Both the NLNAC and the CCNE highlight a number of benefits of accreditation. In addition to recognizing that a program has been evaluated by an independent group, accreditation aids with transferring credits and evaluating students' coursework. Accreditation ensures that students, employers, faculty and staff can be sure of the standards to which a nursing program adheres.
The NLNAC is made up of an elected board of commissioners who are collectively responsible for NLNAC policy. The board of commissioners is composed of nursing education, nursing service and public representatives. It also has a peer review network made up of program evaluators, some of whom also hold positions as evaluation review panel members and appeal panel members. Program evaluators are faculty or administrators at nursing degree programs accredited by the NLNAC or are nurse clinicians.
The NLNAC published a standard curriculum for nursing education from 1917 to 1937 and in 1938 began accrediting nursing education programs. In 1949 the National Nursing Accrediting Service was established to standardize nursing education accreditation, a service that lasted until 1952, when the National League of Nursing Education merged with two other groups to form the National League for Nursing. It was in 1952 that the NLN Division of Nursing Education took over the responsibility of accrediting nursing education programs and was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
In 1996 the decision was made to create an independent group to handle the accreditation process, and in 1997 the NLNAC was formed.
The CCNE is composed of a board of commissioners. On the CCNE board are representing deans and faculty as well as representatives of public consumers, private consumers and practicing nurses. Similar to the NLNAC, the CCNE has a network of evaluators who conduct site visits to programs that are accredited or are seeking accreditation from the CCNE.
The CCNE was established as independent from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing in 1998. The CCNE provides accreditation for baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs as well as nurse residency programs.
The NLNAC is the older of these two accrediting bodies and accredits a wider range of program types, from practical nursing all the way up to nursing doctorate. According to My-Nurising-Career.com, the NLNAC "works much more closely with government standards than the CCNE does," meaning that NLNAC-accredited programs may be able to provide a wider variety of student assistance in conjunction with federal agencies and government.
Both the NLNAC and the CCNE provide guidelines for nursing degree programs and regularly re-evaluate their performance.