From its modest headquarters nestled in an Albany business park, Excelsior College has become the largest nursing school in the nation.
The school has 16,000 nursing students and, each year, graduates more than 2,000 nurses at the associate, bachelor’s and master’s level, with the majority earning associate degrees.
You won’t see thousands of cars coming and going from its campus on Washington Avenue Extension because Excelsior students take their courses online.
Ninety percent of the students live outside New York state.
While the school is accredited and has received numerous honors, Excelsior has come under fire in many states because its students do not get supervised clinical training — the hallmark of traditional nursing education.
California and Maryland will not license Excelsior’s nursing graduates, and nursing boards in 13 other states have restrictions or additional training requirements for Excelsior graduates.