Sorry that I am new and do not know where to put this topic but I am a 19-year-old college student who has been accepted into a BSN program starting August.
This is all great news and everything but this program has low NCLEX pass rates and they are on their 3rd year of probation sadly. Their NCLEX pass rates are 73%, 73%, 64% respectively within 3 years. They admit 100 students every semester and this is a private nonprofit university that is apart of my university as a "sister branch".
I did not know this when I applied, or when I invested 2 years of my time taking specifics prerequisites for this one program (60 credit hours). I did know anything about the profession at the time and did not thoroughly research what the NCLEX really entailed. I only recently found this out from reading this site and doing more research.
That was the bad news, the good news is that this program has a great reputation going for them since 1894 and was once considered one of my states top programs for their high NCLEX pass rates and new grad job placement within 6 months (93%) since 2014. But that percentage has gone down to 82% for 2016. I spoke to a lot of the seniors who attend this college at the tour and they told me that they recommend this college and it has been a great experience.
I even emailed and spoke with the dean of nursing and she told not to worry about the pass rates as their getting it under controlled with the new curriculum put in place by CCNE and that they don't plan on losing any of their accreditations (they have membership and accreditations for more things than I can count including NLN and Higher Education.)
I also would like to mention that their admission standard are low and they do give students sencond chances if you have a really low GPA but at least maintained a 2.5 GPA in the last 48 credit hours. But I also heard the program is very tough and rigorous and some of their courses require an 85% or above to pass and move on to the next level.
My mother and family say I still should go since its a great school but I'm still conflicted at this point on what should I do. I want to be a nurse but not one that doesn't graduate from an accredited school...
My mother also has already set up a payment plan with the school and if I don't go there she may not fund my education as my younger sister will be starting college soon as well and she doesn't want to pay for both of us at the same time.
"they are on their 3rd year of probation sadly. Their NCLEX pass rates are 73%, 73%, 64% respectively within 3 years. "
There is nothing comforting in any of that. That means their pass rate actually went down, not up. If it's me, I'm trying to transfer my credits somewhere else. An NCLEX review class, to me, means they are just trying to prepare you to pass the NCLEX, instead of training you to be ready to be a nurse.
I just graduated from a really respected community college nursing program with really low pass rates -- it's in the 60's-70's. In 2013, for my state, they changed the NCLEX. Since then, most of the non profit institutions NCLEX rate has dropped 10-20 percentage points. Just now coming back up for 2016 because the colleges are starting to realize that they need to change how their program addresses NCLEX questions when the NCLEX changes. Only 6 of us have taken boards so far but all of us have passed, most of us in the minimum amount of questions.
You can never rely on your nursing school to prepare you for NCLEX, no matter where you go. They are not there to teach you how to pass NCLEX, they are there to teach you how to think like a nurse and to perform safely as a nurse. I knew the pass rates had tanked state wide so I didn't just rely on the school sponsored NCLEX review. I did NCLEX questions from U World throughout my program and a separate in person review. I had no problems with the boards and found many of the questions to be shockingly easy after all the prep I had done.
I think many nursing students think just sitting through class will get you across the NCLEX finish line -- it will not. If it is accredited, has a good reputation, and are addressing their pass rates, I would not start over somewhere else. That would cost you time and money. Purchase U World for a year or another q bank and do 50 of the questions a week throughout the program. You will be fine.
I just graduated from a really respected community college nursing program with really low pass rates -- it's in the 60's-70's. In 2013, for my state, they changed the NCLEX. Since then, most of the non profit institutions NCLEX rate has dropped 10-20 percentage points. Just now coming back up for 2016 because the colleges are starting to realize that they need to change how their program addresses NCLEX questions when the NCLEX changes. Only 6 of us have taken boards so far but all of us have passed, most of us in the minimum amount of questions.
You can never rely on your nursing school to prepare you for NCLEX, no matter where you go. They are not there to teach you how to pass NCLEX, they are there to teach you how to think like a nurse and to perform safely as a nurse. I knew the pass rates had tanked state wide so I didn't just rely on the school sponsored NCLEX review. I did NCLEX questions from U World throughout my program and a separate in person review. I had no problems with the boards and found many of the questions to be shockingly easy after all the prep I had done.
I think many nursing students think just sitting through class will get you across the NCLEX finish line -- it will not. If it is accredited, has a good reputation, and are addressing their pass rates, I would not start over somewhere else. That would cost you time and money. Purchase U World for a year or another q bank and do 50 of the questions a week throughout the program. You will be fine.
First and foremost, you need to see the bigger picture. Find out from the BON what happens to the graduates of schools of non-approved nursing schools. The BON can legally stipulate that any person who has graduated or is attending a non-approved school will not be eligible for licensure as a registered nurse. Ask the BON what will happen if the school becomes non-approved while you are a student and you are not eligible for licensure?
and they are on their 3rd year of probation sadly. Their NCLEX pass rates are 73%, 73%, 64% respectively within 3 years. They admit 100 students every semester and this is a private nonprofit university that is apart of my university as a "sister branch".
Rionoir, ADN, RN
674 Posts
"they are on their 3rd year of probation sadly. Their NCLEX pass rates are 73%, 73%, 64% respectively within 3 years. "
There is nothing comforting in any of that. That means their pass rate actually went down, not up. If it's me, I'm trying to transfer my credits somewhere else. An NCLEX review class, to me, means they are just trying to prepare you to pass the NCLEX, instead of training you to be ready to be a nurse.