CSU, Chico Nursing Graduates Get National Top Ranking
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 23, 1998
Joe Wills
530-898-4143
CSU, Chico Nursing Graduates Get National Top Ranking
California State University, Chico School of Nursing had a top ranking among nursing schools in the United States this year for the rate its graduates passed the national licensing exam to become registered nurses.
In results released this month, the Educational Testing Service reported that CSU, Chico had a number-one ranking for U.S. nursing programs this year because its graduates had a 100-percent passage rate for the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX).
Of the 217 schools in the country that offer a baccalaureate in nursing, CSU, Chico was one of only 15 to attain the number-one ranking due to a perfect passage rate.
Since the licensing exam can be taken throughout the year, the Educational Testing Service surveyed test-takers between October 1997 and March 1998. During that period, 24 CSU, Chico nursing program graduates took and passed the exam to becomes RNs.
Sherry Fox, director of the school of nursing, said the school’s graduating classes typically have a NCLEX passage rate of over 85 percent, and have had 100-percent passage rates in the past.
She attributed the number-one ranking to an exceptional group of students and the nature of the CSU, Chico program. “Our students work hard and develop close relationships with their professors faculty mentoring is better at Chico than many other schools,” Fox said. “Students also get exceptional clinical experience here.”
Nursing is an impacted program at CSU, Chico, which means there is high student demand for admission. The baccalaureate program accepts 30 students each semester out of an applicant pool of approximately 100, Fox said. The school also offers a master’s degree program in nursing.
The NCLEX is taken using a computer, instead of using the traditional paper and pencil. The Educational Testing Service calls the method of administering the exam Computer Adaptive Testing. Students who correctly answer difficult questions early in the exam will require fewer questions to pass. Test-takers who answer those questions incorrectly receive easier questions that lengthen the exam and may yet allow them to pass. The average time to complete the exam is five hours.
The Educational Testing Service does not report students’ NCLEX scores, but does report what percentage of students needed the minimum number of test questions to pass. For CSU, Chico nursing graduates, 77 percent needed only the minimum number of test questions to pass. At other nursing schools in CSU, Chico’s region, 61 percent of students passed with a minimum number of questions. Other nursing schools in the region include CSU, Sacramento, University of San Francisco, San Francisco State, Long Beach State, San Diego State, and University of San Diego.
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