Press Releases
02/14/2023
Office of Higher Education offers Stone Academy students help after learning that school will close
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Noele Kidney
Tuesday February 14, 2023 860-305-7927
Noele.kidney@ct.gov
HARTFORD – In response to notice by Stone Academy that it plans to close its three campuses in East Hartford, Waterbury and West Haven, the Connecticut Office of Higher Education is offering students assistance that includes guidance on accessing transcripts, tuition refunds, loan discharges and adjustments to veteran’s benefits, and providing support for those students who intend to continue their course of study at another school. OHE is also urging students to complete a student information survey so that the agency can better keep track of how many students are impacted. OHE letter to students is attached.
“The Office of Higher Education has been notified by Stone Academy that it intends to close,” stated Timothy D. Larson, Executive Director of the Office of Higher Education, which has regulatory oversight over the state’s private career schools. “For many months, our office has been working with the school to address a number of serious compliance issues that included unqualified faculty, invalid student clinical experiences and recording attendance.”
When OHE identified eight compliance violations and scheduled a compliance conference, it noticed the Board of Examiners for Nursing, the US Department of Education, and the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES) of these violations. Stone Academy initially agreed to an independent audit of their student and faculty records to determine the scope of the problem but after the United States Department of Education put Stone Academy on Heightened Cash Monitoring 2 (HCM2) status, the institution informed OHE that it would no longer be doing the audit and would instead shut down operations. In addition, the school’s accreditor ABHES issued a show cause letter to the school outlining twelve significant compliance issues.
The Office of Higher Education will seek to work with an independent auditor to evaluate each student’s academic record so that the staff can provide guidance on academic status, refunds and/or transfers to another institution. “The Office of Higher education will hold information sessions to best assist each student with their individual plans of action,” said Larson. “I urge students to watch for communications from the Office of Higher Education for the date, time, and locations of these sessions.”
Connecticut Department of Public Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani, MD, said that Stone Academy appears to have done a poor job of educating its practical nursing students and noted that the highest pass rate for the day and evening programs at all three Stone Academy locations was an unacceptable 70%.
“The news that Stone Academy is closing its three campuses is extremely disappointing especially given the need of health care professionals in the workforce today,” said Commissioner Juthani. “But their 2022 pass rates for the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) were far below the required 80% pass rate. A career that involves caring for others is a true calling, and this news cannot deter the goals these students have set for themselves. We are confident that the Office of Higher Education will help guide them toward a path of success that includes instruction from experienced and highly qualified mentors.”
Stone Academy
NCLEX Pass Rates for 2022
|
East Hartford (Day) |
67% |
|
East Hartford (Evening) |
43% |
|
Waterbury (Day) |
58% |
|
Waterbury (Evening) |
70% |
|
West Haven (Day) |
47% |
|
West Haven (Evening) |
43% |
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