FAYETTEVILLE N.C.

Most of the nursing students at Fayetteville State University who didn't graduate in May after failing an exit exam will not earn their degrees because they didn't pass a follow-up course.

The 24 students were allowed to take a consultant's 12-day course under an agreement with the school. The deal was reached after some students complained they didn't know the test was a graduation requirement.

Of the 23 students who took the course, 15 failed its final test. The students learned about the results Thursday, university officials said.

The results mean only 14 students have graduated from the university's inaugural bachelor's degree program in nursing, which had 31 students. One student who took the 12-day course will take its final test Monday.

Under the settlement, which averted a possible lawsuit, the seven students who passed the 12-day course will earn their degrees. The school will recommend to the State Board of Nursing that they be allowed to take the national licensure exam.

The students who didn't pass the 12-day course must accept an incomplete grade in their senior-level research class, but they can retake the class in the fall.

So far, all three graduated students who took the licensing exam passed, university officials said.

Some of the students who took the course said they were frustrated by the overall experience. Three students who passed the course said they learned more during the 12-day course taught by Dr. Frances Eason of East Carolina University, an expert on preparing students for the national licensure exam than they did in their two years of coursework at the university.

Chancellor T.J. Bryan said the school would assess the outcome.

--Associated Press