How to Check If a Nursing Program Is Accredited

Reviewed June 1, 2026 by the ScrubScope editorial team.

To check whether a nursing program is accredited, verify three things on the source directories, not on the school's own marketing page: the nursing program on the CCNE or ACEN directory, the institution on the federal accreditation database, and the program on your state board of nursing's approved list. Each answers a different question, and a program can pass one and fail another. The whole check takes a few minutes and should happen before you pay a deposit, because accreditation is what connects your degree to federal aid, credit transfer, and licensure eligibility. Here is the exact sequence, what a clean result looks like, and the statuses that should make you pause.

The short answer

Do not trust an "accredited" badge on a program's website; confirm it at the source. Search the nursing program itself on the CCNE directory or the ACEN directory, the two nursing-specific programmatic accreditors^[1]. Confirm the school holds institutional accreditation on the U.S. Department of Education's database of accredited institutions and programs^[2]. Then confirm the program appears on your state board of nursing's approved list, which is the licensure-eligibility piece^[3]. If all three return a current, active status for the specific program and degree level you want, the accreditation is real. The two-layer system behind this check is explained in the nursing accreditation explainer.

Step 1: verify the nursing program on CCNE or ACEN

Start with the programmatic accreditor, because this is the badge employers and graduate programs care about most. CCNE and ACEN each publish a searchable directory of the programs they accredit^[4].

Search by the school name and find the specific program and degree level you are considering, because accreditation is granted to a program, not blanket to a school. A university can hold CCNE accreditation on its BSN and not on a brand-new DNP track, so confirm the exact degree you want is listed. A school review like our Ashland University profile shows what that looks like in practice: the accreditor and the specific accredited program are stated, which is exactly what you are confirming on the directory. Note the accreditor too: a program is accredited by CCNE or by ACEN, not both, and either is recognized for nursing^[1]. The difference between the two accreditors is covered in the CCNE vs ACEN comparison.

If the program does not appear, do not assume the directory is out of date. Email admissions and ask for the accreditor and the exact program name as it is listed, then search again. A program that holds accreditation can tell you exactly where to find it.

Step 2: confirm the institution on the federal database

The programmatic check tells you the nursing program is accredited. The institutional check tells you the whole school is accredited by an agency the Education Department recognizes, which is what gates federal student aid and most credit transfers.

Search the school on the Department of Education's database of accredited postsecondary institutions and programs^[2]. A current entry confirms the institution is recognized for Title IV federal aid purposes. This matters even when the nursing program is CCNE-accredited, because the two approvals are separate and you need both for the practical systems to work.

Step 3: confirm the program on your state board's approved list

The third check is the one most applicants skip, and it is the one tied directly to whether you can be licensed. State boards of nursing approve the programs whose graduates may sit the NCLEX and apply for licensure in that state, and this approval is separate from national accreditation^[3].

Find your state board of nursing's website and its list of approved nursing education programs, and confirm your program and degree level are on it. A program can be CCNE-accredited and still need to be on your board's approved list for you to test and license in your state. If you plan to work in a different state than where you study, check that state's board list too.

What a clean result looks like, and what should make you pause

A clean verification returns the same program, at the degree level you want, with a current and active status across all three sources.

A few statuses should slow you down rather than stop you outright. A nursing program in candidacy or applicant status is in the accreditation pipeline but is not yet accredited; ACEN and CCNE both run that formal phase, and it carries the risk that final accreditation does not follow^[4]. A status of "on warning," "on probation," or "continued with conditions" means the accreditor flagged concerns; the program is still accredited, but you should ask the program directly what the concern was and what the timeline to resolve it is.

The result that should stop you for a licensable degree is no accreditation relationship at all: not in the CCNE or ACEN directory, not in candidacy, and not on the federal or state board lists. That combination is the one with real downstream cost.

A quick checklist

Run these four confirmations before any deposit:

1. The exact program and degree level appears on the CCNE or ACEN directory with a current status.
2. The institution appears on the federal accreditation database.
3. The program appears on your state board of nursing's approved-programs list.
4. If you will work in a different state, that state's board recognizes the program too.

If any one fails and the program cannot explain it with a directory link, treat that as your answer.

Bottom line

Checking a nursing program's accreditation means verifying it at three sources, not on the program's own page: CCNE or ACEN for the program, the federal database for the institution, and your state board for licensure eligibility^[2]. A clean result is the same program, at your degree level, current and active across all three. Anything in candidacy or under a warning status is a question to ask before you enroll, and a program with no accreditation relationship is one to walk away from for a degree you plan to license on. For how the two accreditation layers fit together, read the nursing accreditation explainer.

ScrubScope ranks programs by fit and never by which school pays more; schools, not us, make every admissions decision.

Reviewed every 90 days.