Question about transfer credits (Certificate vs. Degree)

applesxoranges, BSN, RN · Jan 18, 2017

It depends. It also depends on what level the school wants the A&P. My community college had a 100 and a 200 A&P. They did not accept A&P from private schools that offered LPN programs.

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Jan 18, 2017

Certificate (also called vocational) programs are organized around "clock hours" instead of "credit hours". Clock hour curriculum is designed to provide specific amounts of time devoted to each topic or subject. Typically, the content of clock hour programs is not directly transferable. However, you may be able to utilize the knowledge/skills from a certificate program to arrange some sort of 'challenge' examination that would permit you to skip courses. For instance, some RN programs will allow LVNs (clock hour program) to skip their first clinical semester. I would encourage you to have this discussion with an admission counselor for the program in which you wish to enroll.

Non-clinical credit hours from a regionally accredited college/university are fully transferable to any other regionally accredited school. Clinical courses are not transferable unless there is a pre-existing articulation agreement between the schools.

When discussing educational institutions, the term "private" is frequently used in the wrong sense. In order to be clear, schools should be described in terms of their sources of funding (Public vs. Private) and tax status (Non Profit vs For Profit). Public means tax supported such as community colleges and state- funded universities and Private - refers to any non tax supported school. Non Profit means that all revenues must be funneled back in to support the school. For Profit means that net revenues are paid out to investors/owners of the school. It is very misleading to use the term "Private" when referring to commercial (For Profit, Investor owned) schools.

Okay, I feel better now.

Scottishtape · Jan 18, 2017

I did my LPN program at a community college. As such, they were counted as college credits and transferred to another college which took a significant portion of classes I needed for my AA. I've been in several colleges since, and those LPN credits have transferred (and been used) every time.

So, while my program was a "certificate" program, I got credits out of them, not clock hours.

Since this varies so much, you're only going to get answers directly from the schools you're considering.

ETA: the A&P I took in LPN School did transfer to the college I'm at now for the LPN-RN bridge program, as did the nutrition class. The rest of the classes transferred, but couldn't be used for anything.