Editing Herzing Issues: Faculty Instruction and Curriculum Design (section)

=== HU-077: Faculty explicitly told students program is '80-20' (80% self-taught) and would not lecture; documented across multiple cohorts including mental health professor stating 'this was a self taught program' ===
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%"
! style="width:14em" | Severity
| Medium
! Status
| CONFIRMED
|-
! Issue type
| Self-Teaching Expectation Contradicting Marketed Program Structure
! Date added
| 2026-05-05
|-
! Owner
| colspan="3" | Program Chair / Dean of Nursing / Academic Affairs
|}
'''Finding.''' Per the tracker's evidence, multiple students documented that Herzing faculty explicitly told them the program is 80 percent self taught and 20 percent taught, or refused to lecture entirely, characterizing the program as self taught, which contradicts the institutional marketing of the program as a structured graduate education with faculty instruction. One mental health professor reportedly stated from day one that she would never lecture and that this was a self taught program, and Student BA cited the 80-20 comment as a direct cause of her withdrawal.

'''Evidence.''' Facebook comment by Student BA (Sep 27, 2024) and Student F (Dec 30, 2023), with corroborating comments from Student D (Apr 26, 2025), Student CB (Oct 20, 2024), and Student M (Sep 26, 2024). Source Group: Herzing Direct Entry MSN Facebook Group Export (Dec 2022 to May 2026), Topical/Keyword Review (Volume 6).

'''Reported statement.''' According to the tracker, Student BA said she withdrew from the program partly because of what she called the 80-20 comment, and stated that she was paying to be taught rather than to find 80 percent of the material independently or reread directions she did not understand. Student F separately described a mental health professor who told the cohort from day one that she would never lecture and that the program was self taught, and said the first cohort acted as guinea pigs sharing information with classmates about their clinical experiences. Other students corroborated the pattern, describing instructors who gave brief lectures and left students to figure out the material on their own, and describing having taught themselves nearly everything.

'''Standards.''' 34 CFR §668.71-75 (Misrepresentation): institutions may not make substantial misrepresentations about the nature of their educational programs. Marketing a program as a structured graduate degree while explicitly directing faculty to require 80 percent self teaching constitutes a potential misrepresentation of program structure. ACEN Standard 5: faculty must provide adequate instruction to support student learning outcomes. Herzing Mission: educate, support, and empower all students for success. If faculty are instructing students that the program is fundamentally self directed, this contradicts the educational duty implied by educate. 34 CFR §600.2 (credit hour definition): credit hours assume a balance of direct faculty instruction and student work; a program that is 80 percent self taught may not meet the credit hour standard.

'''Impact.''' Students who enrolled with the expectation of structured graduate education face a fundamentally different educational experience than represented. Student BA's withdrawal cited the 80-20 comment specifically as her reason, indicating this expectation gap drives attrition. Students who succeed do so through self teaching and outside resources ({{HU|HU-081}} documents Bootcamp, Mark Klimek, YourBestGrade, Quizlet, and Studocu use as a documented norm), reducing the institutional value add for the substantial tuition. Cumulative tuition cost (approximately $12,465 per term) for a substantially self taught program raises consumer protection concerns.

'''Notes.''' This issue compounds {{HU|HU-014}} (student documenting systemic inability to succeed), {{HU|HU-045}} (faculty non-responsiveness), {{HU|HU-073}} (high GPA withdrawals). The 80-20 phrasing appears to be a specific institutional formulation referenced in faculty communications. Verification recommended: faculty training materials, course syllabi expectations of student versus faculty time, and documented faculty office hour engagement should be reviewed. Cross-reference: {{HU|HU-081}} (additional faculty instruction failure involving care plans and preceptor communication).

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