CHED urged to act on nursing school scam

COSTA MESA, California – A former student of a bogus nursing school ordered closed by the California Attorney’s General Office is planning to file a complaint with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) in the Philippines.

Former RN Learning Center student Leticia Nicasio is worried that other schools, knowingly or unknowingly, may be involved with the center’s alleged scam.

“I just want them to be aware of Mr. Jun Enterina transacting business to schools over there. Schools in Manila, schools in the Philippines, I’m not mentioning any schools, but I hope the CHED will issue a circular being explicit about the distance learning especially about nursing,” said Nicasio.

Nicasio sent complaints to the Attorney General’s office and the Board of Registered Nursing since last year, angry about the RN Learning Center.

Last winter, Luisa Najera spent $20,000 and joined a group of students along with the school’s founder Junlou Enterina for a month long trip to the Philippines.

She was expecting hands on clinical training, but instead, she found herself in the classroom.

“When we got there, they told us they’re not going to give us clinical. They give us algebra, they give us chemistry, both those classes, and they didn’t give us clinical,” said Najera.

When Najera returned to California, she said the school recommended she needed to take more classes to get her RN license. She quit the school instead.

Though one flier says the school is not accredited, former students claimed that school officials verbally promised them chances to take the NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination) test and get their RN (registered nurse) licenses.

Chau Nguyen said he was already skeptical about the school when they offered him a chance to go to the Philippines.

“They promised me after I finish over here; you can do the NCLEX, go to the Philippines, come back, and then take the NCLEX over here. But I don’t want to take too much risk because they told me you had to pay $20, 000,” Nguyen said.

Enterina denied any wrong doing, but has agreed to pay back $500,000 dollars to students. That penalty may increase as the attorney general continues to investigate the case. However, the attorney general’s office says Philippine schools are out of their jurisdiction and will not investigate the relationship that Philippine schools had with Enterina.