2001 News
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2 FEBRUARY 2001
CGFNS announces changes in its fees beginning 1 July 2001
The Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) is announcing fee changes for its Certification Program and Credentials Evaluation Service (CES), the cancellation of its discount for the VisaScreen®: Visa Credentials Assessment, as well as the elimination of some of its fees for services such as verification of certificate status and name/address change.
CGFNS has been able to prevent raising any fees for its three services for the past four years, even though operating costs for all three services continued to escalate each year. However, due to a cumulative 58% increase in operating costs since 1997, CGFNS is now forced to raise its current fees in order to continue providing the same high standard in its screening, evaluating and testing services that foreign-educated nurses worldwide have come to expect and depend upon.
The application fee for CGFNS’s Certification Program will become US$295 beginning with applicants applying for the November 2001 Qualifying Exam. However this price change also includes the cost of the highly popular Official Study Guide for the CGFNS Qualifying Exam, Fourth Edition (a current value of $45 USD). Upon receipt of their initial application, applicants will automatically be sent the study guide, which will allow them greater preparation time for the CGFNS Qualifying Exam. Also, the reapplication fee for the Certification Program will raise to US$250 beginning with the November exam. However, applicants who took their initial exam in March or July 2001 will receive a voucher towards either the study guide or other CGFNS study materials. This offer applies to re-applicants applying for the 7 November 2001, CGFNS Qualifying ExamSM and for a limited time thereafter. One of several reasons these Certification Program fees are rising is that CGFNS instituted a change in its evaluation of foreign-educated nurses. Effective with the March 2001 Qualifying Exam, all applicants must have official validation of their initial and current license/registration/diploma sent directly to CGFNS from the issuing authorities. This change will enable CGFNS to more effectively, accurately and reliably analyze the credentials of applicants.
The Credentials Evaluation Service, which has three levels of reports, is instituting the following fee changes: the General Report will become US$155; the Healthcare Profession & Science Course-by-Course Report will raise to US$225; and the Full Education Course-by-Course Report will become US$265. As with the Certification Program, one of the reasons for the CES price hikes, in addition to the rising operating costs, is that effective 1 January 2001, CGFNS now requires all applicants to provide official validation of their initial and current license/registration/diploma sent directly to CGFNS from the issuing authorities.
Through its division the International Commission on Healthcare Professions (ICHP), CGFNS will no longer be able to offer the discount currently given to certain eligible nurses who are applying for VisaScreen; however, the fee for the VisaScreen®: Visa Credentials Assessment will remain the same. The discount, which had formerly been lowered from US$125 to US$50 effective 1 November 2001, will be eliminated altogether due to rising operating costs of the VisaScreen®: Visa Credentials Assessment.
CGFNS is also eliminating some of its fees for certain services in response to applicant feedback. The service fees that are being eliminated are: verification of certificate status, name change, address change, exam date/location change.
All of these fee changes will take effect beginning 1 July 2001, (except the Certification Program fees which begin effective for anyone applying for the November 2001 CGFNS Qualifying ExamSM). As ever, CGFNS remains committed to providing the lowest cost possible to foreign-educated nurses for its services and products.
