Milwaukee could see the for-profit Arizona College of Nursing open its doors on the west side of the city, adding competition to the area’s existing options.
Another nursing school could help address the state’s shortage of nurses. But the school’s for-profit status also raises concerns about educational quality.
The Arizona College of Nursing filed building permits last week with the city of Milwaukee for a 22,080-square-foot space at 9000 W. Chester St., Milwaukee. The college’s other U.S. locations offer a three-year bachelor’s degree program in nursing, an undergraduate degree commonly held by registered nurses.
Arizona College spokesperson Melany Stroupe confirmed early planning is underway for a Milwaukee location, but did not provide further details, such as an expected timeline to open and anticipated enrollment.
The new location would make Arizona College of nursing Milwaukee’s only for-profit college, a type of institution that often receives scrutiny for their poor track records. Bryan & Stratton formerly operated as a for-profit in the city, but has since converted to a nonprofit, according to the college. Everest College, Stanford Brown College and ITT Tech, other for-profits, have since close to their doors.
Wisconsin is home to 43 nursing programs, said Linda Young, chair of the Wisconsin Center for Nursing’s Nursing Programs and Nurse Faculty Survey. Still, those options are not enough to meet the demand for prospective nurses. About 1,000 qualified students are denied admission annually, she said, in part because of the state’s shortage of nurse educators.
Young is a site visitor for the Commission for Collegiate Nursing Education, the same accrediting body that approved the Arizona College of Nursing in other states. The college will need further approval at the state and national levels to open a location in Wisconsin, she said.
Young’s hope is that new nursing programs offer a quality education, especially because of increasing constraints on the workforce in Wisconsin. By 2040, more than 1 in 4 registered nurse positions in Wisconsin could go unfilled according to a 2022 projection report.
“Having a new (nursing program) come on board, that is great, as long as it meets the standards and that they play nicely in the sandbox with nursing education in Wisconsin,” Young said.
Arizona College of Nursing would compete for nursing students in Milwaukee area
The proposed Milwaukee location for the Arizona College of Nursing is about two miles from Milwaukee Area Technical College’s West Allis Campus and Bryant & Stratton College in Wauwatosa, both of which offer nursing programs.
Clinical sites are critical for any nursing program because they give students time to practice working directly with patients in real health care settings. Finding clinical sites is competitive in Wisconsin — and in Milwaukee, in particular, said Young, who also holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from the UW-Madison School of Nursing.
“With short staffing, health care organizations are very vigilant about not overtaxing their staff with more students because burnout is a big issue, and the faculty shortage is a big issue. So this is the situation (Arizona College is) coming into,” she said.
Former Milwaukee for-profits closed, criticized for financial impact on students
For-profit institutions put students at a “greater financial risk” than their public counterparts, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, for several reasons: Students take out more in loans, are more likely to default on those loans and struggle to find employment with their degrees.
More:For-profit Everest College closed in 2013, but its Milwaukee students still struggle to complete their education and find a job
For-profits are also more likely to target Black and Latino students and veterans with little experience in higher education, according to a 2020 report from the Wisconsin Governor’s Task Force on Student Debt.
Michael Rosen, a retired professor of economics at Milwaukee Area Technical College, served on the task force. He worked with many students who previously attended now-defunct for-profits operating in Milwaukee.
Rosen saw a trend among those students: They struggled both to find employers who valued their degrees and to pay off debt. They had been sucked into a “predatory” system, he said, that operates as a business first, and an educational institution second.
“I think that anybody thinking about attending such a school should give it serious thought, because there is a wealth of information about the problems associated with for-profit schools,” Rosen said.
The Arizona College of Nursing did not respond to request for comment regarding criticisms of for-profit colleges.
About 1 in 5 Arizona College of Nursing students defaulted on student loans after three years
The estimated cost of tuition and fees for one year at the Arizona College of Nursing is $20,622, not including the cost of living or books and supplies. According to 2019 federal student loan data, 21% of students at the college’s Tempe, Arizona, location defaulted on their student loans after three years.
That’s higher than loan default rates for most other Milwaukee nursing programs in the same year:
- Milwaukee Area Technical College: 19.4%
- UW-Milwaukee: 8.1%
- Mount Mary University: 7.7%
- Alverno College: 6%
- Carroll University: 3.2
- Milwaukee School of Engineering: 1.8%
- Marquette University: 1.5%
Prospective nursing students should consider NCLEX exam pass rates, clinical hours
Most Milwaukee institutions with nursing programs did not respond to a reporter’s request for comment on how Arizona College of Nursing’s plans might affect their own, given how early in the planning process the school is. But they emphasized the importance of prospective students doing their research.
Carol Sabel, chair of MSOE’s School of Nursing, suggested looking at schools’ “National Council Licensure Examination” or NCLEX pass rate. The exam is used for entrance into licensure as a registered nurse.
About 85% of Arizona College of Nursing students passed the NCLEX in the 2022 school year, according to the college’s website. That’s about on par with other Milwaukee programs’ NCLEX-RN pass rates:
- Milwaukee Area Technical College: 97%
- Marquette University: 95%
- Carroll University: 95%
- Milwaukee School of Engineering: 92%
- Alverno College: 87%
- UW-Milwaukee: 86%
- Bryant & Stratton College: 80%
In addition to the NCLEX, prospective students should consider the types of clinical experiences students receive and the partnerships each institution has with local health care providers, Sabel suggested.
“We are fortunate in Milwaukee and southeastern Wisconsin to have several outstanding schools of nursing. Each of us takes a slightly different approach to educating students, so it is important for those who are choosing a nursing school to visit each campus, get a feel for the environment, meet the faculty, tour the simulation labs and understand the academic support system,” she said.
Cleo Krejci covers higher education, vocational training and retraining as a Report For America corps member based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at CKrejci@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @_CleoKrejci. Support her work with a tax-deductible donation atbit.ly/RFADonation.
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