GinaR

The post above is correct. Accreditation by the NLN or CCNE is needed; regional accreditation too. Take a look at the requirements for admission to any graduate school you are interested in. You will see that accreditation is needed.

I taught undergraduate nursing courses for one term at a for profit, nonaccredited college. My students were bright young people seeking a BSN. One of my purposes in joining allnurses.com is to alert readers to avoid considering this type of college as a place to get a nursing degree. As a faculty member, I saw how the only goal of the college administrators was to make as big a profit as possible, collecting all the cash they could from students' financial aid sources. I left the college after one term because I became extremely uncomfortable at the dishonesty of college administrators, who deceived students into thinking that soon the college would be accredited and that they would have no problems attending graduate nursing programs. The college was far from ever being ready for accreditation, because accreditation was a minor interest of administrators as long as good profits could be made from students. I heard college deans and college administrators minimize the difficulties that students would face trying to get into graduate school with a nonacredited degree. Only when students were nearing graduation and making inquiries at graduate schools on their own, did they realize that no graduate program that they were interested in would consider them as a student because of their nonaccredited degree. Much disappointment and anger followed. I think that the students could find jobs as RNs, but those who wanted to go on for masters and doctoral degrees, found that all doors were closed. What I saw them doing was applying to another accredited college for another undergraduate degree, taking on even more student debt, so that they could use that second undergraduate degree from an accredited college, to go to graduate school later. To put it most bluntly, individuals who run for profit, nonaccredited schools of nursing are unscrupulous people who are making huge amounts of money taking advantage of naive students who are unaware that these college programs are scams. Stay away from them, even if it means a long wait for a place at an accredited college. A diploma from an unaccredited school is worth nothing when it comes time to apply to graduate school.