(b)

1. (1) For approved schools of nursing that are actively accredited by an institutional or programmatic accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education, the board shall, without requiring additional documentation or action, do the following, unless unrelated to the scope of accreditation:

   1. (A) Perform site inspections jointly with accreditors.
   2. (B) Accept continuing accreditation decisions from accreditors.
   3. (C) Accept faculty hiring decisions made by the approved program director.

   4. (D) Accept the self-study required by programmatic accreditors as a substitute for board self-study or data collection if the following are met:

      1. (i) The program provides a crosswalk connecting the items in the report to the board’s regulatory requirements.
      2. (ii) If the report does not address any of the board’s regulatory requirements, the program provides an addendum to the report to address those requirements.
   5. (E) Accept substantive change requests, as defined under the uniform method developed under subdivision (e) of Section 2786, if approved by the accreditor unless the request is a request to increase enrollment or perform a major curriculum revision.

   6. (F) When considering a request to increase enrollment, the board may consider only the following factors related to the ability to adequately train additional students:

      1. (i) Adequacy of resources, including, but not limited to, faculty, facilities, equipment, and supplies.
      2. (ii) Availability of clinical placements.
      3. (iii) Complaints that have been verified by the board from students, faculty, or other interested parties.
      4. (iv) Licensing examination pass rates, graduation rates, and retention rates.
      5. (v) Any other similar factors specified by the board in regulations. The board shall not consider nursing workforce issues, including those identified under Section 2717, as factors for purposes of this subparagraph.
2. (2) Upon complaint or other evidence that an approved school of nursing does not meet the board’s standards, the board may withhold approval under this subdivision or perform additional site inspections pursuant to Section 2788.
3. (3) The board may make or withhold approvals under this subdivision prior to the adoption of implementing regulations.