Accreditation question for prospective student

elkpark · Jan 27, 2014

I've never been licensed anywhere (five states so far, in my career) where any of your school accreditations are shown on your license; but, putting that issue aside, the answer to your larger question is, it depends. There's no state that requires ACEN or CCNE accreditation to be eligible for licensure. Individual employers and schools that have policies about only accepting graduates of accredited programs are free to make their own decisions about whether a graduate of an unaccredited pre-licensure program who later completes a BSN at an accredited program "counts" or not.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Jan 27, 2014

I am not completely clear on what you're asking. Accreditation affects licensure only at the entry level. After that, accreditation affects your ability to obtain more education at higher levels.

But if you're wondering if a higher level of education (say, a BSN) at an unaccredited school trumps an accredited lower level (say, a diploma or ADN), it doesn't. If you licensure was granted based on your lower level, that stays in force. You may not be able to move to a third level of education (say, MSN) if your BSN program doesn't meet their standards for admission.

Similarly, if your lower level of education (basic RN diploma or ADN) is not accepted for initial licensure by a board of nursing, like the Excelsior program isn't in 15 states, you won't be able to be licensed in those 15 states by reciprocity/endorsement even if a state that did accept Excelsior granted you one. Furthermore, your educational history might not be accepted by an accredited RN-to-BSN program, either.

I'm not sure if I'm answering your question, though, so could you clarify a bit if I'm not?

Kappakeeper · Jan 30, 2014

Here is a link to a similar question: https://allnurses.com/online-nursing-schools/degree-accreditation-question-852339.html but I want to go a little deeper into the topic.

To be more specific... Let's say I attend Rasmussen College, etc. (board approved only), and my employer requires a CCNE accredited degree, can my RN-BSN from a CCNE school over trump my initial RN education from a board approved only school?

Background: The reason I am asking this is I am applying to many community colleges, one BSN program, and one for profit school. Because the for profit school (board approved only) will only take me one year to complete, it is becoming one of my first choices among all of them since I can get in and out quickly. It will, however, go to the bottom of my list if I can never get the CCNE through the RN-BSN route. I hope that makes more sense.

203bravo, MSN, APRN · Jan 30, 2014

The bigger issue that most likely the Rasmussen College credits will not be accepted for admission into an RN-BSN program. You need to verify with the school that you are considering transferring to.. This is the major issue that GrnTea was referring to.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Jan 30, 2014

Here is a link to a similar question: https://allnurses.com/online-nursing-schools/degree-accreditation-question-852339.html but I want to go a little deeper into the topic.
To be more specific... Let's say I attend Rasmussen College, etc. (board approved only), and my employer requires a CCNE accredited degree, can my RN-BSN from a CCNE school over trump my initial RN education from a board approved only school?
Background: The reason I am asking this is I am applying to many community colleges, one BSN program, and one for profit school. Because the for profit school (board approved only) will only take me one year to complete, it is becoming one of my first choices among all of them since I can get in and out quickly. It will, however, go to the bottom of my list if I can never get the CCNE through the RN-BSN route. I hope that makes more sense.

Theoretically yes (though you can ask), but the problem is that you won't get into that RN-BSN program in the first place.