The Spoon River College Nursing Program has been granted its initial accreditation by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN), which is the leading authority for nursing education.
Although Spoon River College’s associate nursing program has offered quality education since 1997, state regulatory bodies are requiring registered nursing programs to become accredited.
“Being accredited ensures quality standards are upheld to produce qualified nurse generalists,” said Tamatha Schleich, director of SRC’s nursing program.
An accredited program must meet certain criteria for faculty qualifications, course content, and program quality, which keeps nursing students educated at the same level regardless of the geographical location of their school. Accreditation also allows nursing students to easier receive federal aid, facilitates easy transfer to another institution for an advanced degree, and opens up additional career opportunities.
“The ACEN accreditation process is a rigorous journey of reflection to look at every part of the curriculum. The achievement shows Spoon River College’s dedication to the program, students, and community we serve,” Schleich said.
The effective date for initial accreditation of the associate degree program at Spoon River College is August 24, 2018, allowing those who graduated after this date to be able to identify the program they graduated from as an ACEN accredited program.
SRC’s Nursing Program underwent the initial site visit by ACEN to achieve this status in January of 2020. SRC’s accreditation status will continue through spring of 2025 when the colleges’ next site visit will occur.
The Spoon River College nursing program was ranked one of the best nursing schools in the nation by RNCareers.org in 2019, and the LPN program was ranked the number one program in Illinois by PracticalNursing.org in 2020 based on NCLEX pass rates. The program offers an Associate Degree in Nursing, a Practical Nurse Certificate, and a Nurse Assistant Certificate. For more information about the nursing program at Spoon River College, visit www.src.edu or call 309-647-4645.
Spoon River College is a two-year, public community college in West Central Illinois, with campuses and Community Outreach Centers in Canton and Macomb, and Learning Centers in Havana and Rushville.