ASN vs BSN, LPN mobility to RN – What’s in the letters? Indiana Nursing programs
Accreditation status – The stamp of Approval
Nursing school NCLEX pass rates – Test taking, it DOES
matter?
Public vs Private vs Proprietary - What’s the difference? Will my previous college credits transfer?
Tuition Assistance – Show me the $
List of questions to ask when shopping for a nursing school Additional Resources
ASN – Associate of Science in Nursing
Two year program, entry level position that provides direct care to individuals or families
BSN – Bachelor of Science in Nursing
Four year program, provides direct and indirect nursing care to individuals, families, groups or communities that span the continuum of care. Emphasis on
communication, health education and promotion, leadership and research
Consider your future goals:
Careers as a manager, educator, clinical nurse specialist, nurse practitioner, military - all require a BSN foundation with graduate school for some.
Examine the number of credit hours the
program requires. There are differences in the number of overall hours required. More hours isn’t necessarily bad but look at the types of classes required.
LPN to ASN - Univ of Indpls, Ivy Tech LPN to BSN – Indiana State, Ball State May begin with ASN and do a BSN
completion program later. Do note that some classes (especially science) may
have an expiration date (6-10 years). If older may need to be repeated.
Consider an accelerated BSN degree Builds on previous education
Takes 12-20 months to complete
IU, Purdue, Marian all offer completion
programs
This is an intense, rapidly
progressing curriculum that requires full time study.
Visit ic4n.org website for a list
of all the fully accredited nursing schools in Indiana and the programs they offer.
Visit the individual school’s website to look
at curriculums (required classes),
requirements for admission, and of course tuition.
Schools that are fully accredited meet
specific levels of quality. Community
Health Network defines fully accredited schools as having all the following criteria:
Accredited by the ISBN (Indiana State Board of
Nursing). For a list of ISBN accredited schools go to:
www.in.gov/pla/2490.htm
Accredited by a regional or national accrediting
agency. Ex: The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. For a list of accredited schools go to:
www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html
Accredited by one of 2 nationally recognized nursing
accrediting bodies: National League for Nursing
Accrediting Commission (NLNAC) or Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE)
Community Health Network education
assistance program requires that the
college must have ALL 3 accreditations.
In addition, if you graduate from an ASN
program that is not fully accredited, you may be unable to apply to a BSN program or may have additional requirements to
Community Health Network does not allow
clinical rotations from Schools of Nursing that are not fully accredited.
Student extern positions will not be
offered to those enrolled in programs that are not fully accredited.
All associate and bachelor nurses must
pass the NCLEX (National Council of Licensure Examination). Examine the pass rate trends for your interested
school. Pass rates should generally be 85-90% consistently.
For Indiana Schools of Nursing pass rates:
http://www.in.gov/pla/2490.htm
If pass rates for your school are not listed,
Nursing schools are either public,
private or proprietary
Public schools
such as IU, Purdue, ISU, BSU, Ivy Tech
are non-profit and supported by state funds
tuition tends to be cheaper, class sizes may be larger
Private schools
non-profit, non-public
such as Marian, U of I, Anderson receive no funding from the state
tuition tends to be more expensive and class size smaller.
Proprietary schools
for profit
such as Harrison College (IBC), ITT, Med Tech, Fortis privately owned and are developed primarily to teach
vocational skills. No state funding so tuition tends to be higher.
Mission of non-profit and for-profit institutions may
If you have any previous college credit, take your
transcript to the school you are interested in
attending and have them review your transcript.
DO NOT assume that any class will transfer.
Have your transcript officially reviewed by the school.
Colleges will be highly selective on what classes
they will transfer especially those with a laboratory component.
How many courses will transfer can significantly
change your overall tuition bill. Do this BEFORE you are accepted so you have no surprises later!
This is extremely important if you pursue an ASN
degree with the intention of continuing on for BSN.
When shopping for a nursing school,
questions to ask:
What types of accreditations does your school hold?
What is your NCLEX pass rate?
What classes that I’ve already taken will transfer?
What is your tuition?
How many credit hours is your program?
What scholarships are available to students?
How are you admitted to your program? What is
the average GPA needed to be admitted? How is the GPA calculated?
Go online to nursing2000inc.org Good luck!
Examples of schools in this powerpoint represent schools in central Indiana. Please see Nursing 2000 for a list of all Indiana schools.
