Tuition

I don't know if this is the right section for this question but here goes. I am a soon to be single mother of 4 girls who lives about 45 minutes from Knoxville, TN. Our governor Bill Haslam, just announced a program where adults that want to go back to school can get two years free tuition (after all scholarships and grants have been applied) at a technical school. There is a Tennessee College of Applied Technology (formerly TN Technology Center) that has an LPN program. I really want my RN degree, but I will most definitely have to work while going to school and probably a little before I can go all in on an RN degree. Is the LPN program at this accredited and do the credits transfer to a larger school such as UTK or LMU? What are your thoughts on getting an lpn degree first as opposed to going ahead and getting an rn degree? I was told I needed to wait until all my children were in school (the youngest is 20 months old) because I would never be able to handle it if I had small children. I am determined to succeed, but don't know which path to take. I really need to find a good job to provide for my girls and I have always wanted to be a nurse, just too scared to try. I want to show my girls that you're never too old to go back to school. Thanks for any input!