1,300 students have graduated from a medical training facility in Youngstown since it first opened last June.

In this Watchdog report, 21 News found out there may be a problem. This facility is not approved by the state to legally teach these medical courses.

It's called "Achieve Beyond your Goals" and the CEO admits she doesn't have state approval and doesn't feel she needs it.

State law may say otherwise, and if the school needed state approval, but didn't get it, what happens to the students?

"There's nothing fake about coming to achieve beyond your goals career employment," President and Director of "Achieve Beyond Your Dreams," Jaquala Rushton said. 

The facility has been offering medical courses since June of 2021, but the State of Ohio is demanding that the school stop operating without state approval.

The Ohio State Board of Career Colleges and Schools notified Rushton in December to cease and desist operations until they can provide information about the school's programs. The State Board is not accusing the school of any sort of fraud or improper training but insists that the school cannot operate without the board's approval.

"She's just been operating apparently under the radar over the last six months," Executive Director of the State Board of Career Colleges and Schools, John Ware, said. 

The Board said Rushton has not complied and the school is still in session.

Rushton said 1,300 students have licenses in areas such as "phlebotomy, EKG, clinical medical assistance, medical billing, medical administration, patient care technician..."

Rushton argues she's not running a school, but a testing site. The state said it doesn't matter what they call the establishment. The bottom line is the medical training offered must be approved through the state board to legally operate under the law.

"So there is a concern certainly that we don't know what the school is doing," Ware said. 

21 News continued to press Rushton on the Board's concern.

"I'm not going through them. I'm with the National Health [career] Association. So no ma'am," she said. 

After asking how Rushton would proceed if the state seeks legal action, she said, "Then they can follow up with me."

She said she provides the courses through a private vendor called "National Healthcareer Association," which supplies teaching materials, but the state said regardless, the facility still needs to be approved to offer courses in Ohio.

The National Healthcareer Association said they "provide certification exam preparation materials designed to help learners succeed and eight psychometrically sound certification exams accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCAA)."

The National Healthcareer Association further added it is "not a school and does not "endorse" or have the power to "accredit" or "approve" an organization."

"We don't have any information that what she is doing is fraudulent or a scam or something like that," Ware said, "That would be something more concerning to us. We're just trying to bring her into compliance to make sure that we can verify she's meeting the minimum standards required by the state of Ohio."

Rushton said, "No, I don't have any concern at all because what I am doing is actually great for the community. I am helping a lot of lives here."

Ware advises students to not enroll in the school until it's approved.

For past students, he's received no complaints from any employers.

If the facility does not get approved,  the state said it will sue for a court order to shut the school down.

For any concerned students, Ware said:

"I would reiterate that our issues with the school and getting it in compliance with state requirements doesn't necessarily invalidate any training the students have received and we have no indication at this point that training was inferior or inadequate. While our jurisdiction and oversight is typically limited to registered schools and approved programs, we can assist students by referring them to the Ohio Attorney General's office or other agencies that may be able to assist them depending on their needs. We can also assist students with finding approved training providers. For more information, we can be contacted at [email protected] or contact Laura Essman at 614-466-7833."