Nightingale College Sues California Nursing Board for Preventing Graduates from Taking Licensing Exam 

BRN Is Blocking More than 500 Spring Graduates from Licensure, Stalling Nursing Careers and Exacerbating the State’s Severe Nursing Shortage 

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Aug. 28, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On August 24, Nightingale College filed a lawsuit against the California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN), challenging the board’s unlawful application of licensing standards. The action has left hundreds of Nightingale nursing graduates unable to sit for the national NCLEX-RN examination, preventing them from beginning their nursing careers in California. 

The lawsuit filed in Sacramento County Superior Court challenges the BRN for applying two standards that Nightingale alleges are not authorized by California law and were never lawfully adopted as regulations to out-of-state licensure applicants:  

• A 500-hour direct-patient-care threshold drawn from a statute that governs only California-approved in-state nursing programs. 
• The BRN is enforcing an undefined "concurrency" for which it has refused to provide a workable definition, despite Nightingale’s requests for clarification. 

The consequences extend to more than 500 spring graduates who have not been able to test, Hundreds of summer graduates are facing the same fate, Graduates also have reported lost or jeopardized nursing employment opportunities while they wait for ATT approvals. 

“Hundreds of Nightingale College graduates are being held hostage by the BRN through no fault of their own,” said Mikhail Shneyder, Nightingale College CEO. “Nearly 2,000 of our graduates have taken the NCLEX and received licenses in California since 2015, completing the exact same coursework supposedly at issue here. We filed this action because our graduates deserve a fair, lawful and timely path to licensure.” 

The lawsuit also alleges that at public meetings on July 29 and Aug. 11, 2026, BRN leadership made binding, on-the-record commitments to enforce these standards against Nightingale graduates, a violation of California's Open Meeting Act. 

Nightingale is seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO) to prevent the BRN from continuing to apply the challenged standards while the lawsuit proceeds and to require the BRN to process pending Nightingale graduate applications under the licensing standards Nightingale contends California law requires. 

Nightingale College is committed to resolving this matter as it continues to support its graduates, current students and prospective students. Legal documents and a video interview with Mikhail Shneyder are available upon request. 

Nightingale College 
Nightingale College is dedicated to advancing health equity by creating opportunity and access to nursing education across the United States. The College offers accredited programs at the certificate, associate, baccalaureate, and master levels through its innovative learning model. Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Nightingale College combines online coursework with hands-on experiential learning in local communities to develop confident, competent, and compassionate nurses who address critical workforce shortages and improve health outcomes across diverse populations. For more information, visit nightingale.edu. 

Media Contacts 
Paul Murphy 
Pmurphy@nightingale.edu 
Shannon Michael 
Smichael@nightingale.edu