Yes, and the wording matters more than usual
Herzing is institutionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, and its nursing programmes are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. Both boxes a licensure board or an employer cares about are ticked. What is worth understanding is how that accreditation attaches.
Herzing's published accreditation statements, checked August 2026. Accreditation status changes; verify current standing with CCNE and HLC directly if you intend to rely on it.
The two accreditations, and which one you need
- Higher Learning Commission
- Institutional accreditation. This is what governs credit transfer, federal aid eligibility, and whether a graduate school will take your degree seriously later. Institution-wide
- CCNE
- Programmatic accreditation for nursing specifically. This is the one state boards and nurse recruiters look for, and the one that determines whether your degree qualifies you to sit certification. Per programme
The detail nobody explains
CCNE accreditation at Herzing is stated campus by campus rather than as a blanket institutional fact. The bachelor's programme is accredited at Atlanta, Brookfield, Clarksville, Kenosha, Madison, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans and Orlando. The doctoral programme, the master's programme and the post-graduate APRN certificate are accredited at Herzing University – Madison.
If you are an online graduate nursing student, Madison is the accreditation your programme runs through. That is entirely normal for a multi-campus university and it is not a problem. It is worth knowing anyway, because it is exactly the sort of thing that causes a moment of doubt when a board or an employer asks you to name your programme's accreditor, and because it is not what people expect from a school marketed as online.
The third question accreditation does not answer
Accreditation tells you the programme is recognised. It does not tell you that you can practise, or even enrol, where you live. For Herzing's online nurse practitioner programmes there is a hard admission gate: applicants need a current, unrestricted RN licence in their state of residence, or a multi-state compact licence if they live in a compact state.
Beyond that, state authorisation and clinical placement approval are separate matters that vary by state and by programme, and they are the ones that actually stop people. Settle both before you enrol rather than after.
Settle the licence and state questions before you apply.
Accreditation is the easy part. Whether you can enrol, place and practise where you live is the part that stops people, and it is worth twenty minutes up front.
Request the call