Accelerated Bachelor's Degree in Nursing

Accelerated BSN Degrees give students the opportunity to earn a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing (BSN) in as little as 1 to 2 years. Conventional BSN programs take 4 years to complete. These accelerated programs are also known as Accelerated 2nd Degree BSN programs, because they're specifically designed for students who already have a bachelor's degree in a field unrelated to nursing.

Students of these accelerated programs must complete, on average, about 122 credit hours of coursework. Of these, 31 credits come from the student's previous earned bachelor's degree, 36 from prerequisite courses, and 55 come from focused nursing courses. These numbers represent a typical Accelerated BSN program; the specifics may vary from school to school and program to program.

In the last decade, there has been a significant increase in the number of accelerated BSN programs available in the United States. There are now over 235 such programs throughout country. In fact, this rate of growth is much faster than any other entry-level nursing program offered at colleges and universities.

Because of the fast pace of accelerated BSN programs, students must be dedicated and focused. Coursework is rigorous and demanding. In general, it is not advisable to enroll in an accelerated BSN program while simultaneously working full-time--accelerated BSN programs are full-time commitments by themselves.