Nursing schools owned by a profit-oriented organization are often stigmatized as not “being good enough” to educate nurses. This source of stigma is hard to pinpoint as to the etiology. Perhaps it stems from a historical perspective at least in the past where education was provided by government-sponsored programs. With this model, the taxpayers funded the schools. This paradigm has changed significantly in the past 20 years because of the decrease in state funding and schools are expected to raise tuition in part to support student education. As a result, in many states, the costs of attending public sector or private non-project schools have “skyrocketed” as schools must act as a “for profit” enterprise to support their operations.
The shortage of nurses created an opportunity for alternative educational modules given the public sector simple was not able to be adapted to meeting the needs of the healthcare industry for nurses. The inability to the public and to a lesser extent non-profit schools to be more entrepreneurial often because of state regulatory prohibitions created an opportunity for private for-profit schools to emerge. The trend for profit was non-only isolated to nursing as other professions, as well as occupational majors, saw new educational opportunities appear.
The Obama administration who tended to lack an understanding of for-profit schools through the Department of Education decided (because of some outliers who were gaming the system) created new regulatory oversight which for the most part created significant closures of these schools. Thus at least in nursing while attempting to provide more funding to public sector nursing programs through the Division of Nursing within the Health and Human Resources Administration restricted growth or made doing building nursing programs impossible. The action contributed to the shortage of nurses and in some way continues today even though the Trump administration has lifted some of the restrictions.
As in any business venture particularly something as complex as nursing being able to provide a high-quality program can be very challenging. Given the stigma mentioned earlier often nurse educators are hesitant to move to the for-profit sector. The workload expectations are also different in that having a tenure-track position and focus on the creation of research agendas is mostly missing in the for-profit sector. The focus is on teaching and the scholarship of such. Faculty appointments are full time with no time off in the summers other than accumulated vacation time. Thus, finding nursing educators and administrators willing to give up these “perks” can be challenging.
Many of the for-profit schools have managed to address these issues adequately and as a result, provide a high-quality education. Notable are some of the Fortis schools including the Denver College of Nursing who have some quality program. Others such as publicly traded Chamberlain and Walden Universities are known for the quality of their graduates.
The variability in student outcomes and educational experience is directly related to several variables. From my perspective, the primary driver of quality is the ability of nursing administrators and faculty to create a successful learning experience. Often for-profits have limited experience under their belt in regards to nursing education. To develop successful programs can be very challenging. Success, while not guaranteed, can be fostered by using nursing consultants experienced with the for-profit sector. RL Anders and Associates given our extensive experience in both public sector and the for-profit schools can be a cost-effective resource to foster faculty development, student retention, satisfaction, and success on the NCLEX®.
Our clients are willing to share with you their experience and how together improvements and successful outcomes have been achieved. Our cost-effective consultant services which often can be done virtually thus saving traveling costs may make the difference in your NCLEX® results and EBITDA.
Check out these videos regarding how to achieve NCLEX® success.
The success of for-profit programs and achievement of your
EBITDA is possible once the foundation for success is in place. Given us a call at 915-383-1653 or send an
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Our webpage is https://www.rlaassociates.com/
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