Pensacola Christian College

My years at Pensacola Christian College are four years of my life that I can never get back. My senior year of high school I was suckered into the college with the pretty full color catalogs and promise of a scholarship. I began my journey into the world of nursing at PCC. After two years at PCC, I wanted to leave. When I tried to apply into two other colleges to continue my nursing career elsewhere, I was told that because my two years of college credits came from an unaccredited college that I would basically have to start over with only a few of my hard earned credits counting as "electives." At that point I had to make a tough decision. I had to choose to add 2 more years to my college career or just stick it out and finish in the original four year plan. I then chose to go ahead and finish at PCC. The program went downhill from there. I began my junior year. In one of my junior level classes, the entire class was told at the beginning of the semester that "in order to make an 'A' on the final exam at the end of the semester, you would have to have one year's experience as a registered nurse." Correct me if I am wrong, but that basically was saying that nobody had a chance of getting an "A!" This same teacher told me that I should consider another career. However, what I would like for her to know now is that I am doing quite fine in the world of nursing. I love my career and have done well in my field--no thanks to her. In that same class, every year nearly 50% of the students failed it and had to repeat it either over Christmas break or sit out an entire year because the class was only offered once a year. Because this happened every year, wouldn't you think that there is a problem with the teaching? My senior year I had a teacher that had just graduated the year before and her only nursing experience was a summer in Africa. My point is that the teaching quality was extremely poor. I have been a nurse for 13 years now, and when I see and hear about what other people were able to learn and do in college, I feel like I was ripped off. Now let me be clear, not every teacher was that way. I had a few that had advanced degrees and that were extremely caring. However, that was rare. Fortunately for me, where my degree is from does not matter. The fact that I passed the state board exam for nursing is my ticket to a career. Because I have to have a nursing license, I have never had to deal with the fact that PCC is unaccredited in order to obtain a job. However, for my husband that has been another story. When people ask me where I graduated from, I almost feel ashamed. I have friends that look over their college days very fondly and are proud to tell others where they graduated from. I usually just tell people that I went to school in Florida, and then I just pray that they don't question me further. If I had it to do all over again, I would not waste my time or money at PCC. And speaking of money...yes, the cost is inexpensive compared to other colleges. However, a lesson that I have learned in life is that you truly do get what you pay for! In the same manner that I would not return to PCC, my husband and I have said that we will also not allow any of our children to go there. We would like for them to go somewhere we know that they will be happy as well as receive a quality education. Oh, and FYI, the PCC deception begins with the full color catalogs when they try to make you believe that the beach is pretty much right outside your dorm room. It's not. You have to drive about 45 minutes away to get to the nearest segregated (boys/girls) beach.

Alumnus Male -- Class 2000