The purpose of this study was to determine effects of structured versus non-structured curriculum formats on licensed practical nurses entering associate degree nursing programs relative to retention, or completion, of the course of study and first attempt success on the National Council Licensure Examination for registered nurse licensure (NCLEX-RN).

The population of National League for Nursing accredited associate degree nursing programs was identified and surveyed. While the results of the survey were essentially descriptive in nature, the hypotheses were evaluated using the t test and the .05 level of significance. Two comparisons were derived. One was a comparison of percent of retention and percent of first time success on the NCLEX-RN examination of licensed practical nurses in programs with structured versus non-structured curriculum formats. The second was a comparison of percent of retention and percent of first time success on the NCLEX-RN examination of licensed practical nurses in programs which awarded advanced placement in any form versus programs which utilized no procedures to award advanced placement.

Programs which had a structured curriculum format demonstrated a mean retention percent of 89.01 as compared to 84.82 with non-structured curriculum formats. This was significant at the .05 level. Programs which utilized some means to award advanced placement exhibited a mean retention percent of 85.01 as compared to programs which awarded no advanced placement, which exhibited a retention percent of 91.63, significant at the .05 level.

There was no statistically significant difference found for the mean percent of first time success on the NCLEX-RN examination between programs with structured and non-structured curriculum formats or between programs with procedures for advanced placement and no procedures for advanced placement.