• Requirements and Procedures
• Tuition and Fees

Requirements and Procedures

All applicants work closely with an Admissions Advisor to assess career goals, motivation, and commitment to learning.

To be considered for admission, an applicant must meet the following requirements:

1. Pay the $150 non-refundable application fee (the application fee is waived for all Nightingale College’s prelicensure programs alumni and active duty servicemembers and veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces).
2. Complete Application for Admissions (the application and the paid fee are valid for one (1) year).
3. Submit a copy of a high school diploma equivalent, as described below, one week prior to the first day of attendance. Several equivalents to a high school diploma may be submitted:

   • A GED certificate.

   • A certificate or other official completion documentation demonstrating that the learner has passed a state-authorized examination such as the Test Assessing Secondary Completion (TASC), the High School Equivalency Test (HiSET), or, in California, the California High School Proficiency Exam, that the state recognizes as the equivalent of a high school diploma (certificates of attendance and/or completion are not included in this qualifying category).

   • An associate degreeSuccessful completion of at least sixty (60) semester or trimester credits or seventy-two (72) quarter credits that does not result in the awarding of an associate degree, but that is acceptable for full credit toward a bachelor’s degree at any institution, or

   • Enrollment in a bachelor’s degree program where at least sixty (60) semester or trimester credits or seventy-two (72) quarter credits have been successfully completed, including credits transferred into the bachelor’s degree program.

   • A “secondary school leaving certificate” or similar document from the proper government agency for learners who completed secondary school in a foreign country, accompanied by a foreign credentials evaluation.

4. Submit proof of current active unencumbered registered nurse (RN) licensure from any U.S. jurisdiction and disclose any encumbered licenses. Nightingale College’s prelicensure programs graduates may enroll in the RN-to-BSN Track, on a non-matriculated basis, upon providing proof of submitting the RN licensure application and passing the NCLEX-RN^® Learners must become licensed within the first academic semester of the Program to matriculate and progress within the RN-to-BSN Track.

5. If requesting transfer of credit, submit official college transcripts for the previous post-secondary coursework by the deadline in accordance with the Transfer of Credit section of the Catalog.

   • Forty-eight (48) general education credits are required for the BSN Degree. Learners may refer to the table below for the minimum number of credits required in each of the five (5) general education breadth areas. General education requirements may be met either through completing the course work at the College or through the transfer of credit (see Transfer of Credit section of this Catalog for more information). Up to twenty-one (21) GE semester credits can be completed during the RN-to-BSN Track. Applicants who do not have the minimum twenty-seven (27) GE semester credits upon admission may extend their enrollment in the RN-to-BSN Track to fulfill all general education requirements.

   • Official transcripts are required for matriculation into the RN-to-BSN Track.

   • The College reserves the right to accept or reject any and all credits earned at other post- secondary institutions or through course challenge exams.

6. Complete Smarter Measure Assessment for evaluation of online learning readiness.

7. Meet with a Learner Funding Advisor to initiate the Financial Aid process.

8. Be in good financial standing with the College and have $0 account balance.

Note: The highest level of academic integrity is expected throughout the admissions process. Violations of the academic integrity policy at any point in the admissions process will result in automatic denial of admission. See the Academic Integrity section of the College Catalog for more details.

Satisfactory Academic Progress Table

Tuition and Fees

Tuition for the RN-to-BSN Track is $645 per semester credit. The College reserves the right to change its tuition and fees at any time with a 30-day notice. Audit fees are non-refundable and cannot be paid with Title IV funding.

 

Nightingale College Alumni Tuition Reduction

A tuition reduction of $295 per semester credit will be applied to the accounts of the College’s associate degree graduates at the time tuition is charged. The Nightingale College Alumni Tuition Reduction is not applicable to repeat coursework.

Estimated Total Program Cost

The estimated total program cost for a learner who holds an associate degree in nursing and transfers in sixty-eight (68) semester credits is $31,250. Learners may use this calculator to get a customized estimate of the total program cost. 

• General Education Requirements
• Curriculum
• Sample Curriculum Plan

General Education Requirements

A combination of forty-eight (48) semester credits of general education and elective courses is required for graduation. Up to twenty-one (21) of these semester credits may be completed during the RN-to-BSN Track. Applicants who do not have the minimum twenty-seven (27) combined general education and elective semester credits upon admission may extend their enrollment in the RN-to-BSN Track to fulfill all requirements. Learners may refer to the Admissions Requirements and Procedures section above for more information.

Curriculum

The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice provides an important framework for designing and assessing baccalaureate education. The original purpose of the Essentials is to “delineate the essentials of education for professional baccalaureate nursing practice" (AACN, 2008). Because professional nursing practice in all settings requires consideration of the individual, family, community, and population as client, these outcomes are essential to baccalaureate nursing education offered by Nightingale College.

 

• Essential I: Liberal Education for Baccalaureate Generalist Nursing Practice
• Essential II: Basic Organizational and Systems Leadership for Quality Care and Patient Safety
• Essential III: Scholarship for Evidence-Based Practice
• Essential IV: Information Management and Application of Patient Care Technology
• Essential V: Healthcare Policy, Finance, and Regulatory Environments
• Essential VI: Interprofessional Communication and Collaboration for Improving Patient Health Outcomes
• Essential VII: Clinical Prevention and Population Health
• Essential VIII: Professionalism and Professional Values
• Essential IX: Baccalaureate Generalist Nursing Practice

The RN-to-BSN Track consists of nine (9) upper-division nursing courses delivered over three (3) academic semesters and forty-eight (48) academic weeks, for a total of twenty-four (24) semester credits. There are three hundred sixty (360) didactic contact hours total. The RN-to-BSN Track does not have any experiential learning contact hours assigned. However, the Track requires the completion of community- and employer-based learning projects. The Curriculum Plan table presented below represents a Program Plan for learners who transfer in twenty-seven (27) general education semester credits.

*Science credits include human anatomy, human physiology, and pathophysiology.

**Depending on a learner’s state of residence, SCI 251 and SCI 131 may need to be taken as elective courses due to specific State Board of Nursing requirements.

The RN-to-BSN Track is a full-distance program option where all didactic instruction is delivered via asynchronous online learning modalities. For learner residency and course delivery modalities definitions, see the Learner Residency and Course Delivery Modalities section of this Catalog. A sample curriculum layout is presented in the table below.

 

Sample Curriculum Plan

RN-to-BSN Track Sample Curriculum Plan