International Institute for Healthcare Professionals Student Defense Lawyer

The International Institute for Healthcare Professionals, at 6870 North Federal Highway in Boca Raton, ran a substantial nursing cohort in 2025 and finished below the statutory floor.

70.67% of 75 first-time candidates

The associate-degree program passed 70.67% of 75 first-time candidates against a floor of 76.05% — roughly fifty-three passes and twenty-two failures. Seventy-five candidates puts this among the larger below-benchmark private cohorts in the state, which means the rate is a reasonably stable measure rather than a small-class artefact.

Under Fla. Stat. section 464.019(5)(a)1 a Florida nursing program’s first-time NCLEX passage rate must stay within 10 percentage points of the national average for comparable programs — in 2025 that floor was 76.05% for associate-degree programs and 77.17% for practical-nursing programs. Section 464.019(5)(a)2 puts a program two consecutive years below the floor at risk of probation and loss of approval, and section 464.019(5)(c) then obliges the program to disclose that probationary status in writing to its students and applicants — a failure to give that notice is an independent, statute-based misrepresentation theory against a school that enrolled a student while on probation. A single year below the floor is not probation, and the Board of Nursing publishes no probation roster — but the Department of Health’s licensing portal does publish a current status for each approved program, so it can be checked there as well as in the board’s minutes and orders. Every Florida program is tabulated on the Florida nursing program pass-rate page.

A private school, so the statute students rely on does not apply

Most writing about Florida student dismissal assumes a public college, where Fla. Stat. section 1006.60(3) supplies notice, a hearing, the right to be accompanied by counsel and a burden that rests on the institution. This is a private institution. None of that section reaches it.

What governs instead is the enrollment agreement, the catalog and the student and program handbooks, read as a contract. Sharick v. Southeastern University of the Health Sciences establishes that a Florida student dismissed in breach of the school’s own contractual undertakings has a claim, and that damages can extend to lost future earning capacity rather than a refund of tuition. So the work is documentary: identify the exact promises the school made about process, and show which it did not keep.

Two further things matter at schools of this kind. Many enrollment agreements contain an arbitration clause, and whether it binds a student depends on the version signed, how broadly it is drafted, whether its cost terms are unconscionable and whether the school has waived it — that question comes first, because it decides whether there is a courtroom at all. And where a school is licensed by the Florida Commission for Independent Education rather than regionally accredited, the CIE complaint route exists alongside any civil claim and is often the faster pressure point.

Where a case here is filed

Boca Raton is in Palm Beach County, which 28 U.S.C. section 89(c) places in the Southern District of Florida; that district’s Internal Operating Procedure 2.01.01(d), effective 1 February 2024, assigns Palm Beach County to the West Palm Beach Division — subject to any forum or arbitration term in the enrollment agreement. The school is also an SEVP-certified institution, which means international students on F-1 status may be enrolled; for those students a dismissal has an immediate immigration dimension that runs on its own timetable and should be addressed in parallel with the academic appeal rather than after it.

What can a student defense lawyer do here?

• Resolve the arbitration question first, from the agreement the student actually signed.
• Assemble the enrollment agreement, catalog and program handbook for the correct edition, and pin down the promises about process.
• Test the progression arithmetic — withdrawals, repeats and clinical failures are often counted in ways the handbook does not authorize.
• Use the Commission for Independent Education complaint route where the school is CIE-licensed, in parallel with the civil claim.
• Press on the wording of the decision letter, which follows the student into every future licensure and transfer application.

How Florida student dismissal cases work generally is set out on the Florida student defense page.

The campus is in Boca Raton, and the associate program is closed

IIHCP has one campus, and it is not in Fort Pierce. The Academic Catalog 2025-2026, Volume 20 (publication date July 1, 2025) gives the address as 6870 North Federal Highway, Boca Raton, Florida 33487, and says the school moved into that building in 2016. The school’s own map page lists “Distance from Fort Pierce — 90 miles.”

The Department of Health’s license verification records, read September 17, 2026, agree: the Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing program, NPRN705132, approved since June 15, 2018, and the Practical Nursing certificate, NPPN702017, approved since April 15, 2011, are both recorded at the Boca Raton address, and a second RN program record, NPRN707032, is listed as Closed. The only Fort Pierce record in this school’s name is a pharmacy technician training program, RTTP384, at 600 N. US Highway 1, listed as Clear.

The school explains that record itself. A letter dated September 4, 2025 on its Notices page, “Notice to ASN Students,” says IIHCP decided to cease offering the current associate degree program, closing it to new enrollment rather than to enrolled students, and that the Board of Nursing website “may list the program as ‘closed’” during the teach-out. A separate statement effective July 22, 2026 says “this nursing program” is a candidate for initial accreditation with the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, expiring Fall 2028, without saying which program. The catalog gives Commission for Independent Education license #3121 and institutional accreditation by ABHES.

Two failures end the program, and there is no exception

The rule that decides most IIHCP dismissals is short. A grade below B (80%) is a failure and the course must be repeated; no course may be repeated more than once; a student who attempts the same course twice without success is dismissed (Student Handbook 2025-2026, Repeated Courses). The Standardized Exams Policy repeats it flatly: “The policy of two course failures resulting in program termination stands. There is no exception.”

The standardized exams are where those failures usually come from. A HESI end-of-course exam follows each core nursing course, with 850 the passing score and three attempts, remediation required between each; failing the third time means repeating the course, which is itself a second failure for anyone who has already failed once. The end-of-program exam requires 85 on ATI, again in three attempts; after that the catalog sends the student into a 12-week Virtual ATI review costing $600. From there the documents diverge: the catalog says a student who still cannot pass is terminated, while the handbook allows a second Virtual ATI cycle and three further attempts.

Alongside that sit progress standards of a 2.5 cumulative grade point average, a 66.67% rate of progress and a 150% maximum time frame, stepped through advising, warning, probation and dismissal. Attendance is strict: more than two unexcused absences in a course, or more than one missed clinical rotation or lab, brings administrative withdrawal; three tardies equal one absence; the catalog says IIHCP does not currently offer a leave of absence. In clinical, more than one missed day fails the course, and a second request by a clinical site to remove a student in the same rotation means permanent dismissal with no re-entry.

Appeal deadlines, and who receives each one

The academic appeal is the fast one. A student dismissed for unsatisfactory progress must send a written appeal with supporting documentation to the Director of Education within one week of the notice of dismissal, and the catalog warns that the student is dropped from classes on the determination and may not attend during the appeal.

The grievance route is slower and is printed twice, differently. The catalog’s ladder runs instructor, Program Director, Director of Education, Campus Director, with the written grievance to the Campus Director. The handbook’s runs instructor, Program Director or Dean of Nursing, CEO or Campus President, with the written grievance to the Grievance Committee Chair. Both set the same clocks: a committee meeting within five (5) business days of receipt, a written decision within ten (10) business days of the meeting, then a written request for further consideration — to the CEO in the catalog, to the Campus President in the handbook. Grade challenges are narrower: only the faculty member who taught the course may request a grade change, a challenge is considered only where the grade is said to rest on something other than academic criteria, and no filing deadline is published at all. Once the internal process ends, the catalog names the Commission for Independent Education (325 West Gaines Street, Suite 1414, Tallahassee, FL 32399-0400, 850-245-3200 or 888-224-6684) and ABHES (6116 Executive Blvd., Suite 730, N. Bethesda, MD 20852, 301-291-7550).

Accommodations, harassment reports, and what is missing

Accommodation requests go on a Reasonable Accommodation Request Form with documentation of the disability, and the handbook says the school will work with the student to identify accommodations “which may or may not be the specific accommodation(s) requested.” No office is named, no decision deadline is set and no appeal from a refusal is described.

Harassment and sexual misconduct reports go to the Campus President. The handbook describes interviews of the complainant, the accused and witnesses, immediate administrative dismissal of anyone found to have violated the policy, and suspension of the accused where further investigation is warranted. Neither document names a Title IX Coordinator, sets a reporting deadline, describes a hearing, or says whether a student may bring an advisor. The catalog says the complete sexual harassment policy is available on request from the Student Services Coordinator or the Human Resources Manager — ask for it in writing and note the date.

The enrollment agreement is not published, and the catalog contains no arbitration clause, so the signed agreement itself has to be read. The entrance test figures also conflict inside one catalog: the admissions table sets TEAS 57.8 for the associate program, the same section calls the minimum “Proficient (58.7%),” and the bachelor’s section requires a 58.7% composite.

Other Florida technical and career institutions

Every school writes its own dismissal, appeal and conduct rules, and the filing deadlines are rarely the same from one campus to the next. These pages set out the procedure at other Florida technical and career institutions:

• iTECH Immokalee Technical College Dismissal
• J-Tech Jones Technical Institute
• Lake Technical College Dismissal
• Lee Professional Institute
• Lindsey Hopkins Technical College Dismissal
• Lively Technical College Dismissal

Common questions about International Institute for Healthcare Professionals cases

What was the pass rate?

70.67% of 75 first-time candidates in 2025, against a statutory floor of 76.05% — one of the larger below-benchmark private cohorts in Florida that year.

I am here on an F-1 visa. Does that change things?

It adds urgency. The school is SEVP-certified, and for a student on F-1 status a dismissal carries immigration consequences that run on their own timetable. That has to be handled alongside the academic appeal, not after it.

Does Fla. Stat. 1006.60(3) protect me?

No. It applies to Florida public colleges. This is a private institution, so the enrollment agreement, catalog and handbooks govern as a contract, under Sharick v. Southeastern University of the Health Sciences.

Which court covers this school?

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The Southern District of Florida, West Palm Beach Division. The campus is in Boca Raton, in Palm Beach County, which 28 U.S.C. section 89(c) places in the Southern District, and the district’s Internal Operating Procedure 2.01.01(d), effective 1 February 2024, assigns Palm Beach County to the West Palm Beach Division.

Is this school in Fort Pierce or Boca Raton?

Boca Raton. The 2025-2026 catalog, the student handbook and all three Board of Nursing program records give 6870 North Federal Highway, Boca Raton, and the school’s own map page lists Fort Pierce as 90 miles away. The only Fort Pierce record in this school’s name is a pharmacy technician training program at 600 N. US Highway 1, which is a separate license from the nursing programs.

How long do I have to appeal an academic dismissal at IIHCP?

One week. The catalog requires a written appeal with supporting documentation, addressed to the Director of Education, within one week of the notice of academic dismissal. It also says the student is dropped from classes as soon as the dismissal is determined and may not attend during the appeal, so the appeal has to be written while you are already out of class.