Programmatic Accreditation: Absolutely Critical to Launch your Career

Programmatic Accreditation:

There are  67 recognized programmatic accrediting organizations accredit programs or free-standing institutions that enrolled more than 3.9 million students in 2012-2013 according to Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). This figure includes all programmatic accreditors that are or have been recognized by CHEA or the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) and are currently engaged in accreditation activities.

Consequence to students attending an institution without Programmatic Accreditation:

Colleges sometimes offer programs that do not carry the industry-standard accreditation that allows graduates to obtain employment in the field. Graduates from these programs are often surprised to learn that, although they went to an institutionally accredited school, they cannot practice the professions for which they purportedly trained. Some fields, mostly in the health care occupations, require program-specific accreditation. If a college offers a program that does not carry programmatic accreditation, then students often cannot find work because employers only hire graduates from accredited programs, or because State laws prohibit graduates from non-accredited programs from practicing their specialty. In spite of these serious consequences, for-profit schools that offer unaccredited programs seldom provide a meaningful warning to their students about this issue. As a result, many students first learn about their program’s accreditation after accumulating debt, attending school, and attempting to enter the workforce.

What Is Programmatic Accreditation?

There are two broad types of accreditation for institutions of higher education. The first type is institutional accreditation, which indicates that a membership organization approved by the Department of Education has conducted a peer review of the institution and certified that the college or university meets specified school-wide standards of quality. Institutional accreditation is critical for all colleges and universities because it is required for any school to be eligible to receive financial aid funds from the U.S. Department of Education. In contrast, rather than certifying an entire school or institution, programmatic accreditation certifies that a specific degree or certificate program meets standards expected within a particular field or profession. Different professions and different States place a different emphasis on programmatic accreditation.

For instance, here is a video (click the link below) who is considering a career in Radiologic Technology.

http://www.jrcert.org/students/what-is-accreditation/

Students Are Not Informed About Programmatic Accreditation:

Institutions that offer programs that lack programmatic accreditation are highly inconsistent in how they disclose this lack of programmatic accreditation. Some make a note on the programs’ Web pages, albeit rarely in a prominent location. Others post the disclosure deep in their Web sites or in the fine print within pages of enrollment agreements, while framing the disclosure in terms that prevent students from recognizing the gravity of this issue. Few people would enroll in a program if they knew they would be unable to use their degree or diploma to qualify for a job in their field after graduation. Unfortunately, the investigation has documented multiple examples of students who have been recruited into non-accredited programs under the mistaken belief that their investment of time and money would lead to a valuable credential and access to a job in the field.

Below is the link for the directory of Programmatic Accreditation:

http://www.chea.org/4DCGI/cms/review.html?Action=CMS_Document&DocID=200&MenuKey=main

Here are more information for few on demand programs:

Nursing:

Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN)

Marsal P. Stoll, Chief Executive Officer

3343 Peachtree Road, NE, Suite 850

Atlanta, GA 30326

Phone: 404-975-5000

Fax: 404-975-5020

E-mail: info@acenursing.org

Web: www.acenursing.org

Recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, September 2011

CHEA-Recognized Scope of Accreditation

Accreditation of nursing education programs and schools, both postsecondary and higher degree, which offer either a certificate, diploma, or recognized professional degree (clinical doctorate, master's, baccalaureate, associate, diploma, and practical nursing) in the United States, its territories and internationally, including those offered via distance education. (2011)

Physical Therapy:

American Physical Therapy Association (APTA-CAPTE)

Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education

Sandra L. Wise, Senior Director of Accreditation

1111 North Fairfax Street

Alexandria, VA 22314

Phone: 703-706-3245

Fax: 703-706-3387

E-mail: sandrawise@apta.org

Web: www.capteonline.org

Recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, September 2012

CHEA-Recognized Scope of Accreditation

CAPTE accredits physical therapist professional education programs offered at the master’s and clinical doctoral degree levels by higher education institutions in the United States and internationally. CAPTE also accredits paraprofessional physical therapist assistant technical education programs offered at the associate degree level by higher education institutions in the United States only. (2012)

Radiology

Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology (JRCERT)

Leslie Winter, Chief Executive Officer

20 North Wacker Drive, Suite 2850

Chicago, IL 60606-3182

Phone: 312-704-5300

Fax: 312-704-5304

E-mail: mail@jrcert.org

Web: www.jrcert.org

Recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, April 2004

CHEA-Recognized Scope of Accreditation

The Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology (JRCERT) currently accredits educational programs in radiography, radiation therapy, magnetic resonance, and medical dosimetry that can be offered at the certificate, associate, baccalaureate, and master’s degree levels in both traditional and distance education settings. These programs are housed in institutionally accredited, degree granting institutions and hospitals/medical centers that only award certificates. The geographic boundaries of JRCERT accreditation activities are within the United States and its territories, commonwealths, and possessions. (2013)

American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA)

Council on Education (COE)

Dr. Karen Brandt, Director of Education and Research

1931 North Meacham Road, Suite 100

Schaumburg, IL 60173-4360

Phone: 847-925-8070

Fax: 847-285-5732

E-mail: kbrandt@avma.org

Web: www.avma.org

Recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, January 2012

CHEA-Recognized Scope of Accreditation

Schools and programs that offer the professional Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree, or its equivalent, in the United States and Canada. The Council may also accredit foreign veterinary colleges. (2015)

Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC)

Thomas Smalling, Executive Director

1248 Harwood Road

Bedford, TX 76021-4244

Phone: 817-283-2835

Fax: 817-354-8519

Email: tom@coarc.com

Web: www.coarc.com

Recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, September 2012

CHEA-Recognized Scope of Accreditation

The CoARC accredits entry into professional practice programs in respiratory care at the Associate, Baccalaureate, and Master's Degree level in the United States. The CoARC also accredits polysomnography programs offered by professional respiratory care degree programs in the United States. (2015)

Top 5 New York Nursing Programs

Based on recent NCLEX pass rate of schools with at least over 50 candidates for NCLEX exam. 

#1. University of Rochester

University of Rochester has an unique approach in their program offering. Their accelerated BSN program is designed for students, who already have bachelor's degrees in other fields, want to pursue nursing as the career. If you are already a RN, you can pursue MSN or PHD program. Their NCLEX pass rate for Baccalaureate degree program are consistently over 90% for 2013 and 2014 where state and national average was 78% and 84% respectively.. Faculty research productivity earned the University of Rochester School of Nursing (URSON) a ranking of 16 in research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2011.

NCLEX Pass Rate:

2014 - 91.8% (151 passed over 171 candidates)

2013 - 90.6% (155 / 171)

Accreditation: CCNE

Website: http://www.son.rochester.edu/index.html

#2. Pace University - Lienhard school of Nursing - Pleasantvillie

Lienhard school of nursing focused on student’s leadership development, critical thinking and cultural competence alongside with building the highly developed clinical skills of a professional nurse. Lienhard School of Nursing programs consist of the: four-year BS (offered in Pleasantville) and Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing or ABSN for non-nurse college graduates (offered in both New York City and Pleasantville).

NCLEX Pass Rate:

2014 - 91.7% (100 passed over 109 candidates) - highest in NY metro area

2013 - 88.1% (96/109)

Accreditation: CCNE

Website:  http://www.pace.edu/academics/undergraduate-students/nursing-bs

#3. SUNY Health Science Center - Brooklyn

Their 15 month accelerated BS in nursing program is designed for students who already have bachelor's degrees in other fields. The school also offers MS in four areas of nursing, Clinical nurse specialist, nurse practitioner, nurse midwifery and nurse anesthesia.

2014 - 90.9% (60 passed over 66 candidates)

2013 - 92.5% (49/53)

Accreditation: CCNE

Website: http://sls.downstate.edu/admissions/nursing/index.html

#4. SUNY Brockport

SUNY Brockport offers traditional BSN program. They also offer junior and senior level courses for students without associate’s degrees or students or bachelors degrees in different field.

2014 - 90.2% (83 passed over 92 candidates)

2013 - 90.9% (60/66)

Accreditation: CCNE

Website: https://www.brockport.edu/nursing/

#5. St John Fisher College - Wegmans School of Nursing

With state of art facilities, passionate faculty and hands on clinical experience student also learn how to positively impact culturally diverse individuals, families and communities. They offer Nursing BS program, RN to BSN online program, Graduate Nursing Program and Doctoral Nursing Program.

2014 - 90.1% (146 passed over 162 candidates)

2013 - 85.7% (114/133)

Accreditation: CCNE

Website: https://www.brockport.edu/nursing/

Here is the complete list:

http://www.op.nysed.gov/prof/nurse/nurseprogs-nclexrn2013-17.htm

Here is the list of CCNE Baccalaureate  degree program:

http://directory.ccnecommunity.org/reports/rptAccreditedPrograms_New.asp?state=NY&sFullName=New%20York&sProgramType=1  

How to find an approved, accredited and affordable Nursing program?

It is very critical to launch your RN (Registered Nurse) career by graduating from a Nursing program from a board-approved, accredited and affordable school.  There are three important steps you must consider before you start nursing program with any school:

Step 1: Go to your state Board of Nursing (BON) web page to find an approved school for nursing program.

Step 2: Find out if the school is accredited by ACEN or CCNE.

Step 3:  Finding out graduation rate, retention rate, and net tuition of the approved school by visiting National Center for Education Statistics.

Details of following these steps including web links are explained on next page.

The following explains the outcomes of not following above mentioned three steps:

•        If you graduate from a non-approved nursing program, you will not be able to sit for RN exam administered by NCLEX. To ensure public protection, boards of nursing/regulatory bodies (BONs/RBs) require a candidate for licensure/registration to pass an exam that measures the competencies needed to perform safely and effectively as an entry-level nurse. Please refer to this site for more information: https://www.ncsbn.org/nclex.htm .All your hard earned money and precious time invested for pursuing RN program (associates or bachelors) will be a waste if you cannot get RN credential by taking and passing NCLEX exam for RN. 

•       If nursing program is not accredited by ACEN or CCNE, you will not be able to transfer your credits when you like to pursue bachelors, master or doctoral degrees in accredited nursing schools; unless the non-accredited program established articulation agreement with accredited
  school. There are lot of hospitals that will not hire you if your RN program is not accredited by ACEN or CCNE. You will obviously have competitive advantage over other candidates who graduated from non-accredited nursing program. Hospitals tend to hire RN graduated from accredited school, since they are maintaining a nationally established standards.  
•     And lastly, even if your school is approved and accredited, you must check affordability of the school by finding net tuition and fees and compare graduation rate and retention rate of your desired schools. Graduation rate is the percentage of a school's first-time, first-year undergraduate students who complete their program within 150% of the published time for the program. For example, for a four-year degree program, entering students who complete within six years are counted as graduates. Retention rate is the percentage of a school's first-time, first-year undergraduate students who continue at that school the next year. For example, a student who studies full-time in the fall semester and keeps on studying in the program in the next fall semester is counted in this rate. Why to pay more and incur unnecessary debt by attending schools with unjustified high tuition. 

 The purpose of writing this article is to provide you a comprehensive step by step guide so that you can research on your own to find the right RN program for you or someone you care for. If you follow the three steps process explained below, you will not only find an approved and accredited RN program but also save thousands of dollars on tuition and fees.

Step 1: 

First step is to find out if the school is approved by Boards of Nursing to teach nursing program. Boards of Nursing (BONs), https://www.ncsbn.org/boards.htm), are state governmental agencies that are responsible for the regulation of nursing practice. More than 100 years ago, state governments established BONs to protect the public's health and welfare by supervising and confirming the safe practice of nursing. BONs achieve this mission by outlining the standards for safe nursing care and issuing licenses to practice nursing. Once a license is issued, the board's job continues by monitoring licensees' compliance to state laws and taking action against the licenses of those nurses who have exhibited unsafe nursing practice.

Your state’ BON keeps an approved list of schools who offers nursing programs. When you browse thru this list you also need to look for schools who are on probation or provisional standing. Every state’ list is different than others. In Illinois, if graduate’s passing rate (percentage of students passing RN exam for any given year) for NCLEX falls below 75%, school receives a warning letter followed by probation and eventually lose their approval to offer RN program if they don’t improve their graduate’s passing rate. Here is the link for Illinois Board of Nursing approved schools:

http://www.idfpr.com/DPR/WHO/Schools/NurseSchools.pdf
 

Once you open the page, make sure you pay attention to following details:

·         Choose for the program that you are looking for (Associates or bachelors etc.).

·         At the end of the list (page 8), you can find schools who are on warning or probation for poor passing rate.

·         If you are unable to find detail on your chosen school’ NCLEX RN exam passing rate, please contact me via email.

All nursing programs must be approved by BON. You need to go to the site of your specific state BON site to find out the approved program. Be very careful when you google search for your board’ website. There are lot of companies websites might show on the top of the search result as they pay high amount for such outcome.  It may misguide you to non-approved and/or non accredited schools who is looking to profit only from your tuition. I have attached few state’s Boards of Nursing website. If you click these link below, it will take you to the list of schools. If you can’t find the approved school list for your state, please email me.

For New York State nursing programs click the link below:

http://www.op.nysed.gov/prof/nurse/nurseprogs-assoc.htm
 

For California State nursing programs click the link below:

http://www.rn.ca.gov/schools/rnprograms.shtml

For nursing board of Florida, click below:

http://floridasnursing.gov/nursing-education-programs-faqs/

 

Step 2: 

Once you make a list of desired schools that you want to enroll, visit following websites to find out if the RN program is accredited or not. You will always find schools may have Board’s approval without accreditation. It is very important to enroll into an accredited institution for credit transferability, up to date and higher quality program and above all broader employment opportunities.

Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, ACEN accredits ADN/ASN/BSN programs. CCNE accredits BSN/MSN/DNP programs as well as post-bacc nurse residency programs. These are often desired/required by employers for employment and by academic institutions for further nursing education. For example, the VA, the nation’s largest employer of RNs, will only consider applicants from ACEN / CCNE programs. Many RN->BSN and MSN/DNP programs will not accept applicants from non-accredited programs.

You can search a nursing program's national accreditation status here:

http://apps.aacn.nche.edu/CCNE/reports/accprog.asp

http://www.acenursing.us/accreditedprograms/programSearch.htm

Step 3:         

Congratulations! You are at the last step to find the right program for you. As we all know that school education requires investment of your time and money. It is very important to find out the school which has reasonable tuition and also has great graduation and NCLEX passing rate. Once you make a list of schools that you are considering, you click the link below to find out each school’ net tuition, retention and graduation rate. This will help you to find out the right school that saves you thousands of dollars in debt.

http://nces.ed.gov/schoolnavigator/

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