Students say Tampa nursing school took their money but blocked them from the licensing exam

TAMPA, Fla. — Both current and former students at Tampa Medical College say they passed their classes but were not allowed to take the national test required to get a nursing license — prompting new complaints filed with the state against a nursing school we first investigated in 2021. Tampa Medical College is a small, private nursing school located in the Tampa NetPark complex, but most students attend online classes. WFTS It is owned and operated by Fadziso Jena, a former certified nursing assistant whose license expired in 2010. Florida Department of Health The college's website says, "Begin your journey with us and go anywhere you want," but students tell us that after they invested time and money, their nursing careers went nowhere. A $30,000 program with no path to the exam Kevin Bryant enrolled at Tampa Medical College to become a registered nurse, spent almost $30,000 for the program, and completed his regular coursework. But he says the college would not clear him to take the NCLEX, the national exam required to become a licensed nurse, because he could not get through its exit-testing process. WFTS "When you get to the end of the program, you say, 'Oh, here's an 80-question test.' But when you go take the test, it's a 400-question exam that's verbal," Bryant said. "One question might be 10 parts, and they'll tell you you've got to get nine out of 10 to be right," Bryant said. What we found inside an exit exam We obtained one test from another student. While it is numbered 1-12, it actually has more than 300 questions. The directions repeatedly say students must pass four out of five questions. But if you look closer, the questions each have multiple parts. One "question" on fluids and electrolytes alone contains dozens of prompts, requiring students to explain everything from body fluid compartments to hormones, labs, treatments, and patient education. We also found two completely different sections both labeled "Question Three." WFTS Later, two different sections are labeled "Question Five." In another section, the same question about pallor appears twice. Those issues don't tell us whether a student should pass. But they provide context for repeated student complaints to the state licensing board about the length, content, and grading of the school's exit tests. "Jena is the one that is grading certain parts of it when Jena is not a nurse at all. She's not even a CNA anymore," Bryant said. 15 complaints to state regulators Kevin filed a 168-page complaint with the Commission on Independent Education, the board that regulates nursing schools in Florida. He complained of "exit exam abuse." The I-Team obtained 15 complaints against Tampa Medical College through an open records request. A 2022 complaint says, "When it's time for our finals or any tests, the information does not match. They are making it impossible for you to pass." A 2023 complaint says, "We have as a class been making complaint after complaint about incorrect tests with wrong answers, incomplete questions… and information on tests not covered in class or books." Florida Department of Education And a 2024 complaint said, "These tests are subjective at most and should not be allowed to keep a student from passing," adding, "The test had multiple errors and duplicate questions." Current students raise the same concerns Two current students told us they faced similar problems. "Question one might have maybe 6 other questions in there. Question 2 might have 7. It all depends on how she feels," one student said. We are concealing their identities because they are still in the process of trying to graduate. Both question her credentials as a former nurse's aide to administer the extensive exit exam. "How is she able to grade and test someone on clinical knowledge when she has no clinical background and decide, yes you can, no you can't?" one current student said. "She don't want you to go until you pass this verbal slash written, whatever it is with her that she came up with," another current student said. The numbers behind the complaints And that raises a question we can measure: How many students actually reach the NCLEX? The 2026 Florida Board of Nursing's "State of Nursing Education in Florida" report shows only five Tampa Medical College took the registered nursing NCLEX, and, of those, just three passed — a 60 percent pass rate, compared to an 86.7% national average pass rate for first-time test-takers. Florida Board of Nursing The report shows only one TMC student took the NCLEX practical nursing exam and failed, making Tampa Medical College among the lowest-ranked colleges in Florida in that category. Those outcomes came up at a recent meeting of the Commission on Independent Education, which licenses and regulates Florida nursing schools. At that meeting, a CIE board member asked: "Your graduation rate is really low. Can you explain that?" "That's what we discovered. What was happening was students were doing very well online, and then when it's time to take their exit, which they have to do on campus, they don't do very well," Fadziso Jena said. Florida Department of Education The board member followed up: "So these students made it all the way through the program and didn't graduate?" "Yes. Because, well, they didn't… No, it's not that they didn't graduate. A lot of them would end up… we had a lot of students graduate now, like in December, but we had to go back on the back end, put them on the exit course again, remediate, spend a lot of time remediating because they were not passing the exit," Jena said. Bryant complained of "Exit Exam Abuse" in his complaint to the CIE, writing, "These practices inflicted material hard: financial, academic (inability to pass exams designed to be failed), and professional (delayed NCLEX eligibility)." He wrote, "They were not accidents, but a deliberate scheme to control graduation rates, mask poor outcomes, and exploit students financially." A former instructor's view When we first asked Jena about the program back in February, she referred us to then-instructor Danielle Decker, who was also a graduate of the school. We asked Decker if Tampa Medical College was graduating enough students and putting them into nursing positions. "I'm not privy to the actual number of students that she allows to go take the boards, or who, I shouldn't say allow, but who qualify to go take the boards," Danielle Decker said. "Say she has 100 students and she sends 100 students who are not ready to take the NCLEX, and 100 students fail, then she gets put on probation. She's in trouble," Decker said. Via Zoom When asked how many students who enroll end up becoming nurses, Decker said, "it fluctuates", but admitted she had no idea. Decker no longer works for Tampa Medical College. She and her husband Ronnie Decker, also a former student and instructor, are now suing Tampa Medical College for non-payment. Hillsborough County Clerk of Courts This isn't the first investigation This story didn't begin with Tampa Medical College. We investigated this school in 2021, when it was called Medical Prep Institute and its nursing program had faced probation over poor NCLEX performance. Former students then complained about exit testing and being unable to take their boards. The state closed all 15 complaints after receiving responses from the school. When asked whether they had followed up with any of the students, the Commission on Independent Education sent a statement saying, "The Commission reviews and addresses complaints concerning licensed institutions in accordance with state law and applicable administrative rules." What the school says Jena declined our request for an interview. In an email she wrote that the complaints were flawed and that Tampa Medical College has made "changes to its exit examination approach, including the removal of oral and written examination components for onlin