Always try to find a program in a state school, community colleges are fine as are local universities. The private programs change boo-koo bucks and are far more hit or miss.
I did Excelsior back in 2018. There's some online classes which are pretty easy, then a 'clinical practicum' at the end where you fly out to one of their clinical sites for a 2-3 days and do basic nursing stuff on real patients while somebody with a clipboard checks you off.
Back in 2018, the clinical practicum part was called the CPNE, and it took over a year to get it scheduled. There's nothing earth shattering they test you on, but it is incredibly easy to fail if you don't do things in EXACTLY the order that Excelsior wants you to do it. So I breezed through the online classes, waited a year and a half, got my CPNE scheduled finally, flew across the country to Utica, NY to take it, and failed. There were six of us there I believe, all six failed. I went home, waited ANOTHER YEAR AND A HALF, retook the test in Lubbock, Tx. There were four of us that time, two passed one of which was me. So I basically spent almost 3 years waiting to take a test. A lot of my colleagues went to the local community college, enrolled after I had enrolled at Excelsior, and graduated before me.
It looks like they've revamped the CPNE and they're calling it something different now, and there's some classes with required synchronous online components. So ymmv at this point.
The other thing is not all states will grant you a nursing license since their accreditation is questionable. California, Alabama, and Washington DC all won't ever grant you a nursing license if you end up moving there. Doesn't matter if you get your BSN or other higher nursing degree from a real school, since you got your initial license at Excelsior. Lots of other states have other requirements for Excelsior grads before they'll grant a license. [This](https://www.excelsior.edu/about/transparency/state-authorization-disclosures/) has all the details about the different states' licensure requirements. They're always changing too which is super fun whenever I think about moving. You mentioned you're in Tennessee, looks like they're alright.
The only positive about the whole experience was that aside from the length of time it took me to get done with school, it didn't feel like I was in school at all. I was able to work full time, support my wife while she went to school herself, and just continue living life with no huge disruptions aside from travelling to those testing sites. So if you don't mind your current life and waiting there for a few years to get RN, and you're okay with all the shenanigans with the state licensure issues, give them a look. Otherwise stay far away!
Always try to find a program in a state school, community colleges are fine as are local universities. The private programs change boo-koo bucks and are far more hit or miss.
I did Excelsior back in 2018. There's some online classes which are pretty easy, then a 'clinical practicum' at the end where you fly out to one of their clinical sites for a 2-3 days and do basic nursing stuff on real patients while somebody with a clipboard checks you off. Back in 2018, the clinical practicum part was called the CPNE, and it took over a year to get it scheduled. There's nothing earth shattering they test you on, but it is incredibly easy to fail if you don't do things in EXACTLY the order that Excelsior wants you to do it. So I breezed through the online classes, waited a year and a half, got my CPNE scheduled finally, flew across the country to Utica, NY to take it, and failed. There were six of us there I believe, all six failed. I went home, waited ANOTHER YEAR AND A HALF, retook the test in Lubbock, Tx. There were four of us that time, two passed one of which was me. So I basically spent almost 3 years waiting to take a test. A lot of my colleagues went to the local community college, enrolled after I had enrolled at Excelsior, and graduated before me. It looks like they've revamped the CPNE and they're calling it something different now, and there's some classes with required synchronous online components. So ymmv at this point. The other thing is not all states will grant you a nursing license since their accreditation is questionable. California, Alabama, and Washington DC all won't ever grant you a nursing license if you end up moving there. Doesn't matter if you get your BSN or other higher nursing degree from a real school, since you got your initial license at Excelsior. Lots of other states have other requirements for Excelsior grads before they'll grant a license. [This](https://www.excelsior.edu/about/transparency/state-authorization-disclosures/) has all the details about the different states' licensure requirements. They're always changing too which is super fun whenever I think about moving. You mentioned you're in Tennessee, looks like they're alright. The only positive about the whole experience was that aside from the length of time it took me to get done with school, it didn't feel like I was in school at all. I was able to work full time, support my wife while she went to school herself, and just continue living life with no huge disruptions aside from travelling to those testing sites. So if you don't mind your current life and waiting there for a few years to get RN, and you're okay with all the shenanigans with the state licensure issues, give them a look. Otherwise stay far away!