As an EMS provider for nearly 30 years, I found myself wanting to go back to college to obtain an actual degree, since where I lived no such degree in EMS was available.  I chose to apply the knowledge of healthcare and patient care I had received in my 29 years in the field and enter the nursing profession.  While I still had to work and support my family as a single mom, distance education was my only option.  I had several friends in EMS who had gone through Excelsior College and was granted life experience credit for te time and effort they had put ino their EMS careers.  This seemed like the perfect fit for me.  I signed up with Excelsior, paid my money and got started in the classes.  As I progressed however, Virginia's sister state of MD, decided that nurses who hadn't gone to a brick and mortar school of nursing, who hadn't sat through countless hours of hands on training were not as good as those who had.  Having worked alongside some of these "brick and mortar" nurses, I came to see that the building did not make the nurse.  The dedication of those students who WANTED to be nurses, and were willing to put forth the extra effort to be those nurses far outweighed those who simply went to traditional schools.  Because of MD's decision, I was forced to give up my nursing classes and lost close to $3000 in tuition and books, and also have decided to pursue a career outside of healthcare giving up my nearly 30 years of experience that cant be learned in a building.  Don't do this to other students who truly want to learn.  Let Virginia's residents have the freedom to learn the best way they can!