Education is important. For a nation, education provides the basis for building the human capital necessary to compete in the global economy. For an individual, education can help them break free from poverty and provide opportunities for better jobs and financial security. Education is key to achieving these things, yet it’s still out of reach for many people who live in countries where schools and universities lack funding or resources. In fact, there are more than 264 million children and youths around the world who aren’t receiving any formal education at all. Education is the key to economic growth. It creates jobs, drives innovation, and improves our quality of life. Education advocates have long called education “the great equalizer”—and for good reason. From the classroom to the workplace, education supports a nation’s economic competitiveness by equipping students with skills needed in today’s workforce. The relationship between education and economic growth is a well-studied one. In fact, a report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows that countries with higher levels of education tend to see higher rates of productivity. This has a lot to do with the fact that more highly educated workers are better able to create technology and innovations, which in turn leads to increased productivity.This isn’t just good news for companies—it also means more jobs are created as well as stronger social mobility opportunities for those who don’t have access to traditional sources of power or influence. For instance, if you want your child’s school district to be diverse, then you need someone in the community who can advocate for those changes at the local level; this type of advocacy becomes easier when you have an educated population instead of one dominated by uneducated people who are unable to speak up about their needs out loud. In central Ohio, if you want to be a nurse, you might face a bleak choice: If you don’t qualify for selective programs such as those at Ohio State University, Capital University or the Mount Carmel College of Nursing, and you aren’t in a position to wait years for spots in affordable programs such as Columbus State Community College’s, you’re left with private, for-profit nursing schools. The results at the for-profits are questionable.

In central Ohio, if you want to be a nurse, you might face a bleak choice: If you don’t qualify for selective programs such as those at Ohio State University, Capital University or the Mount Carmel College of Nursing, and you aren’t in a position to wait years for spots in affordable programs such as Columbus State Community College’s, you’re left with private, for-profit nursing schools.

For-profit schools generally are eager to take in new students, but the cost is high: Total tuition to obtain an associate degree in nursing ranges from $29,145 at Hondros College to $50,645 at Chamberlain College of Nursing, according to their websites. By comparison, tuition for that degree is less than $12,000 at Columbus State, but there can be a years-long wait to get in.

The results at the for-profits are questionable. All six for-profit registered-nurse programs in the Columbus area had fewer students pass the national nurse-licensure exam last year than the state Board of Nursing considers acceptable. Practical-nursing programs at the same schools have had similar results.

One, the American Institute of Alternative Medicine (AIAM), has had low passage rates on the test for more than four years in a row and thus has only provisional approval from the board to operate its registered-nurse and practical-nursing programs. The others could land in the same status with another year or two of poor passage rates. Provisional status doesn’t affect the schools’ standing with independent accrediting agencies, though, and schools can have low passage rates indefinitely without losing state-board approval.

The nursing board wants a school’s passage rate on the National Council Licensure Examination to be at least 95 percent of the national passage rate. For 2015, that 95 percent target for registered-nurse programs was 80.28 percent passing. At AIAM, just 26 percent of students passed the licensure exam for registered nurses. And no for-profit nursing college in the area did better than 75 percent.

The nursing schools at ITT Technical Institute, which closed nationwide in September after the U.S. Department of Education accused the company of deceiving prospective students, had a licensure-exam passage rate of 41 percent for its Ohio schools.

Despite its struggles with the exam, AIAM, on Columbus’ North Side, was the life raft of choice for a number of former ITT nursing students.

Karena Huston did her homework. As a student in the registered-nurse program at ITT in Hilliard, she started looking into other schools when she began hearing about ITT’s problems, months before the sudden closure. Although she had chosen ITT initially because it was only a few miles from her home, she looked at nursing programs as far as two hours away. After the letters came telling ITT students that their school was closing, she started a Facebook page for displaced students to share information on options.

She and close to 20 others chose AIAM mainly because it made the greatest effort to receive them. Most other schools wouldn’t allow the nursing-class credits they had earned at ITT to transfer, Huston said.

Chelsea Schulz of Dublin is raising three children, working at a restaurant and trying to get through nursing school as quickly as possible. It’s why she and Huston had enrolled at ITT in the first place.

“It’s set up for people with outside lives,” she said. At AIAM, “everything transferred — that’s the biggest reason we came here.”

Huston and Schulz were confident in both schools, despite the problems. At ITT, “Our teachers were amazing,” Huston said.

The nursing programs at ITT were operated by the Breckinridge School of Nursing, an outside company. Huston figures the wrongdoing alleged by the government was by ITT, not the nursing school. Nor does AIAM’s provisional approval make much difference to her.

“You look at ITT and they were fully approved, and now they’re closed,” she said.

AIAM’s success with ITT refugees wasn’t by accident, said school President Mark Sullivan. Most nursing schools, his included, don’t accept nursing credits from other schools “because if you’re going to be held responsible for their (licensure-exam) results, you want to be sure about what their training has been,” he said.

But AIAM made an exception for ITT students, working with the state nursing board to approve a specific policy for the situation. The school held two informational sessions for ITT students, explaining that it would use grades and previous entrance-test scores to determine who could transfer. It waived technology and equipment fees — “things we knew they’d already paid for” at ITT, Sullivan said.

He said AIAM is addressing its licensure-exam problem on several fronts. Since 2013, the school has replaced some instructors and winnowed its student body by raising the scores required on entrance exams and to pass courses. It also contracts with a test-prep company to get students primed to take the NCLEX. To encourage students to use the service, it promises to cover more than $400 worth of fees — for the test, for the state license and for the background check — if they do so.

In the past, Sullivan said, many students have failed the licensure exam because they waited too long to take it, out of procrastination, busyness or because they didn’t have the money for the fees.

Sullivan said he thinks AIAM’s passage rate for 2016 will be substantially higher than in 2015.

“We still have a way to go, but the improvement is significant.”

aims college of nursing

The Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) program provides students with the opportunity to learn skills to care for patients of all ages in a variety of healthcare settings.  In addition to learning technical skills used in providing care, major emphasis is placed on the development of the attributes of communication, critical thinking, and professionalism. This rigorous program offers theoretical and applied instruction in classrooms, simulated laboratories, and clinical settings.  The ability to synthesize information and then coherently and succinctly communicate the information in written assignments and apply critical thinking skills in the clinical setting is critical for program success.

After successfully completing all degree requirements, students will earn an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree with a Nursing major.  Graduates of the program are eligible to apply to take the National Council Licensing Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN).  Successful performance on the NCLEX-RN awards state licensure and qualifies graduates for the title of Registered Nurse (RN). Interested applicants for the program must complete the “Mandatory Online Orientation for Admission Consideration.” See the nursing website for information on the mandatory orientation at www.aims.edu/academics/health/nursing. The “Mandatory Online Orientation for Admission Consideration” may be accessed under the Prospective Students tab.

• Degree Requirements for: Associate Degree Nursing, A.A.S. (2 years)
• Student Learning Expectations: Nursing, A.A.S.

Certificate

• Practical Nurse Certificate (Exit Option)
• Note: The Practical Nurse Certificate is not accredited through ACEN