Associate in Nursing Degree Program Outcomes

END OF PROGRAM STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Use a caring holistic approach to provide and advocate for safe quality care for patients and families in an environment that values the uniqueness, dignity, and diversity of patients.
2. Apply the nursing process to make nursing judgments, substantiated with evidence to provide safe, quality patient care across the lifespan.
3. Use principles of management and delegation to implement plans of care with members of the interprofessional team to achieve safe, quality patient outcomes.
4. Demonstrate the standards of professional nursing practice and core values within an ethical and legal framework.
5. Apply principles of leadership and interprofessional collaboration to improve patient outcomes.
6. Use evidence-based findings and information technology to improve the quality of care for patients.
7. Apply effective written communication methods applicable to the nursing profession.

DIRECT METHODS

The table below provides a brief overview of the measures selected to assess end of program student learning outcomes (EPSLOs) for the Associate Degree in Nursing program. Measures were selected from the three final courses in the program. Benchmarks have been established to differentiate between three levels of EPSLO achievement (highly achieved, meets standard, and needs improvement). These three levels of achievement are color coded and used in the section below to indicate the level of achievement for each measure, for each learning outcome.

INDIRECT METHODS

Alumni surveys are administered upon graduation and one-year post-graduation. Graduates are asked about their perception of achievement of end of program student learning outcomes (EPSLOs).

Goal: The expected level of achievement for the exit is an average of 4.5 on a 7.0 scale (1=Not at all achieved; 7= Completely achieved and one-year alumni survey is an average of 4.5 or higher on a 6.0 scale (1=Not at all achieved; 6=Completely achieved).

*EPSLO7 will be included for the FY26 One-Year Alumni Survey

ASSESSMENT OF PROGRAM OUTCOMES

PROGRAM COMPLETION OF THE AAS OR AS NURSING PROGRAM

The Excelsior associate in nursing degrees are designed to be completed at the student’s pace. The program length for part-time students is 12 trimesters (4 years) and 6 trimesters (2 years) for full-time students. Students in either the AS or AAS program are required to complete all degree requirements within 4.5 years of enrollment.

ACEN defines program completion as the percentage of students who graduate/complete in no more than 100% of the stated nursing program length, beginning with enrollment on the first day of the first nursing course. Based on this definition, approximately 73% of first-time Excelsior University students who enrolled in their first nursing requirement in 2021 completed the associate degree program within 12 trimesters/4 years (i.e., 100% of the average part-time program length of 12 trimesters). Currently there is no full-time data to report.

NCLEX-RN^® LICENSURE EXAM

Excelsior University tracks student performance on the National Council of State Boards of Nursing NCLEX-RN®, which is the examination used in licensing Registered Nurses.

Results of associate degree in nursing first-time pass rates for Excelsior University, the Nation, and New York State include the following:

*Excelsior students pass rates from the state of Tennessee (TN) are reported only to the TN Board of Nursing. All other Excelsior students pass rates are reported to the New York (NY) State Board of Nursing. The First-Time Pass Rates posted on this page are an aggregate of all Excelsior students first-time pass rates from both the TN and NY State Boards of Nursing.

JOB PLACEMENT RATES

Based on responses to the one-year alumni survey from graduates who completed the program between July 2023 through June 2024 (n=707, response rate=8.8%), 88.3% of graduate respondents are employed in a position that requires an RN license.