Nursing@Simmons RN to BSN Program Review

Nursing@Simmons’ RN to BSN Completion Program

Nursing@Simmons is the online version of Simmons School of Nursing and Health Sciences (SNHS).  Simmons College is the larger institution which SNHS and Nursing@Simmons belong to. 

Simmons College is a private undergraduate women’s college, but the graduate schools, including Nursing@Simmons and the RN to BSN program, are open to both women and men.  Simmons College is located in Boston, MA, also known as The Best College Town.  However, through Nursing@Simmons you are free to achieve your Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) without moving to Boston.  Be advised, you are required to travel to Boston and Simmons College for the Campus Immersion Weekend prior to beginning the Online RN to BSN Program.

The RN to BSN program from Nursing@Simmons requires 128 credits for completion.  Up to 80 of these credits may be transferred from other schools or a previous degree, dependent upon transcript evaluation.  Nursing@Simmons does offer a Full-time and Part-time completion option which helps with flexibility.  Note, however, that the Full-time and Part-time options are cohorts.  This means that you as the student stay with the other students throughout your RN to BSN completion.  This makes it more difficult to start and stop your degree.  Please speak with an adviser if you are unsure about being able to stay with your designated cohort or to find out more about which option, Full-time or Part-time, will be right for you.  The average completion time for a Full-time student at Nursing@Simmons is 4 terms, and for a Part-time student it is 5 terms.  Each term is 14 weeks long.  This means the Full-time program can take as little as 15 months to complete and the Part-time program approximately 18 months to complete.  See below for Cohort start times.

Cost: Costs for Nursing@Simmons are a bit cumbersome.  Nursing Course Credits (32) are $1208 per credit.  Clinical Professional Reflection (16 credits) are a total of $1000.  There is something simply called Mode (8 credits – and may not be required), $1208 per credit.  This totals 56 credits.  Assuming you are able to transfer 80 credits, then you would not need the Mode credits.

If you are not able to transfer in all 80 credits, then each additional credit needed to meet the 128 credit total is $1,246.

Tuition does not include the cost of books and there is a $100 student fee per term.

See the Scholarships page for creative financing options.

Total Cost: $40,056 = 32 credits x $1208 + $1000 +$400 for 4 terms.  Add another $100 if you are Part-Time. And don’t forget to add in books.  The total cost may be substantially higher if you are not able to transfer 80 credits from your previous degree.

Time to Completion: Approximately 15 Month to 18 Months. Full-time students take 4-5 terms which are 14 weeks each totaling 15-18 months.  Part-time is 5-7 terms or approximately 18-24 Months.

Start Date(s): Approximately 3 per year. Cohorts begin October 2014, January 2015, March 2015, and September 2015.  Application deadlines can be found here.

Clinical Requirement: Yes, 672 clinical hours.  A handy .PDF regarding the clinical portion can be found here.

Accreditation: CCNE, Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education

Prerequisites: In addition to already possessing a Registered Nurse license and having an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) from an Accredited school, there are several other requirements for admission which can be found here.

Need help paying for Nursing@Simmons?  Visit the Scholarships page

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