Help! accreditation question!!!

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I am currently enrolled in an LPN program ;however, I decided to take the TEAS test for the RN program at Bryant and Stratton I passed the teas and I am so excited! However when I was signing papers for the enrollment process it says that the school is accredited but the nursing program is a candidate with Virginia Board of Nursing it is accredited through the state only.When I asked my advisor about this she said it would not affect me in anyway and I would still be able to take NCLEX and it will not affect me getting a job however I am looking for a unbiased answer to this, I do not want to spend an additional 30 to 40 thousand dollars for a license I cannot use or get!!!!!!!

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

A. Stay far, far away from any for-profit school, accredited or not.

B. 30K is too much for an associate degree.

C. Finish your LPN and then look for a reputable bridge program that your employer will help pay for.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
A. Stay far, far away from any for-profit school, accredited or not.

B. 30K is too much for an associate degree.

C. Finish your LPN and then look for a reputable bridge program that your employer will help pay for.

OMG is that $30-$40K for an ADN? My LPN to ADN bridge at a community college was less than $5,000.

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If it's not regionally or nationally accredited, stay away. Just because it's accredited by your state's BON, doesn't mean much.

They'll tell you that you can sit the NCLEX and it won't prevent you from getting a job or affect you in any way. They want your money.

1. Yes, you'll be able to sit the NCLEX. You can become an RN with a degree from a non-regionally accredited, BON approved, program.

2. Just because they say it won't prevent you from getting a job doesn't mean it won't prevent you from getting a job. I started out at a for profit school last year and heard the same thing from administration. Except everything I was hearing from the other students was that graduates were having a hard time finding work, likely because of the school. Look at prospective jobs. See what their requirements are. I did this and actually saw many that specifically stated that the degree MUST be from a nationally or regionally accredited program. So it could very well limit your job opportunities. You still may be able to get jobs, but depending on where you want to work, you may find set backs. Granted, this is based on my particular area. There may be areas where it's not an issue, so you'll have to check the area you intend to work.

3. It will absolutely affect you. Will their credits transfer? Unlikely. If you want to continue your education, you very well may end up re-taking classes you've already paid for. If you're already paying 30k, why have to pay more to re-take a class you've already taken?

Again, this is coming from someone that wasted 6k on 1.5 semesters before I withdrew (total two year program is 40k). I'm currently paying to take classes that I've already paid for and have taken because they won't transfer. I wish I had researched better so I could better understand the different accreditations. After hearing some stuff during the first semester from other students, I started doing my research. I knew which hospital I wanted to get into. Based on my research, it was unlikely they would hire me because of my school. I started researching my RN to BSN options. There was ONE school that I could go to, but I would have to jump through several hoops to be accepted. I would've had to take an additional four courses (two general education, two nursing), so even more extra money. Until then I wouldn't be able to be admitted to the RN to BSN. Even then, it was only if they had space. They would accept those from regionally accredited schools before they would accept me. It could be years before there's a spot open for me because of my schooling.

Sure, I could graduate, sit the NCLEX and become an RN, but I'm not wasting that kind of time and money if my job and continuing education prospects are very limited or non-existant.

If they're not regionally/nationally accredited, I would really look into other options. I know that sometimes for profit schools are really the only option for some, but if you do have other options, take them.

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sorry I should have specified it is not a bridge program it is just a straight RN program and the total charges are $42,000

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my LPN program is about $20,000 but they are very unprofessional and the school does not have a good reputation I just want to become a nurse and all of the other schools around require too many prerequisites this school only required that you pass the TEAS above national average which I did but I was worried about the accreditation

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my LPN program is about $20,000 but they are very unprofessional and the school does not have a good reputation I just want to become a nurse and all of the other schools around require too many prerequisites this school only required that you pass the TEAS above national average which I did but I was worried about the accreditation

Is there a reason you don't want to take the pre-reqs? Honest question.

If they don't have a good reputation, I would consider it a red flag. I had met with a nursing director of another school. When I was asked if I had been in any other nursing program, I told them I had. All I had to say was that I withdrew because of accreditation. They automatically knew which school and could only say "oh". Not a good "oh", but would only say "oh" because they didn't want to talk poorly about another school.

A school with a bad rep could potentially hurt future job prospects depending on where you want to go.

Also, if they don't have proper accreditation, you still may have a hard time getting into a bridge program. It really depends on the actual bridge program that you apply to.

Around here, there is only one regionally accredited LPN program. There are a few others, but they aren't regionally accredited; only BON approved. I was looking into it as an alternative in case I wasn't accepted into my school. I only found a couple of bridge programs, but both required that the LPN program be regionally accredited. Otherwise I would not have been able to do the bridge program and would have had to start with a traditional ADN program.

I would look further into the bridge requirements to see if they'd accept you from a non-regionally accredited program. Some may, but some might not.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
my LPN program is about $20,000 but they are very unprofessional and the school does not have a good reputation I just want to become a nurse and all of the other schools around require too many prerequisites this school only required that you pass the TEAS above national average which I did but I was worried about the accreditation

Is it ADN or BSN program? Either way thats more money than I would pay even for a fancy university BSN pedigree.

Also I take issue with not wanting to do the pre-reqs. Heck I didn't feel like taking them either but there wasn't any other option if I wanted to be a nurse. You have gotten plenty of feedback so I guess at this point it is just buyer beware.

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Recommend you use the Search box up above and look for threads about schools without regional accreditation or accreditation "problems" and what happened to their students. It will give you plenty to read and the threads will be real eye-openers to you. Hint: you do not want to be them.

And if not, well, we told you so.

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Specializes in ICU.

So you are already at a for profit school for your LPN program and see how unprofessional and chaotic is, you want to enroll in another one for RN? Do as GrnTea says and search this site for issues with for profit schools. You are looking for an easy and quick way to become and nurse and there is not one. Any reputable school has prereqs. We all have to do them.

Prereqs are the foundation of nursing. You need to understand classes like A&P and micro to understand pathophysiology and pharm. You need to have math to calculate medication dosing and IV pump rates. You need a writing class so you can effectively communicate with the people around you. You need Psych to understand the minds of people such as patients, coworkers, bosses. You won't make it as a nurse without this stuff. Just wanting to hurry up and be a nurse doesn't cut it.

In my neck of the woods if you hand in a resume and it shows you graduated from one of these schools, in the shredder your resume goes. That's if you pass NCLEX or the program for that matter. How can you possibly understand how the disease process works if you don't understand how the systems of the body work? Those are some pretty massive school loans you are going to have to pay back with nothing to show for it.

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Specializes in psych, addictions, hospice, education.

Have you looked up the NCLEX pass rates of your school? That's a very good thing for you to do...it indicates the quality of what the school provides to its students...

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what I mean by there are no prerequisites is that you do not have to have them finished before you start they incorporate all of those classes into the program

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