Does it matter where you get your associates?

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Hello, I'm trying to find affordable and suitable colleges to obtain my associates in nursing. I've found that the cheaper options are usually community or lower ranked state colleges. Does it matter where you get your associates degree if you're planning to transfer to another college to get your BSN? Or will they see you went to a lower ranked college, and ignore your application? Thank you.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, LTACH, LTC, Home Health.

The college for your ASN/ADN needs to be accredited. Check with your state's BON for a listing of approved programs. As for transfer, any college or university can toss your application for many reasons, or no reason at all. Grade point averages (GPA) and accreditation are two of the biggest factors leading to acceptance, though.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Agree - needs to be ACEN accredited (CCNE doesn't accredit AS/ADN programs) and regionally accredited so that your science courses will transfer if you decide to go for a BSN. Community Colleges provide a very solid nursing education. In most areas, they have great connections to area employers. We all take the same NCLEX.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

College rankings usually do not matter in the nursing profession. It is not as if you are pursuing business or law, where the school's ranking can make or break your nascent career before it even starts.

Local reputation is a bigger factor in regards to schools of nursing. In many areas, the nursing program at the local community college or public technical school has a better reputation than the fancy BSN program at the prestigious private university.

As long as you are not attending a non-accredited associate degree nursing program, you should be fine.

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Specializes in ER.

It doesn't matter as long as it is not a for profit, private school. I would stay away from those. Overall, very few people will care although you do hear about how they don't like ITT Tech, Kaplan, etc.

As for ACEN accreditation, yes, no, kind of. Usually the schools that do not have ACEN accreditation do have a transfer agreement in place for you to continue on with a BSN at a CCNE accredited school. Very few schools care about the ACEN accreditation if it is in the same state. When it is out of state they tend to become more picky. Like my school lost ACEN accreditation but managed to get it back. No one had any issues continuing on with a BSN. They managed to get it back before I graduated.

I have only seen one hospital system require an ACEN/CCNE accredited program besides the government. It was about three years ago.

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It doesn't matter as long as it is not a for profit, private school. I would stay away from those. Overall, very few people will care although you do hear about how they don't like ITT Tech, Kaplan, etc.

As for ACEN accreditation, yes, no, kind of. Usually the schools that do not have ACEN accreditation do have a transfer agreement in place for you to continue on with a BSN at a CCNE accredited school. Very few schools care about the ACEN accreditation if it is in the same state. When it is out of state they tend to become more picky. Like my school lost ACEN accreditation but managed to get it back. No one had any issues continuing on with a BSN. They managed to get it back before I graduated.

I have only seen one hospital system require an ACEN/CCNE accredited program besides the government. It was about three years ago.

Its very different in my state. A college that is not accredited means you have to work for a certain number of years before the higher programs will accept you, if at all, and it is much harder to find hospital work if you are a grad of an unaccredited program. I had a coworker who is a FANTASTIC nurse get almost completely through the hiring process with a major hospital system before they realized she hadn't quite graduated WGU and her ASN was unaccredited. They withdrew the job offer.

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The most competitive schools near me in Minnesota are actually the cheapest. The low tuition community college are the most difficult to get into. They have the highest pass rates on boards and great reputations. So I wouldn't judge a school based on cost unless it's ridiculously expensive of course.

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College rankings usually do not matter in the nursing profession. It is not as if you are pursuing business or law, where the school's ranking can make or break your nascent career before it even starts.

Local reputation is a bigger factor in regards to schools of nursing. In many areas, the nursing program at the local community college or public technical school has a better reputation than the fancy BSN program at the prestigious private university.

As long as you are not attending a non-accredited associate degree nursing program, you should be fine.

I completely agree with this. My local community college has a well know nursing program. It's no secret that students attend the ADN program, then transfer into the University's BSN program. Nurses from many facilities in the area have taken this route and often suggest it for financial reasons.

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Specializes in Medical-Surgical/Float Pool/Stepdown.

I would just like to add - don't forget to look for schools with a high NCLEX pass rate as well! Got's to be the total package!

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