Question by Colleen: What colleges or universities have nursing programs that can be transferred into?
I am a second semester sophomore in college and I am currently an education major, however I’m looking to possibly transfer into nursing at another school because I cannot get into the nursing program at my university. I am wondering what colleges or universities have nursing programs that can be transferred into?

Best answer:

Answer by Gregg DesElms
Nursing is regulated/licensed in all fifty states; and each state has its own ways of doing things.

Some states will accept, as requisite for licensing, any Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree as long as it’s accredited by certain (or any “regional”) accreditor(s), no matter in which state. Others are very specific about which BSN programs they’ll accept… even if they are “regionally” accredited. For example, here in California, the state nursing board will accept distance learning programs from certain regionally-accredited colleges and/or universities, but not others (such as from the regionally-accredited Excelsior College in New York).

My point is that you shouldn’t be looking for just any BSN program out there. Instead, you should be looking for BSN programs which your state’s nursing board approves as requisite for licensure. Then, from THAT list, start looking for ones that will let you transfer in from a completely different kind of bachelors program.

Most BSN programs will let you transfer; it’s just that some may not allow you to be a second semester sophomore because you may not, at the point of transfer, have the same courses under your belt that second semester sophomores in BSN programs are supposed to have. Remember that getting a BSN is very much a “take courses in the right order” sort of thing. It’s not like virtually any other bachelors degree wherein you can kind of spread the courses out over the four years of the degree, taking them in almost any order (except for courses with pre-requisites). With a BSN, it’s very structured. So you may find yourself having to take additional courses to get yourself into the same place in the BSN program that you are right now.

You’ll also, no doubt, end-up taking more courses, when all is said and done, than a typical bachelors degree holder normally takes because some of the courses you’ve now completed simply won’t be applicable to the BSN. Be ready for that, too.

The other problem is that some BSN courses are different than identically-named courses which non-nursing majors take. So even if the BSN requires a certain chemistry course of a certain name, and even if you took one of that name in your non-nursing bachelors, you may find yourself having to take the BSN version because said version will approach the coursework like a nursing student, rather than like any ol’ kind of student. Be ready for that, as well.

What you want to do can be done, but just be aware that there will be some issues. And you’ll just have to do the work to find a BSN program which is both acceptable as requisite for licensure by your state, and which will also take you in as a transfer student.

Hope that helps!

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