Excelsior College School of Nursing is the largest in the nation!

[sanantone]

While I perhaps don't have as much experience as some others on this forum on the topic of nursing schools, my limited experience has shown me that nursing programs do show a preference to LPNs when considering admissions. Nursing schools don't just want applicants. They want applicants that can make the cut. An LPN, having already successfully completed one nursing program, is a better bet than someone "off the street", if all other factors are the same.

I would contend that you are absolutely wrong in your assessment that LPN-to-RN bridge programs only compete with other bridge programs. For this to be true, it would also have to be true that LPNs would and could only obtain their RN through such bridge programs.

They're targeting different markets. There has to be a reason why some LPNs choose bridge programs and others don't.

I've been interested in Percom for a long time and the possibility of bridging from a paramedic to RN, so I've been looking at EMT boards for a few years. Percom and some community college attract the most EMT/Paramedic students because they are what I believe to be the only two accredited schools that offer online EMT programs. There might be another one, but it mostly attracts local students. There are fire academies that are state-approved to offer EMT programs by distance, but they aren't accredited colleges. Even with those, there aren't many online options for EMT training.

Percom could attract 10,000 students, but it won't be competition for on-ground paramedic programs. Most people will still go through a traditional paramedic program simply because they either do not believe that healthcare training should be done by distance or they're uncomfortable with online learning. A common theme I saw with people who chose not to bridge from paramedic to RN, whether online or on ground, is that these people believed that paramedic training was too different to allow for a fast track to being a competent RN. I'm not saying they're right or wrong, but their views made it so that weren't a target market for bridge programs.

[dmjacobsen]

They're targeting different markets. There has to be a reason why some LPNs choose bridge programs and others don't.

Yep. Availability. Time. Cost. It doesn't matter why LPNs choose to bridge versus go through a traditional program. When a nursing program graduates 2,000 nurses per year -- a respectable chunk of the annual supply of new nurses, and larger than the entire graduating class of many universities -- the program is absolutely competition to other ADN programs and it's going to be on the radar.

I would agree that Excelsior is not competition for BSN programs.

Percom could attract 10,000 students, but it won't be competition for on-ground paramedic programs. Most people will still go through a traditional paramedic program simply because they either do not believe that healthcare training should be done by distance or they're uncomfortable with online learning.

Apples and oranges. Percom graduated 50 providers in 2014, only 21 of which were paramedics.

1) This is a drop in the bucket compared to national or even state graduation rates.
2) There is no across-the-board "paramedic shortage" (although, currently, I would content that there is no true nursing shortage, either) -- so there's no mad dash to get into paramedic programs. Even in the case of wait lists, paramedic program wait lists are nothing compared to nursing program wait lists.
3) Related to #2, paramedic programs are not big money. In many (not most, but many) states, this is a certificate program that can be completed in about a year with minimal prereqs. Not to undermine the clinical abilities of the paramedic -- just a statement of fact with an emphasis on revenue.
4) If Percom actually did start graduating 10,000 students per year, it would absolutely be competition for on-ground paramedic programs. This is a nonsensical statement.

Again, any good reason for states to choose to reject Excelsior and ISU other than politics and loss of revenue, considering they both have the same accreditation as other respect nursing programs? Any valid reason to suspect the overall quality of the program compared to traditional programs, when the graduates have similar or better outcomes?