“Last year, more than a third of Florida’s nursing programs failed to meet a state requirement that at least 70 percent of their graduates pass a state licensing exam. In some schools, no students passed the state test. Most of the problems center on unaccredited programs that have opened since 2009, when the state relaxed the requirements for opening a new school”
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/education/fl-nursing-schools-failing-20151030-story.html
I don’t think this is exclusive to Florida. I am a NICU nurse in Utah. I often see students from local, very-expensive, for profit schools as they do rotations on our unit. For the most part, these students’ programs are chaotic and do not prepare them at all for boards, let alone getting and keeping a nursing job. The flashy promises to a quick graduation and successful career often don’t pan out, leaving these kids saddled with ridiculous debt they can’t pay. Please please please research the program. Ask about the rate of passing boards the first time. Ask friends who are nurses if their units even hire grads from those programs. I know we avoid some of the schools’ students at all costs because of poor reputations.
Thanks for your input. It looks like Utah was trying to do something about the problem.
http://www.journalofnursingregulation.com/article/S2155-8256(15)30215-5/pdf
By the way, Marco Rubio’s campaign promise is to loosen up federal requirements for accreditation of for-profit colleges, so it is easier for them to absorb more federal grants and loans. He says it will spur innovation.