MSC Southeast to suspend registered nursing program

Rochester Post Bulletin, November 30, 2017
by Taylor Nachtigal, [email protected]  

Minnesota State College Southeast will suspend its two-year registered nursing program after 2019 for an "indefinite" period of time, the college announced Wednesday.

The program's 100 current students -- spread across MSC Southeast's two campuses in Red Wing and Winona -- will be able complete their degrees, but no new students will be admitted.

That's because for the last two years, the college's pass rate on the NCLEX-RN licensing exam dropped below the minimum acceptable -- 75 percent of students must pass on their first attempt -- for schools that offer registered nursing programs.

That's something college leaders "suspect" will happen again with this year's pass rate, which currently sits at 68 percent, said Jennifer Eccles, MSC Southeast dean of health. So the college made what Eccles called the "right" decision, and an "ethical" one.

"We want to see how we do over the next couple of semesters and then re-address it moving forward," she said.

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