need help with accreditation

U.S.A. California

Published

Hello, everyone!!!

Im trying to comprehend as much as I could about ACEN / CCNE accredited nursing schools. While I understand that these are NATIONAL accrediting commissions, would there be any problems with transfer of nursing course credits to a REGIONALLY accredited university? I completed my pre-requesites (Gen Eds) in a regionally accredited university and attending a ACEN accredited nursing (ADN) program. Is there something to worry about getting credits accepted if I apply for BSN program?

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There shouldn't be. These are two entirely separate and different types of accreditation. For general academic accreditation, the entire school, not just the nursing department, regional accreditation is what you want. You said your gen ed credits were completed at a regionally accredited school; is your ADN program regionally accredited? ACEN/CCNE accreditation is national and is nursing-specific. Lots of programs for higher education in nursing (and lots of nursing employers) require that you be a graduate of an ACEN or CCNE accredited school, but the question of prior courses being accepted for academic transfer credits by a "new" school is usually a factor of the general academic accreditation of the previous school.

Best wishes!

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@elkpark The ADN program is just nationally accredited by ACEN; it actually makes sense since it's a school of nursing (located in Utah). I just got kind of worried and confused because I was trying to look for RN to BSN programs, specifically in California State University, which said it requires completion of an ADN program from a regionally accredited school.

Thank you so much for your reply!!! :)

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@elkpark The ADN program is just nationally accredited by ACEN; it actually makes sense since it's a school of nursing (located in Utah). I just got kind of worried and confused because I was trying to look for RN to BSN programs, specifically in California State University, which said it requires completion of an ADN program from a regionally accredited school.

Thank you so much for your reply!!! :)

If the school at which you are working on your ADN is not regionally accredited (general academic accreditation), you may have problems getting any courses from that school accepted for transfer credit at "regular," regionally-accredited colleges and universities. Is your ADN program at a proprietary tech-voc school? What accreditation (other than ACEN; general academic accreditation) does it have?

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@elkpark The school is called Nightingale College. It's small and I believe it only offers ADN program. It's other accreditations are ABHES & Approval from State Board of Nursing. I did all the pre-reqs in a regionally accredited university and just doing the nursing coursework in Nightingale. So there is a chance that the nursing courses will not be credited to a regionally accredited school for BSN?

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Yes, there is a chance the Nightingale credits will not transfer. I found the website for Nightingale (in Utah, right?) It is not regionally accredited, according to the website. It would be up to the individual school you want to attend later on to make the decision, but lots of "regular" colleges and universities will only accept credits from other regionally accredited schools, because schools with "other" academic accreditation are held to lower academic standards, and their courses are considered, therefore, not equivalent to the regionally accredited college/university courses.

I suggest you contact some BSN completion programs in your area (that you might end up applying to down the road) and ask them about accepting credits from Nightingale. It may be that the school has a good enough reputation that other schools will happily accept the credits, but it's not a sure thing.

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@elkpark Exactly what I'm doing right now.. I called a couple of universities and said that they would accept it. Hopefully.

Anyway, thank you very much!!!

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