How Nurses Can Go from Vocational School Graduates to University Graduates ① [National Institution for Academic Degrees and Quality Enhancement of Higher Education]
After graduating from a vocational school, I worked while attending the Open University of Japan to accumulate credits, and then used the National Institution for Academic Degrees and Quality Enhancement of Higher Education (NIAD-QE) to obtain a nursing degree.
In this article, I will write about that process.
In this article, I will cover the process from gathering information to selecting a university, focusing on how to acquire the accumulated credits necessary to take the examination at the NIAD-QE.
Information Gathering: 3 Things to Collect First
The first thing I want you to do is obtain the following three items.
① Request the 'Path to a New Bachelor's Degree' (Atarashii Gakushi e no To) from the NIAD-QE website.
: You will need to request the latest version again in the year you take the exam, but it is an essential item to have on hand from the credit acquisition stage because it is packed with everything important. In short, know your enemy.
② Request the 'Guide for Those Aiming to Obtain a Bachelor's Degree via the NIAD-QE Using the Open University of Japan' from the Open University of Japan.
: Since you need to accumulate credits at some university, it is best to start by gathering information on the Open University of Japan, which is the most standard option.
③ Purchase the book 'Introduction to Creating Learning Outcome Reports for Nurses Graduating from Junior Colleges/Vocational Schools to Easily Obtain a Nursing University Degree' published by Okumura Shoten.
: This book is one of the few available regarding obtaining a nursing bachelor's degree through the NIAD-QE. Its predecessor was so popular that it sold out and was being resold at high prices on Mercari. You can purchase it at the regular price from the Okumura Shoten website, so I highly recommend getting a copy. (1 copy: 1,980 yen)
Information Gathering: Knowing Your Situation and What You Need
When obtaining a degree through the NIAD-QE, you need credits from the institution where you obtained your basic qualification, plus additional credits earned at a university, and a period of enrollment.
The number of additional credits, the subjects, and the required years of enrollment at a university vary depending on the number of credits earned and the years of enrollment at the school you graduated from, and you must earn credits to meet these specific requirements.
The first hurdle to obtaining a degree through the NIAD-QE is this credit accumulation.
If even one of the earned credits does not meet the requirements, you will fail. However, determining which credits you must earn is part of the examination itself, so no one will tell you.
You must also perform all the credit classification yourself. If you make a mistake in that classification, you may end up in a sad situation where you are not allowed to take the essay exam due to insufficient credits, or you go to the essay exam only to fail.
In that case, you would have to re-enroll in a university to earn the missing credits and try again, which would be a major blow in terms of time, money, and mental health.
Information regarding obtaining a degree through the National Institution for Academic Degrees and Quality Enhancement of Higher Education is already extremely scarce, and information concerning the number of credits is even scarcer.
I have made this a paid article because it contains personal information, but I have packed it with all the credits I held, the additional credits I acquired, and their classifications, so please make use of it.
First, it is important to know the classification of the nursing school you graduated from, confirm your basic qualifications, and then have your nursing school issue a certificate of credits earned so that you know exactly which credits you currently hold.
To do this, please contact your school and request a 'transcript' or a 'certificate of credits earned' (which lists the number of credits and the names of the subjects).
Depending on the school, the documents may be sealed and marked as 'do not open,' but since you cannot proceed without seeing the contents, go ahead and open them to grasp your current situation.
Selecting a university to acquire additional credits
Next, you must acquire 'accumulated credits.' The methods for this include enrolling in a correspondence university or transferring into a university. You can acquire additional credits at various universities across the country, but there are differences in the difficulty and cost of acquiring credits depending on the university. Therefore, choosing the right university is necessary.
I chose the Open University of Japan for the following reasons:
・The admission fee is low.
・Although I had to go to an exam venue, it was easy because there was a study center in the region where I live.
・Because it is a format where you purchase and take courses one credit at a time, there is no waste, and if you are anxious, it is possible to take extra courses.
・The Open University of Japan's website clearly indicates which subjects correspond to those required by the National Institution for Academic Degrees and Quality Enhancement of Higher Education, making it easy to understand.
For the reasons above, I chose the 'Open University of Japan'.
In fact, there were times when I needed documents from the Open University of Japan when applying for the National Institution for Academic Degrees and Quality Enhancement of Higher Education or for graduate school, and it was very convenient because I could go to the counter and have them issued in about 15 minutes.
In the next article, I will talk in detail about the accumulated credits I acquired at the Open University of Japan and disclose the actual credits I earned, so please refer to it if you are interested.