Skip to main content

School of Nursing Moves from ACEN to CCNE National Accreditation

The School of Nursing degree programs have received five-year accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), who accredits exclusively baccalaureate and postbaccalaureate programs. The accredited programs are the Bachelor of Science in nursing, including the on-campus bachelor’s degree in nursing program and the online RN-BS Completion Track; the Master of Nursing; the Master of Science in nursing; and the Doctor of Nursing Practice. The accreditation is retroactively effective as of March 11, 2015, the first day of the CCNE on-site evaluation.

Historically, Boise State’s School of Nursing programs have been accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN), which accredits all types of nursing programs including associate and licensed practical nursing programs. “As a result of changes in the academic focus of the nursing program, and with the addition of the doctoral program, the CCNE is a more appropriate fit for Boise State,” said Ann Hubbert, director of the School of Nursing. “The School of Nursing is very pleased that after a lengthy and intensive application process our academic programs received recognition by CCNE for their quality and integrity. We are proud of the role we play in educating nurses, nurse practitioners and nurse leaders.”

CCNE is an accrediting agency that contributes to the improvement of the public’s health by assessing and identifying programs that engage in effective educational practices. In this way, CCNE ensures the quality and integrity of baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs, thereby influencing the quality of nursing services provided to the public. CCNE serves the public interest through a voluntary, self-regulatory process, supports and encourages continuing self-assessment by nursing programs, and supports continuing growth and improvement of collegiate professional education.

Boise State University School of Nursing is focused on academic excellence, meaningful scholarly pursuits, and service to our profession and to our community. The Boise State nursing faculty are supportive teachers, passionate about nursing, and experienced educators with a wide range of clinical and academic expertise. Whether courses are taught online, in the classroom, or in a clinical setting, teaching and learning are highly interactive and multidimensional and the curriculum is designed to facilitate experiences that help students to incorporate theoretical concepts into practice.

Since the school’s two new graduate certificates were in the planning stages during the CCNE site visit in March, they were not included in the accreditation review. The Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner Graduate Certificate program and the Healthcare Simulation Education Graduate Certificate program will be reviewed for CCNE accreditation at the next site visit in 2020.

For more about CCNE, visit their website at www.aacn.nche.edu/ccne-accreditation.
For more about Boise State University School of Nursing, visit www.boisestate.edu/nursing.