Published
you can still sit for the NCLEX even if the school is not accredited by the national league of nursing. the only criteria for sitting for state boards is that the school is "approved" by that state board of nursing. here's a link.
http://www.allnursingschools.com/faqs/accredfaq.php
when a new school of nursing starts up, it isn't automatically accredited by the NLN. i believe the time frame for accreditation is that the first graduating class must have a certain percentage of the students graduate and pass state boards. after the criteria has been met, accreditation is retroactive.
i believe this is how it was explained to me by one of the instructors at the school. don't quote me though. :chuckle
our school is only 11 years old. yes, students took a risk in that first graduating class because the school may not have graduated the numbers needed for accreditation. but our ongoing success rate is 95% (went down this last year because 4 people didn't pass NCLEX on the first try) for the last 11 years with students passing the NCLEX on the first try. passing rate for second try is at 99%.
had accreditation not been granted but the program was approved by the state board of nursing, the students could have still taken the NCLEX. the catch comes when a student wishes to further his/her education by transferring to an accredited school. the training wouldn't transfer.
here's a link for a school that just went through the process:
http://www.dailyhelmsman.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/09/25/3d91c0f37b8e5
this one also has a little info on the process:
Accreditation is not a mandatory requirement. It is very costly and time consuming for the program.
The State Board of Nursing Approves schools. They are the ones to determine if a student can take the NCLEX-RN exam.
The program I oversee started in 1972. It did not receive NLN accreditation until 1989. Students did however graduate, take the NCLEX-RN exam, and continue their education in RN-BSN programs WITHOUT any problems.
We have been NLN accredited since 1989. Just completed our reaccreditation visit with excellent results.
Many BSN programs left NLN and opted to become accredited by the AACN. Since there are different accrediting bodies there is no way it can be mandatory.
Just because a school is not accredited does not mean the program is lacking. In public higher education across the country funds are limited. The school may not have the money. An accreditation visit costs about $5,000 with an annual fee of approximately $2,000-$3,000.
Hope this answers your question.
kimmicoobug
586 Posts
hi all.
I hope everyone had a good thanksgiving. I did. Watched Divine Sisters of the Ya Ya Sisterhood afterwards, and it was a such a good movie. Anyways, I have a question regarding accredited schools. I must not have been in class the day we discussed this in our program or I don't remember what we were told. So, question if a school isn't accredited what does that mean for the student who is in that particular program? Can they still sit for the boards?