Continuing education after Excelsior Degree

Nursing Students Excelsior

Published

Hi, I just finished my LPN program and am planning on starting the Excelsior RN program right away. I have goals of continuing my education to eventually get my bachelors, Masters, and eventually my APRN. My only concern is if my Excelsior degree will be later accepted at other colleges. I am interested in anyones personal experience or knowledge of this. I know my sister started the Excelsior program but didn't finish it and our state colleges did not accept her credits from excelsior. I understand that those were credits and this would be a degree, but it definitely has me concerned, and wondering.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

every college has credits that they will and will not accept from other colleges.

It is really hard to say what will or will not transfer, you would have to talk to the college you plan on attending.

With the number of online and alternative colleges out there now, credits do seem to be more transferable now, but many still have the time limit on how log ago the course was taken.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

I have read that there are at least a couple of states that don't accept degrees from Excelsior at all for licensing purposes, one being California.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER.

That is one thing I've heard about Excelsior is that California will not license you as an RN if your intial education was through Excelsior unless you get enough clinical hours through your RN to BSN, but most BSN programs do not have extra clinical hours because they have a license.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Yes, California does not recognize Excelsior nursing graduates as nurses (due to no true "clinical" rotations) and you can not ever get your RN license in the state of California as an Excelsior grad.

14 other states have additional requirements before you can get your license in those states (some require experience, a few require specific courses and/or proctorships).

But as I said before, having an associates does not mean all your prior credits will transfer to another school when you go for higher degrees, regardless of school.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

This thread is EXTREMELLY helpful:

Excelsior Grads- Where are they now? 247 comments

https://allnurses.com/excelsior-college-online/excelsior-grads-where-217472.html

Up Vote Up Vote ×

This is NOT TRUE about California anymore. Anyone correct me if im wrong but im pretty sure this changed!! Many people are happy about it!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Most college give you a certain amount of credits for your 'license' so if you get your ADN from EC and apply to another school for BSN they will grant like 50 credits for your current license - they won't grant credit for individual nursing courses, but you may need to retake your sciences (ANP and micro) cause they didn't have labs. Also, most other colleges require a statistics course and chemistry.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
This is NOT TRUE about California anymore. Anyone correct me if im wrong but im pretty sure this changed!! Many people are happy about it!

Any source for this?

I have not heard that and Excelsiors site says the same as before, unless you were enrolled before Dec 5 2003 you can't get your RN license in Cali.

If it has changed that would be great news for many.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Nurse Scientist-Research.

Well, if you get your RN through EC and want to go elsewhere I believe they are pretty equivalent to other 2 year programs. I know a nurse who went through LVN-RN with EC, then attended a State College for RN to BSN (without undue hassle) and proceeded to Nurse Practitioner through another State College.

Of course EC has an RN to BSN program and while I think it's ok (I'm a graduate) I think it's a great deal for former EC ADN grads. They really accept many more of your credits. One example is that EC's ADN requires 6 credits of A&P whereas many RN to BSN programs require 8 credits assuming everyone has done labs with those classes. It's a good idea to shop around after you graduate and determine which college will give you the best deal for the credits you already have.

As far as BSN grads qualifying for Nurse Practitioner school, as far as I know they are fine. There's the nurse I mentioned above. I also graduated with at least 2 students who were already accepted into NP programs before graduation. I can't guarantee you would get into the most competitive programs but EC grads seem to do just fine. I myself am applying to grad school for MSN (at a well-rated State school) but I haven't finished the application process yet so we'll see (I don't think there will be an issue).

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment