Stuck with Unaccredited Degree forever?

[DaOnlyWildFlower]

Hi, I am new here, Just curious if anyone has any advise for this situation, as it seems to be getting more and more disheartening as I look for solutions on my own.

I am a Registered Nurse with a BSN. I woud like to go back to school again. However, I graduated from Mountain State University, and my BSN degree is not accredited. The program was accredited when I started but they officially lost all appeals and accredidation just before I graduated. This caused many problems for my class in finding places to work in this area. Several graduates lost their jobs and many others, including myself, have had trouble finding new jobs post-boards.

I had always wanted to go back to school for CRNA but that requires critical care experience and its starting to look like even getting a job in a hospital is not going to happen anytime soon, so getting into critical care will take even longer. So, I decided to look into other options for furture education and advancment. Problem is every program of interest I look at for a Masters or even a certification to go with my BSN requires proof of graduation from an accredited school.

Is there anything I can do with this degree as far as future advancement? I was looking into CRNA or NP programs and possibly a holistic certification.

Any advice would help. Thank you.

[umbdude, MSN, APRN]

I'm sorry to hear that! It sounds like a complete nightmare.

I don't have any useful suggestion. But I do want to throw out the fact that if you or anyone in your class are severely burdened by student loan debt from that school, this is one of those few instances where you can default on a student loan. I'm not saying that it's a good idea to default, but for some, who can't find a job and are facing major financial problem, this might be a better alternative than carrying a loan for the rest of your life and it's one that obviously does not pay for itself.

[NICUmiiki, DNP, NP]

Since you are an RN, maybe you could take a RN to BSN program. A school might take some of the credits from your last school and you'll at least have an accredited BSN to lean on... The whole situation is pretty unfair. It would make me want to look up legal options. You paid for the education believing that you would graduate with an accredited degree and that's not what they delivered.

[CDEWannaBe]

I'd start calling schools with Masters programs and get their advice.

My guess is that you're going to have to start over and retake classes to get your BSN. If that's the case you may be able to test out of some classes. In addition to doing an RN to BSN you might find some that offer an Accelerated BSN for someone who already has a Bachelors.