Nursing school’s change irks students
Requirement to pass test to get degree is seen as ‘not ethical’
Weeks away from graduation, Chamberlain College of Nursing students learned of a new requirement from their for-profit school — they’d have to pass a cumulative test on the first try to receive their degrees and then take a stab at the national license exam. The northwest Houston campus enrolls about 380 students.
The change followed the Texas Board of Nursing’s decision to forbid Chamberlain from enrolling new students in January, citing years of recent graduates not passing the national examination at high enough rates. The state board told the college it must lift that national examination pass rate before it can take on new students.
Previously, Chamberlain did not require students to pass the internal test before graduation. Chamberlain told students of the policy shift after it learned of the new restrictions from the state board.
Students interviewed by the
Chronicle believe their school is trying to keep certain students from taking the national exam to lift its pass rate so that it can enroll new students again and keep revenues high.
“It’s not ethical, what they’re trying to do,” said one student, who has complained to Chamberlain’s parent company, DeVry Education Group Inc. The company’s ombudsman is investigating the complaint, and the student requested anonymity, fearing retribution.
‘Conditional’ status
Chamberlain denies that the curricular change, which students learned of in February, aims to gin up the pass rate for the national exam. It is instead an effort to improve student accountability, President Susan Groenwald said. Students didn’t take studying seriously when passing wasn’t required to graduate, she said.
Chamberlain has the right, she said, to change requirements at any time.
“It is amazing to all of us the extent we have to impose rules to get students to do what we know is in their best interest,” Groenwald said.
Houston is one of five Chamberlain campuses that imposed this rule, she said.
The Texas Board of Nursing demoted Chamberlain’s approval status to “conditional” — just one step above withdrawing state board approval — from “warning” in January. If less than 80 percent of students pass the national exam this year, the Texas board could withdraw approval. Students must graduate from a state-approved college to take the national exam and practice. At Chamberlain, if students fail the internal test, they’ll have to retake the course before they can try again.
Students’ accusations — that the change is an effort to artificially lift the college’s pass rate — echo those made against Houston Community College over the summer, when the Texas Board of Nursing placed HCC on “conditional” status.
There, nursing students said HCC withheld graduation forms from certain students in an effort to improve its pass rate. HCC distributed the forms after an attorney filed suit on behalf of affected students, and HCC regained full approval status when its pass rate edged above 80 percent.
Chamberlain’s Houston campus enrolled its first students in February 2011 as several new nursing programs popped up in and around the city, citing national and local demand. The demand for registered nurses is expected to grow 16 percent from 2014 to 2024, faster than the average for all occupations. Chamberlain opened a Pearland campus in 2014, and in 2012, the University of St. Thomas re-established its long-defunct nursing program, graduating its first 27 students in 2014. The College of Health Care Professions began enrolling students in 2011.
Slipping below 80 percent for several consecutive years is not unusual for new nursing programs, Texas Board of Nursing consultant Janice Hooper said.
“We have seen, in the last three or four years, a number of (schools) go through this experience,” she said. “I have to say most of them come back exceptionally well.”
She said increasing a program’s rigor — like through an additional test before graduation — is not an uncommon response to a low pass rate.
About 87 percent of Chamberlain students passed the exam in 2013, but that figure fell to about 67 percent in 2015. Last year, 78.4 percent of students passed the test — missing the 80 percent benchmark by two students.
Small percent here
Chamberlain’s parent company, DeVry Education Group Inc., alerted investors to the Texas Board of Nursing’s approval status change in its most recent quarterly filings. It said it was confident it could “increase and maintain” national examination scores so that the Texas board would bring Chamberlain back to full approval.
Houston enrolls less than 5 percent of Chamberlain students across its 20 campuses, DeVry said. Chamberlain College of Nursing’s year-over-year revenue grew by 7.8 percent in the most recent quarter, primarily due to enrollment gains.
The state board next will measure pass rates in October. About 90 Chamberlain students are scheduled to graduate before then.
Late last year, DeVry settled with the U.S. Education Department and the Federal Trade Commission over complaints that it falsely promoted graduates’ success and earnings. DeVry, which earned about $456.4 million in revenue in its most recent quarter, was one of several for-profit colleges and universities under intense scrutiny by former President Barack Obama’s administration.
Over the last few years, several for-profit college operators, including Corinthian Colleges Inc. and ITT Educational Services, ceased operations or shuttered campuses amid fraud allegations.