Opinions on accreditation status of a prospective school

[crw1313]

Sorry if this is long- just need a little advice. I applied to a nursing school roughly 6 months ago. Recently, they emailed me to inform me of their current accreditation status. Copied from the email, this is what they wrote to me, "Due to a recent decline in the NCLEX Pass Rate, the Nursing Program has been placed on provisional approval status in November, 2013, by the State Board of Nursing, and was placed on warning status by the ACEN Board of Commissions based on the program's onsite accreditation review in the Spring, 2012."

At first, I was unsure what that even meant. I asked what it meant to the students, and if it was possible to lose accreditation while enrolled in the program. I did not receive a response until after I received an acceptance letter in the mail. The email I received stated, "Since the last ACEN site visit in February 2012, many changes in the program and personnel have been implemented. The Nursing Program is in compliance with all the required regulations for the State Board and The Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN). The Nursing Program was just recently placed on provisional status in November due to a decrease in State Board examination results. The level of difficulty of the licensure exam has just recently increased and the national passing average that all programs must maintain is 80%. All programs across the United States had a decline in their State Board results. We have anticipated an increase in our current scores & have current results of 100%. Due to the multiple strategies that have been implemented, we anticipate that our board scores will meet the national pass rate."

Since I was accepted, I am concerned. I have one month to decide before I lose my spot. What additional questions do you recommend I ask? Should I contact the state board of nursing? What happens if a school loses accreditation while in the middle of the program? Unfortunately, this school is one of my only options if I intend to pursue nursing while working full time (evening, part time program).

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

You can go online to your Board of Nursing website and check the pass rates from the school. If they're really 100% now and that's the only reason they were provisional, I'd say things look good. I'd check to be sure they meet all the other recs from their survey, too.

[RunBabyRN]

The NCLEX did increase in difficulty, so I'm sure there were a few schools that saw a hit. I agree with GrnTea, check with ACEN directly to find out what's going on with this school before making a decision (and just because you accept a spot does not mean you can't back out before you class up- this is what waiting lists are for). Better to do your research and feel good going in than to have that doubt in your mind or to miss an opportunity. Also, find out how many testing cycles they're including in their 100%. It may only be one.

They CAN lose accreditation while you're in the program, so you would be wise to follow up on this for sure.

Good luck!