A group of Excelsior College students who claim the private school places endless barriers to prevent nursing program enrollees from actually graduating, have asked a New York federal court to certify their putative class action lawsuit.
Plaintiff Jessica Willis along with numerous other Excelsior student plaintiffs seek to represent all individuals who enrolled in the nursing program since Aug. 13, 2012 and experienced delays in taking the Clinical Performance in Nursing Examination test and/or failed the CPNE within the same time period.
According to the motion for certification, the lawsuit meets all the requirements for Class certification including “numerosity, commonality, typicality and adequacy of representation.”
The Excelsior class action lawsuit states that the college primarily targets students who are unable to attend a traditional nursing school by promising them that they can finish the program in as little as 18 months.
However, the plaintiffs say that repeated and intentional road blocks delay students from graduating.
The Excelsior College class action lawsuit claims that out of 10,000 students enrolled in the nursing program, less than 10 percent of those end up graduating each year.
Part of the reason why there is such a low graduation rate is because Excelsior hides from students the fact that less than half of them will actually pass the final test, the plaintiffs state.
“For example, whereas the actual CPNE pass rate for 2017 was only 39.5%…Excelsior misled and continues to mislead consumers into believing that the pass rate is and has been 62.2%,” the Excelsior nursing program class action lawsuit alleges.
According to the Excelsior class action lawsuit, the deception doesn’t end there. In addition to the low success rate on the final exam, Excelsior students experience delays of more than one year to even take the test, despite the college representing that students only have to wait three to five months.
Willis claims she was one of the students tricked by the omissions and intentional untrue statements made by the college regarding test pass rates and accreditation.
The plaintiff, who has been an LPN since 2010, says she enrolled in Excelsior’s nursing program in 2015 with the understanding that it would be completed in 18 months.
The Excelsior nursing program class action states that the school hid the fact that the CPNE test had a pass rate of less than 50 percent.
Willis alleges that she received a job offer that was “contingent upon her having an active RN license by July 2018.” In April 2018, the plaintiff was one of seven Excelsior students who took the CPNE and all of them reportedly failed to pass.
The Excelsior college class action claims that the school recognized that the test failure was wrong by stating “the exam administration was [not] in accordance with established protocols.”
However, the college allegedly did not grant Willis a pass which in turn resulted in her inability to take the offered job position.
The Excelsior college class action states that Willis is among many who experienced “insistent, persistent and unending” fraud on behalf of the college.
The Excelsior College students are represented by John Hermina of Hermina Law Group and Gregory Allen of the Law Office of Gregory Allen.
The Excelsior College Nursing Program Class Action Lawsuit is Jessica Willis, et al. v. Excelsior College, Case No. 1:18-cv-04552-NG-CLP, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
UPDATE: The Excelsior College Nursing Program Class Action was dismissed on March 20, 2019. Top Class Actions will let our viewers know if any new lawsuits are filed.
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47 thoughts onExcelsior College Students Seek Cert. In Nursing Program Class Action
I graduated from Excelsior College years ago. I didn’t pass the CPN the first time.
I took the blame for the mistakes I made.
I have been with Excelsior for over 10 yrs. One problem after another with these folks. Hurry up and wait. Nothing but window dressing when you talk to them. Truly the worst experience of my life. They wear you down with student fees etc etc. They put you off with excuse after excuse. When I “failed” my CPNE this past October 2019, they told me I would have to reapply and get back in line and it will be most likely a year before I could retest. I had flown from Arizona to Albany, got there 3 days early so I would have time to adjust to the time change, then drove then a day early so I would be familiar with the routing, then on test day got their 2 hours early only to find my evaluator shows up 20 minutes late and they started everyone without me. I don’t even want to get into why I “failed”.
Now with all the studying done, having to repeat the test, they get dropped by the ACEN. Now when I talk to them they tell me everything is on hold. I asked for my money back and they said they have to wait on how my state responds to the latest developments. Absolutely unacceptable. I have contacted the Hermina law group and would be willing to join a class action lawsuit. This College has damn near ruined my life: Time I lost studying while I could have been playing with my children, a divorce, not to mention all the money I wasted. I should have just taken my family to Disneyland. This thing has caused me so much anxiety, depression and frustration I can’t even see straight
I am beyond frustrated with this program. Right now only those living in NY, OH, and TX are allowed to test, who cares about the rest of us who have been waiting for extended periods of time. They make you pay for the CPNE exam fee before you can even apply, so they hold onto your money while it collects interest in their bank for a year or more only to be failed out or not have the chance to take it at all. There is also still no alternative in place for a sim/virtual exam and it’s been 5 months since the COVID shut down. It’s unacceptable and incredibly disappointing. I would like to be included in any class action persuit.
I would also like to get in on this class action suit. I failed the VPCS twice. Their reasons were obsurd. It was over 2 years after taking any nursing classes because they lied about their wait list and then COVID hit and they drug their feet getting a virtual option going. Then I was told they were losing accredidation so I was rushed into taking the exams or all of this will have been for nothing. Well, it was all for nothing and now I am in debt and will never be able to pay off my student loans. I deserve a refund. All I got from this school is nightmares, panick attacks and depression. I’ve asked for an appeal on my most recent test, I was ignored for days before receiving a reply. I’m in AZ and have no time left.
I would like to Join a class a class action lawsuit period
I fail CPNE twice,and I am sure i will fail agai. due to the increase anxiety. I am not sure what to do? I need to finish this program . They have a revised curriculum , but not sure how this will help
I have also failed 2x and it was for simple bs. I flew from italy to Texas the first time and then again from italy to New York and it was a waste of time and money. They now want me to retake the revised curriculum and now have to take a class then first part of the CPNE and then take another class and take the second part of the CPNE. It is unbelievable how this is happening and I honestly thought I was the only one.
Michele
Hi Richie. , you’re not the only one. I’m so discouraged, feel taken advantage of, ignored, robbed, deceived, and I’m wrecked emotionally over this because I passed all my nursing courses, and I’m still not an RN. It hurts! I hurt! I deserve my RN. I’ve waited since 2017, then was told there aren’t enough sites or instructors so the testing would be 7 to 14 months off. It was longer than that. Then cancelled due to COVID-19. My exam was supposed to be in May of 2020. This is not fair. It just isn’t. I’m in on the class action lawsuit.
How do I join
I’ve been enrolled with Excelsior since 2015. I’ve wasted so much of my time, energy, resources and money that I could have probably completed my doctorate by now! The CPNE weekend was one the worst experiences of my entire life. Fast forward to this week….I finally contacted the college to see what options (if any) were still available and I received a very brief reply stating that they had lost their nursing accreditation and conveniently asked if there were any other programs that I might be interested in. This program is nothing short of a giant money trap. How do they continue to trick people into falling for their scams?
I am super aggravated with the excuses they find to fail students. I spoke with a local university in Texas that even if all you got is a high school diploma, you leave with BSN in 3 years!. I have been dealing with Excelsior since 2015 and I still don’ have my RN , ” failed” the CPNE twice and I am a single mom, now in a lot of debt, a child to feed and I still don’t have even an ADN to get a better job. I agree with the several statements above, they need to be STOPPED. or drop these crazy fees and come up with REAL training and REAL preparation for their CPNE and stop taking money from hard-working Americans who are just trying to better themselves. They talk about nursing ethics, how about BUSINESS ethics? Just allowing a few people to pass to keep their doors from closing should not be sufficient. This school needs to be looked at by the Federal Courts, somebody somewhere who cares about people wasting money and losing income. Everyone, I know who started school after I did already have a BSN and ARE working as nurses, me… well, not even near. If there is another class action, contact me please.
PS…To Excelsior,
The bigger you get, the harder you fall. It’s just a matter of time. You see, you can’t hide from God and he is keeping tabs on all the harm you have caused. That’s a high price for you. The Master Degree Registered Nursing Instructors of Corruption.
If a new suit is put together I would like to be contacted. Enrolled and told 6 month CPNE wait. I waited 20 months. Passes. Now waiting 6 months to do my state require clinicals the EC arranges. Then ATI. It will be over 3 years since any nursing classes. College is a scam
I would like in on suite myself. This has destroyed my life. Just trying pay all the loans and move on with my life. It is sad that so many people are going through this.
I just took the CPNE on Sept 6-8th 2019 and failed along with 6 other students. I have over $60,000 in student loans from Excelsior College. I would love to get in on this lawsuit!! What Excelsior is doing to students is so wrong and they need to be stopped!!
We lost about 50 grand and my bf ended up losing his house because of this. He kept paying them , he didn’t believe they would be so corrupt. The best thing everyone can do is spread the word to the world to beware of this evil corrupt place
how do we get our names added to this lawsuit? Can someone please advise. Thanks
I failed the CPNE in 2016 and would like to know (along with the 6 other LPN’s that failed with me) how to jump on this lawsuit?
I failed the second part CPNE July 2019. Stephanie did you transfer out?