am a two-time, non-nursing Excelsior grad from long ago (when they were still called Regents College).Also, using a middleman is much more expensive. Plus, once you sign the dotted line, you are locked into a contract that you cannot revoke. I have seen this occur with several nurses with whom I work, who realized too late that they were paying an arm and a leg for services they never used.Please save yourself some money--you'll be able to pay for several vacation with the amount saved--and go directly to Excelsior College via www.excelsior.edu, if you are determined to go the distance learning route for your initial RN licensure. However, please be aware that some states, unfortunately, impose additional requirements for Excelsior grads. Nevertheless, if you intend to stay in New York, you will be fine. Best wishes whatever you decide!
TheCommuter, BSN, RN 226 Articles; 27,608 Posts Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych. Has 17 years experience. Aug 4, 2014 Rue is not a degree-granting entity. Rue is not a school. Rather, they are a publisher of study guides, books and very expensive study materials to help students pass Excelsior College exams. At the end of the pipeline, if you sign a contract with Rue, you will still need to enroll in Excelsior College to be conferred a degree.Think about it. You will be saving $9,000 to $10,000 by bypassing Rue and simply completing your degree through Excelsior. And if you like Rue's study materials, they can be purchased on Ebay or Amazon for $15 to $30 a piece instead of the $400 to $500 markup they charge when you sign the contract. In a nutshell, do not sign up with publishing companies such as Rue and the College Network.Sure, I enjoy the study materials generated by the College Network. However, I would never sign a contract with them. Instead, I purchase their study guides on Ebay for $15 to $20 to help me pass my competency exams through WGU.
Sarahbellum0525 10 Posts Specializes in Telemetry, Psychiatry. Has 4 years experience. Aug 5, 2014 Thank you guys! What kind of threw up the red flag for me was the threads on here regarding Rue and the college network. I guess I was just looking for some first hand experiences (good ones, to convince myself that I should sign that contract). But all I'm seeing is the negative. Definitely made me think twice and I'm definitely NOT signing that contract. I guess they make it sound very appealing and you don't really think about how they are getting all of that extra money from you (through interest rates, study materials, etc.) thank you all for the input!
Editorial Team / Moderator Lunah, MSN, RN 33 Articles; 13,742 Posts Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CNE, CEN, CPEN, TCRN. Has 15 years experience. Aug 5, 2014 I'm going to move this entire thread over to the EC forum. Sarah, I'm glad you looked into this before committing to anything with RUE. It's not RUE or EC, it would be RUE and EC. So yeah, the RUE rep's attitude was weird.
TheCommuter, BSN, RN 226 Articles; 27,608 Posts Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych. Has 17 years experience. Aug 5, 2014 It's not RUE or EC, it would be RUE and EC. So yeah, the RUE rep's attitude was weird.Not only was the rep's attitude weird, it was somewhat fraudulent and misleading. An ethical, honest rep who had a shred of integrity would have mentioned that RUE's study materials are intended to serve as preparation for Excelsior College's exams and courses. However, this particular rep presented RUE as if it was an actual distance-based school of nursing, which seems shady and scheisty to me. Then again, telling the truth might have prevented this salesperson from making the sale if the customer knew the whole truth.
