South university online graduate school of nursing (msn family nurse practitioner)

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Purpose of this Post:

As a licensed RN in the State of Ohio, I have decided to go back to school for my MSN. I want to become a Family Nurse Practitioner. In researching different schools, I have applied for both private, not-for-profit, and for-profit schools. In the end, I chose South University (located in Savannah, Georgia) based solely on the perception that it will accommodate my lifestyle/responsibilities.

AllNurses.com is an excellent site for nurses to network. That is why I chose this forum to discuss my educational experiences with South University. For the next 2 years or so, I will be updating weekly/biweekly on my experiences in South University's Online Graduate Nursing Program. As a graduate nursing student, I want to give other nurses a real idea of what they are signing up for with this university.

Additional Details:

Start Date: June 2nd, 2014

Program: Online Graduate Nursing Program

Track: Family Nurse Practitioner

As I was researching different graduate nursing programs I had specific criteria in mind.

1. It had to be accredited (and it is by the CCNE).

2. It had to be a flexible, online program (and it is).

3. It had to accept all licensed nurses in good standing, regardless of the amount of experience they have (and it does).

4. It had to be affordable/doable. For me, I refused to pay more than $35,000 for a program. The Family Nurse Practitioner program currently costs ($30,833).

5. It had to legitimately educate me to operate within my scope of practice, ethically and efficiently.

6. It had to be well-respected, at least insofar as future employers (or even your state board of nursing) do not laugh/roll their eyes when they hear where you graduated from.

Additional Factors To Take Into Consideration:

1. South University currently has some very bad reviews on consumeraffairs.com and onlinedegreereviews.org.

2. "For Profit" schools have a universally bad reputation as scam schools. "Buyer beware."

Disclaimer:

Before I go any further, I'd like to reinforce the fact that my opinions are my own and are not meant to reflect poorly on anyone. I will try to be as objective as possible in reviewing the school and the education I receive. No names will be mentioned, but I will discuss specific classes to give the reader as much information as possible.

Please keep in mind that admissions requirements, classes, tuition, and circumstances are relative to my situation. They will likely change over time, so I'm not entirely too sure how applicable any of this will be to others.

But for what it's worth, I'd like to give everyone an insiders look at a "For Profit," online graduate school of nursing.

Admissions Review:

Admissions Requirements


    [*=2]GPA of 3.0 or Higher
    [*=2]Unrestricted, Valid RN License in Resident State
    [*=2]Undergraduate Statistics and Nursing Research Class
    [*=2]3 Professional References (One Must Be an MSN Prepared Nurse)
    [*=2]Goal Statement
    [*=2]Transcripts from all universities you have ever attended
    [*=2]Resume or Curriculum Vitae.

Paper-Work to Be Aware of:


    [*=2]Online Application Form
    [*=2]Transcript Request Form
    [*=2]Goal Statement (Information about yourself as a professional, as long as what program you are applying for and what you hope to do with the degree. Why do you want to become a nurse practitioner? How will it impact your life?)
    [*=2]3 Professional References
    [*=2]Curriculum Vitae or Resume
    [*=2]Syllabus and Course Catalog (with web address) of both of your undergraduate Statistics and Nursing Research Class
    [*=2]Practicum/Clinical Site Form: This school wants you to identify 5 potential clinical sites for each of five clinical courses. They are not contracts and are not set in stone. They are merely there to provide incentive for RNs to begin looking independently.
    [*=2]FAFSA (Unless you are an international student.)
    [*=2]Student Loan Paperwork (If you are like me and will rely upon an unsubsidized student loan with a fixed interest rate).

Orientation to Online Classrooms:

If accepted into this program you must complete the online orientation class. It prepares you for where to find student resources (such as an online library which has most of your text-books), documents (lectures/powerpoints), student email, and technical support. It teaches you where your grades are stored and what will be expected of you in classes. To be seen as having good attendance/participation you are expected to contribute 4 times a week on 4 separate days. Contribution is defined as posting an assignment in the discussion, turning in an assignment, posting a question for the professor, and etc. If you do not make at least 2 contributions for 2 consecutive weeks, admissions will automatically boot you from the program.

Additionally, a student cannot score below 80% in any given class, without being on disqualified from the program. So, in other words, no Cs allowed.

As long as a student plays by these rules and actually puts forth effort (taking the program seriously), it seems that all will be well.

Another aspect of online education you should be aware of is that many essays and papers that will be written are going to be screened by anti-plagiarism software.

Admissions Review:

My admissions representative was outstanding and kept in touch with me every other day or via email. If she didn't have the answer to one of my questions, she would get back to me promptly. She was very patient but also helped motivate me to get things in ASAP so that I could begin in June. I finished Applying two and a half weeks before June 2nd and was around 10 days after I applied (just in time). June 2nd isn't a very popular start date. If you are applying in the Spring or Summer, keep in mind that you will face a lot more competition.

Your Admissions representative will stay in contact with you for the duration of your education.

Academic Counselor Review:

My academic adviser was very knowledgeable and helpful. I have had better luck contacting him via email than through phone, but it seems like that is the standard in an online environment. Like my Admissions rep, he has always been on time telephone appointments. He explained that his role was to register you for the correct classes and notify you asap when you are not meeting attendance/participation/grade requirements to stay in the program. He is also the middle-man between me and my professors. If for whatever reason, an instructor is not responding to me within the 24hrs time-frame they have to reply, I can call up my academic adviser. (It's 24hrs on a week-day and 48hrs on a holiday/weekend).

The program is typically one class at a time with classes ranging from 5 to 11.5 weeks.

My Academic Counselor told me that I could double up on my classes, as long as I had financial aid approve of it and the ability to succeed. After convincing him and being cleared by financial aid (I would just take out more of my loan than previously planned upon), I was rescheduled. So, I have officially doubled up the first two classes of the program, Role of the Advanced Practice Nurse and Advanced Pathophysiology.

Then I will take Advanced Theoretical Perspectives for Nursing on its own.

After that, I will double up Nursing Research Methods (an 11 week class) with Advanced Nursing Practice I and II.

Advanced health & Physical Assessment is the first course with a clinical requirement (80hrs). Every class after that (except Graduate Project in Nursing) has a clinical requirement of 180hrs.

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Tuition:

The first year of loans period I will be paying for range from 06/02/14 to 01/26/14 and will cost me approximately $16,530. I do not yet know what the rest of my classes from 04/13/15-11/30/15 will cost.

Okay that is all for now! Please post questions you have and I will do my best to answer them!!

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So tuition for you is about $16,000 for 6 months? Their website today (7/22/14) says tuition is $458 per credit hour. The program is at most 62 credit hours. That would make the total cost around $31,000 right? Will you finish in a year? What am I missing?

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Specializes in Adult Nurse Practitioner.

Cwoods, you are correct. The tuition cost per hour just went up. So far, I have not seen an increase in my tuition (I have a signed contract at the previous rate). Can you finish in a year? Nope...you can however do it in a year and half or so. SU online staggers classes, so you can get into a class at various times. If your academic standing is good, you can take more than 1 class at a time, and many do so up to clinicals. Once you start clinicals, you do one set at a time until the very last one...you will have your capstone class with that one. Hope this helps.

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Hi lhflanurse! I think I have read a few of your posts! You are attending South now right? I was just confused about the cost ModestTruth had quoted. The 16k figure looks like 6/2-1/26. It isn't 16,000 for 7 months is it?

Either way...I am really liking what I am reading about South.

I currently attend Western Governors University for my BSN. I should be finished around May 2015. I like that it is 1 class at a time. I have decided that if I was going to do FNP, I should stick with this format. 1 class at a time works well with me.

That being said, why does everyone badmouth South so bad?! I know it is for-profit. So what?! If it is a good school, I am glad to pay for it. Is this how you feel as well?

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Specializes in Adult Nurse Practitioner.

Cwoods...South has campuses as well as online programs. I am not real familiar with the campus programs. The online program is intense, and has a LOT of papers and assignments. You have to be pretty much your own driving force. That said, I have made some good "friends" throughout the journey and we communicate with each other even outside of the program. I started out in the FNP program but switched to ANP half-way through the Advanced History and Assessment class. The hardest part of the program is obtaining your preceptors and sites, but if you have a good network set up it shouldn't be too difficult. As to funds, my first year was a little over 15K, and my balance for the program is just a tad over 11K (figures will be higher now because of the change in credit hour charge). I am more than happy to talk to you about my experiences and you can email me at [email protected]

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Sent you an email lhflanurse. Thanks!

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Hi there! Sorry for the confusion, I've doubled up my classes to full-time. So basically in the first 6 months I will be finishing what would regularly be about a 12 months of work, if the classes were one at a time, back to back. So far I have gone through Advanced Pathophysiology (11wk class) while taking Role of the Advanced Practice Nurse (5.5wks) and Advanced Theoretical Perspectives in Nursing (5.5wks).

lhflanurse is absolutely correct in stating that the program is writing-intensive. Taking two classes at a time and really trying my best to get all the points I can on every assignment, I write up to 50 pages a week. In the classes that I have named, I haven't had any tests, just exams.

In my original posting of this discussion thread, I said that I would update weekly. But yeah, I haven't had the time. Let me sum up some random things that I had to adjust to or learn as I began this journey.

I hope I can help out people like me, who had little or no nursing experience (because of the absolutely TERRIBLE job market where I live).

1. If you start graduate school, do not take it lightly. When they say "back to back" they really mean it. There is no such thing as a day off in between your classes. One ends and another begins the very next day. Make sure you can commit to it.

2. Reinforce to your family/friends that you are busy. My family/friends seem to forget the fact that I'm in school. Even if it's online, you need to set aside time 4-5 days out of the week to read/study/write.

3. Don't skimp on the readings! This is your education that you are paying for, make the most of it. Even if that means obtaining outside materials.

4. For Advanced Pathophysiology, I really recommend people buy 5-Minute Medical Consult (2015). It is a great help and I will be using it (and a few others) in practicums/practice. The textbook used for Advanced Pathophysiology is good, but very poorly organized. For instance, I was reading one chapter on Osteoporosis and under the header of Clinical Manifestations the authors wrote about risk factors. Sometimes it takes a while to just, I don't know... Filter out what's important to take with you into your clinical practice. The book is nice, but kind of a "time-waster." It seems to fluctuate between "too vague" and "too detailed/technical." (The text is Porth's Pathophysiology: Concepts of Altered Health States.) My biggest recommendation is to track down a better pathology textbook. I've been looking at resources NPs have reviewed and put together a bit of a list. Most of the books I found are used in graduate MD or PA programs, but some are books used at State University MSN programs.

5. The professors (so far, based on the classes I have) does not provide you with power-points or comprehensive lectures. The lectures you receive are often introductions to what you will be learning in your readings. They are not voiced-over, just outlined. They are good introductions to material and do provide a good outline of material. But I sorely miss the days of note-taking onto a power point. Now, I wade through the endlessly meandering, poorly organized information in Porth's Pathophysiology.

6. Another important thing to note is that undergraduate nursing texts are forbidden by most professors. No matter how recent or how pertinent the information is to your subject matter. For instance, I attempted to use Black & Hawks Medical-Surgical Nursing textbook to outline important labs for a disease/disorder. It had more comprehensive information in it than our class text, but I was docked points for using it. In a way, I feel like it's insulting to nurses with their BSN. A lot of times, the information they learned through theory and practice is what has lead to the profession's sense of confidence in diagnosing and prescribing treatments. So, I do not believe undergraduate texts should be forbidden completely. But I do not think they should be utilized as the primary information source, either.

7. Pay attention to Course Announcements! Every week the instructor posts new course announcements and they need to be read carefully, since they sometimes have conflicting information. You have a link to a weekly module and the assignments within that week (which contain directions). But if for some reason, the directions/due dates change, the change will be made in the Course Announcements.

8. Lastly, South University does not require you to have nursing experience to enroll in their FNP program. There are currently scores of nursing graduates (recent/new) who have gone "stale" in the eyes of hiring nurse managers/recruiters. My suggestion is not to give up. Do not give up at all.

I went through over a year of looking for employment as a nurse before landing a position at a facility that was NOT a teaching hospital and NOT a place for a novice nurse to begin working. In fact, that brief, 3-month stint did more to turn me away from nursing than an entire year of unemployment. After 1 week of clinical orientation, I was working in a facility that outsourced over 50% of their workforce to staffing agencies. On nights, I took care of 7-11 people without any help, except a nursing assistant who floated between two units. Our nurse manager didn't understand how to schedule nurses appropriately (it wasn't self-schedule, and she still couldn't manage). I could go on and on about it, but I won't do it here.

For everyone out there who is unemployed and losing their mind with guilt and fear, all I can say is: do not give up. The best thing you can do to find a job right now is to throw yourself activities facilitating professional development. Volunteer for your county's chapter of the American Red Cross. Volunteer for Community Health Centers that target medically underserved populations. Become ACLS, PALs, and NIH-SS (Stroke Scale) Certified. (The NIH-SS is free, but you will have to pay for the ACLS and PALs.) Most importantly, hang in there. Get a job doing "something" even if it isn't nursing. And if you are thinking of going back to school for your MSN, then start right now.

Do not give up. Don't let prolonged unemployment eat up your sanity or sense of self-worth. Being turned down for a job is so hard not to take personally, because it so greatly affects your ability to survive and provide for your family. At one point, I felt as if there was something wrong with me. Why else would all the nurse managers I interviewed with be telling me I'm not good enough to make a life for myself in this profession? That was basically how I felt at the time. I took it personally and became so incredibly pessimistic... It was wrong to let life kick me down like that. But I got it together (eventually) and decided to go back to school. So far, I've really enjoyed it. I'm still applying for positions, but now I feel more confident and assured than before.

People are not meant to be idle. They have to occupy themselves with something. So if you aren't working and want to advance yourself as a nurse; then obtaining your MSN is a good idea. My suggestion would be to apply and register full-time. You can always move to part-time if you end up being hired somewhere. But in the mean time, you can keep yourself busy and happy by working towards future security.

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Hello, lhflanurse!

I heard that every year the tuition at South University rises. Have you found this to be true? Technically, you are my upperclassman. I'm really looking forward to hear about your experiences as well. What program are you in? Do you know anyone who has graduated an NP program? I keep asking my Academic Counselor about whether or not they had an alumni program. Eventually, I found out that no one had graduated from the NP programs yet. I'm curious to know how they are doing and the passing rate for certification... :D Have you heard anything?

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Specializes in Adult Nurse Practitioner.

ModestTruth...the first group of online NP students just "graduated" in June of this year. Students technically finish at varying times throughout the year, but the school does one major graduation a year in June for all the graduates. This being said, I am sure the school will now be able to start collecting statistical information regarding the online program. As to price hike...I started in March of 2013 and the school is just increasing their rate in August. I don't know of many schools today that do not increase the fees...they are still competitive with other schools. I am in the adult program and will be finished this December.

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Congrats!!!!!! That's awesome! Will you let me know if you do a certification review-course or buy a book? I'm in the FNP but it would still be cool to find a good brand of prep-books.

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congrats to you. I AM IN THE FNP PROGRAM AND WILL BE STARTING MY FIRST CLINICAL ROTATATION WHICH IS HEALTH ASSESMENT BUT I AM A BIT ANXIOUS ABOUT THE MIDTERM AND FINAL EXAM. ANY FEEDBACK WILL BE APPRECIATED. MY EMAIL [email protected]

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I'm in the process of completing my app for south university fnp program. Does anyone not get accepted to a for profit school?

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