Nursing Careers: 

As you begin your pursuit of a comparison of nursing schools for the best online LPN degree, you should take a few elements into consideration, including what your career goals are and what your 

needs consist of. Use these guidelines when comparing schools and you will find that the comparison process to be easier than you expected.

Official Endorsements

When searching for nursing schools, the first thing to look for is accreditation of the school by either the CCNE (Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education) or the National League of Nursing Accreditation Commission.  Accreditation by one of these organizations is essential since your certification will be needed at the time of graduation.  Also, if the school you choose does not have an accreditation, your state may not recognize your LPN  degree.

You can usually find information on a school’s accreditation on their website, but contacting the school directly is also an acceptable way of finding this out.  Double check to make sure your state accepts your accredited school’s nursing program as a means to take the NCLEX licensing examination as that is extremely important to note prior to schooling.

School Standings

Comparing how online LPN school rank next to each other is a good way to recognize which schools stand out and which aren’t worth looking into.  A great place to find information on school rankings is the U.S. News and World Report, which ranks a large amount of colleges, even online programs for nursing.

Looking into the success rates of the school’s graduates is also a good insight into the school’s education program.  Examining the pass vs. fail rates of the students’ NCLEX exams will enlighten you on the chances of you passing them yourself, and ultimately what your chances of obtaining a good job are, post-graduation.

Face-to-Face

After you have exhausted all avenues of comparison, you always have the option of going directly to the source.  Asking faculty and students, both current and past, about how the program is run and how successful it is can be a great way to find out more about each school.  Online, you can find numerous ways to compare online LPN schools, such as newsgroups or forums for people in professional nursing organizations.