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2001 News and Alerts Due to the age of these news items, information (including links) may be outdated. Please use the search feature at the top of the page to find more current information on the subject or to find a current link. FEBRUARY 2, 2001 CGFNS announces changes in its fees beginning July 1, 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 $295 U.S. dollars (USD) 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 $250 USD 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 November 7, 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 validations of their initial and current registrations/licenses 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 $155 USD; the Healthcare Profession & Science Course-by-Course Report will raise to $225 USD; and the Full Education Course-by-Course Report will become $265 USD. As with the Certification Program, one of the reasons for the CES price hikes, in addition to the rising operating costs, is that effective January 1, 2001, CGFNS now requires all applicants to provide official validations of their initial and current registrations/licenses 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 $125 USD to $50 USD effective November 1, 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 shange, address change, exam date / location change. All of these fee changes will take effect beginning July 1, 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. CGFNS is an immigration-neutral, nonprofit organization based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, and is an internationally recognized authority on the education, registration and licensure of nurses worldwide. CGFNS’s mission is to provide responsible leadership in the delivery of relevant services to the global nursing and health care community. The organization was founded in 1977 through a collaborative effort by representatives from the U.S. Department of Labor; Department of Health, Education and Welfare (now the Department of Health and Human Services); the Immigration and Naturalization Service; and representatives from nursing organizations, including the American Nurses Association and the National League for Nursing. For additional information about CGFNS and its services, contact: CGFNS International, 3600 Market Street, Suite 400, Philadelphia, PA 19104-2651 USA; telephone: +1 (215) 349 8767; fax: +1 (215) 349 0026. |
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