Kevin Bryant says he spent almost $30,000 on Tampa Medical College’s registered-nursing program, finished his coursework, and still never got the green light to sit for the exam that would make him a licensed nurse. He says the school would not clear him to take the National Council Licensure Examination, known as the NCLEX, because he couldn’t pass its own exit-testing process first.
Bryant’s account is one of several detailed in an investigation by Tampa Bay 28, which obtained 15 complaints against the small private nursing school, located in Tampa’s Netpark complex, where most students attend online classes. Bryant told the station he completed his regular coursework but ran into a wall when it came to the exit exam meant to prepare students for the NCLEX, the national test required to become a licensed nurse. He described the exit test as effectively a 400-question verbal exam dressed up as an 80-question one, saying a single question could carry ten parts and require nine correct answers just to pass.
He wasn’t describing it from memory alone. The I-Team says it obtained an exit test from another student that was numbered 1 through 12 on paper but actually contained more than 300 questions once every part was counted. According to the station’s review of that document, the test’s own directions required students to pass four out of five questions, yet the exam included two separate sections both labeled question three, two separate sections both labeled question five, and a repeated question about pallor. Bryant went on to file a 168-page complaint with Florida’s Commission on Independent Education, alleging what he called exit-exam abuse.
A Paper Trail of Complaints Dating Back Years
Bryant’s complaint joins a stack of others. A 2022 complaint obtained by the I-Team alleged that test material did not match what students had studied, with the complainant writing, “The information does not match. They are making it impossible for you to pass.” A 2023 complaint described incorrect tests with wrong answers and incomplete questions, along with material the student said wasn’t covered in class or in the textbooks. A 2024 complaint called the tests subjective and said, “The test had multiple errors and duplicate questions.”
Two current students separately reported similar concerns about the school’s exit tests to the I-Team, according to the station’s reporting. Danielle Decker, a former Tampa Medical College instructor and graduate who no longer works for the school, told the outlet she did not know how many students actually qualified to take the NCLEX. Decker and her husband, Ronnie Decker, are now suing Tampa Medical College for non-payment.
The Owner’s Response
Fadziso Jena, who owns and operates Tampa Medical College, declined an interview request but responded in writing to the station and commented at a Commission on Independent Education meeting. Jena said students often performed well in online coursework but struggled with the school’s required on-campus exit exam, and that some students who didn’t pass were put back into an exit course for remediation — in some cases, Jena said, after they had already graduated in December. Jena told the station the school has since made changes, including removing oral and written examination components for online students, and said those changes came in response to reporter pressure.
Pass Rates Well Below the National Average
The numbers behind the complaints are stark. Per the 2026 Florida nursing education report cited by the station, five Tampa Medical College students took the registered-nursing NCLEX, and three passed — a 60 percent pass rate, compared with a national first-time average of 86.7 percent for 2026. A single Tampa Medical College student took the practical-nursing NCLEX that year and failed, and the school ranked among Florida’s lowest for practical-nursing NCLEX outcomes.
This isn’t the first time the school’s numbers have drawn scrutiny. Under its former name, Medical Prep Institute, the program posted NCLEX pass rates of 68 percent in 2018 and 69 percent in 2019, against an 85 percent national rate at the time, the same outlet reported in earlier coverage. The nursing program faced probation over poor NCLEX performance in 2021, the same year the state closed all 15 complaints against the school after receiving its responses. Jena has held a certified nursing assistant license that expired in 2010.
How the Complaint Process Works
The Commission on Independent Education licenses and regulates Florida’s nursing schools and says it reviews and addresses complaints under state law and applicable administrative rules. Under Florida Statutes Chapter 1005, the commission is required to establish and publicize procedures for receiving and responding to complaints from students, faculty, and others about institutions or programs under its purview, and to keep records of those complaints to track their frequency and nature.
A complaint must include the complainant’s name, address, and phone number, along with the institution’s name and city, attendance dates, a description of the problem, and supporting documentation. The commission typically contacts the institution to obtain its response, and a complainant who does not want that contact made must say so in writing — though the commission warns that refusing institutional contact will greatly hinder its ability to help. Complaints can be filed by fax at 850-245-3233 or by mail to the Commission for Independent Education at 325 W. Gaines Street, Suite 1414, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0400.
For students like Bryant, who say they completed coursework but stalled at exit testing, the gap between finishing classes and being cleared for the licensing exam is central to their dispute with the school.
