ITT Technical Institutes all over the country are developing and establishing associate’s degrees in nursing. This offers a new avenue for students stuck on long waiting lists at public colleges and universities, but is a nursing degree from ITT Tech worth the time and money?
ITT Tech is not well-reputed as a school in general. In 2004, federal agents raided the headquarters and ten branch offices of ITT Technical Institute, seeking information on enrollment data and finances. This was followed by a lawsuit in California in 2005 where ITT Tech was found to have lied about student finances in order to qualify the students for more financial aid. For-profit technical schools are rarely highly regarded by the public, but through these lawsuits ITT Tech has become one of the most infamous. In another career and field of study, this might not matter. When it comes to a nursing a nursing degree, your skills and abilities can make or break a life, and employers are warier of where you obtained your degree and how well-educated you are. Before you pursue a nursing degree at this school, you should contact a variety of potential employers in your home region and confirm whether the ITT Tech degree makes you competitive or if it puts you at a disadvantage.
The second negative to a degree at this school is the high cost. The program runs around $450 per credit, and those credits are unlikely to transfer to another school if you are unsatisfied with the program or have to drop out for personal reasons. ITT Tech associate degrees in nursing are not accredited by the major national nursing accrediting body NLNAC (the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission.) Schools that do not carry NLNAC accreditation rarely see their credits transfer to any other institute of higher education. That means once you’re in an ITT Tech nursing program, you have to stick it out no matter what or your credits will be wasted; no other college would take them. Even if you never plan on transferring, graduating from an unaccredited nursing program presents a huge obstacle against further education. Most bachelor’s in nursing programs require an accredited associate’s degree and would not accept an unaccredited ITT Tech nursing degree.
After all those negatives, there is a single shining positive that could encourage one to pursue a degree at ITT Tech – the complete lack of waitlist. Nursing admissions to public colleges are grueling and waiting lists are years long in some areas. The California State University system is not even accepting new nursing applications for the Spring 2010 semester. Living in a region with backlogged schools can see you waste almost half a decade on waiting to become a nurse. At ITT Tech, admissions are decided based on test scores, with the highest scores gaining admission to the program, bypassing the need for a waiting list.
If you have no other options in your area besides an ITT Tech program and are passionate about becoming a health care professional as soon as possible, this associate’s degree is one you should consider. Otherwise, too many questions remain about the validity and viability of this school to justify the high cost and the lack of accredition. Do your homework. Email and call everywhere to make sure your degree will be accepted. You will save yourself a lot of grief and guesswork for the future.
Sources
http://certcities.com/editorial/News/story.asp?EditorialsID=571
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2005/10/18/itt
http://www.csulb.edu/colleges/chhs/departments/nursing/
