Sumner College or Concorde Career College, Portland LPN programs - Has anyone attended?

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Hello, 

I am desperate to start school to increase my income ASAP and I can't move to another state. I have a bachelors degree that has proven to be useless in gaining employment. I have some but not all pre requisites for RN programs (missing 4). Sumner is no pre requisites BSN but it takes 2 years and 8 months. I can't wait that long to make more money. I know I won't get accepted into an ABSN even if I had the pre reqs because the programs are so competitive in the PNW. My worry is Sumner and Concorde do not hold ACEN accreditation or NLN CNEA accreditation they are only approved by the Oregon Board of Nursing. Any graduates of these programs have a hard time seeking employment? I've spoken to 2 community college Deans in Oregon about their LPN to RN bridge and as long as you have an LPN license and pre requisites at a regionally accredited school (which I do I went to the top school in my home state and I plan on doing the missing 4 pre reqs at CC) I should be good but I almost don't trust it. I've seen jobs like the VA only take LPNs from ACEN programs even though the state of Oregon literally doesn't have any and it worries me. I've worked as a tech for 10 years but things in my life have changed and If I don't increase my income in a years time I could end up homeless. I feel so cornered right now and I don't want to make a rash decision but I don't know what else to do 

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Hi there,

I'm an LPN who went to Sumner. I graduated in 2020. I have had no issues at all with employment! I even worked in Washington for a bit. Got my Washington license without a problem! Hope that helps! 

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PNW_Nurse said:

Hi there,

I'm an LPN who went to Sumner. I graduated in 2020. I have had no issues at all with employment! I even worked in Washington for a bit. Got my Washington license without a problem! Hope that helps! 

Hey! I saw you in another thread about getting accepted into an RN program, congratulations!! 

I am on waitlists everywhere and I do not feel like taking another year off of school. I want to get my LPN first and do that path. How was Sumner for you? What kind of jobs did you land after graduating? Also how difficult was the admission process? I don't want to get stuck in a rut of applying to RN programs and never getting in. 

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Hi, 

I wrote a lengthy response on the MHCC chat. Please let me know if you have any other questions!

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mrk2424 said:

Hey! I saw you in another thread about getting accepted into an RN program, congratulations!! 

I am on waitlists everywhere and I do not feel like taking another year off of school. I want to get my LPN first and do that path. How was Sumner for you? What kind of jobs did you land after graduating? Also how difficult was the admission process? I don't want to get stuck in a rut of applying to RN programs and never getting in. 

Oh, I didn't really answer how Sumner was for me. I did their program July 2019 - August 2020. Pandemic lockdowns occurred March 2020. 

So I started their program when it was in person. When the lockdowns occurred, the school shut down for like 2 weeks and created a online platform. So I finished online, except for rarely coming in for lab checkoffs. My understanding is the program is still hybrid. So it should be easier, as in less in-person commitment, if that works with your learning style. When we went online, we had Zoom meetings. I think they still that you do that? 

I have a co-worker who got her LPN at Sumner as well, and she started their BSN program. She didn't need to take all of the classes, since some of them transferred over from the LPN program. I didn't pick Sumner because their BSN program is so expensive!

Schooling itself was okay. I think my GPA was like 3.8+?

Let me know if you have any questions. You can also do a information session with Sumner. I think they have that for both the LPN and BSN programs.

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