Last Updated: October 16, 2026
Program Overview
Elms admits applicants with a completed non-nursing associate or bachelor’s degree into a small, campus-based cohort completing nursing study in 20 months.
Elms College’s Accelerated Second Degree in Nursing is a full-time, in-person pathway in Chicopee. Students study over two academic years plus an intensive summer, with a cohort limited to 24 students.
Unlike programs requiring a prior bachelor’s degree, Elms also considers applicants with a completed associate degree. Those applicants have a higher admission GPA requirement and additional general-education preparation.
Admissions Requirements
- Completed associate, baccalaureate or higher degree from an accredited college or university.
- Minimum admission GPA: 3.2 for bachelor’s/higher-degree applicants, or 3.4 for associate-degree applicants. The 2.5 nursing-progression GPA is not the admission threshold.
- Elms or Common Application, transcripts from all colleges and proof of high-school completion. The pathway-specific admissions page identifies recommendations and personal statement as optional; an interview may be requested.
- Applicants dismissed, or withdrawn pending dismissal, from another nursing program for academic or clinical reasons are ineligible.
Prerequisite Coursework
- Anatomy and Physiology I and II with labs, Microbiology with lab and Chemistry with lab: four credits each.
- Human Growth and Development, introductory Psychology, Statistics and Nutrition: three credits each. Prerequisites require B− or higher.
- Associate-degree applicants additionally need six English credits and three credits each of Art and History.
Application Dates and Start Terms
- Elms explicitly states rolling admission with no fixed application deadline and no application fee for accelerated second-degree candidates.
- The posted cohort plan begins in fall. Because seats are limited and prerequisite evaluation takes time, apply while preparing for the intended fall cohort rather than waiting for a nonexistent calendar cutoff.
Curriculum
The current program page describes a 72-credit pathway, while its individually itemized course rows total 69 credits. The table below preserves those published course credits, including zero-credit clinical registrations, without inventing three additional credits. Transfer-dependent college-core work and optional courses are separate from the itemized sequence.
Required Courses and Credits
First fall — 14 credits
| Course | Credits | What you study |
|---|---|---|
NUR 1100 — Introduction to Contemporary Nursing | 3 | Professional nursing values, roles and foundations of evidence-informed practice. |
NUR 2113 — Medication Dosage Calculations | 1 | Safe medication calculations and interpretation of dosage information. |
NUR 2117 — Health Assessment | 4 | Interviewing, physical examination and interpretation of adult assessment findings. |
NUR 2218 — Pathopharmacology I | 3 | Disease mechanisms and pharmacological treatment principles. |
SSD 3004 — Introduction to Cultural Competence | 3 | Culturally responsive practice and understanding diverse communities. |
First spring — 14 credits
| Course | Credits | What you study |
|---|---|---|
NUR 2211 — Fundamentals of Nursing | 5 | Fundamental nursing care, safety and practical skill development. |
NUR 2211C — Fundamentals Clinical | 0 | Supervised clinical application of fundamental nursing care. |
NUR 2219 — Pathopharmacology II | 3 | Further integration of disease processes and medication therapies. |
PHI 2408 — Health Care Ethics | 3 | Ethical reasoning about healthcare decisions and responsibilities. |
REL 4400 — Addiction and Recovery | 3 | Addiction, recovery and their personal and social dimensions. |
Summer I and II — 16 itemized credits
| Course | Credits | What you study |
|---|---|---|
NUR 3116 — Nursing Care of the Adult I | 4 | Assessment and care of adults with common health conditions. |
NUR 3116C — Adult I Clinical | 0 | Application of adult nursing assessment and interventions. |
NUR 3618 — Maternal-Newborn Nursing | 4 | Care of pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum recovery and newborns. |
NUR 3618C — Maternal-Newborn Clinical | 0 | Supervised care of childbearing families. |
NUR 3316 — Nursing Care of the Adult II | 4 | Nursing management of more complex adult health needs. |
NUR 3316C — Adult II Clinical | 0 | Clinical application of continuing adult nursing care. |
NUR 3614 — Children and Families | 4 | Pediatric assessment, development and family-centered care. |
NUR 3614C — Children and Families Clinical | 0 | Supervised application of pediatric nursing care. |
Second fall — 12 credits
| Course | Credits | What you study |
|---|---|---|
NUR 4615 — Nursing Care of the Older Adult | 5 | Gerontological assessment, chronic conditions and older-adult care. |
NUR 4615C — Older Adult Clinical | 0 | Supervised practice with older adults. |
NUR 3416 — Mental Health Nursing | 4 | Therapeutic communication and psychiatric nursing care. |
NUR 3416C — Mental Health Clinical | 0 | Application of mental health nursing interventions. |
NUR 3415 — Evidence-Based Nursing | 3 | Research appraisal and use of evidence in clinical practice. |
Second spring — 13 credits
| Course | Credits | What you study |
|---|---|---|
NUR 4710 — Population Health | 4 | Community assessment, prevention and population-focused nursing. |
NUR 4710C — Population Health Clinical | 0 | Community-based nursing and health-promotion practice. |
NUR 4717 — Leadership and Management of Care | 5 | Delegation, coordination, teamwork and nursing leadership. |
NUR 4717C — Leadership and Management Clinical | 0 | Clinical application of leadership and coordinated care. |
NUR 4219 — NCLEX Preparation | 2 | Integration and review of nursing knowledge for licensure testing. |
NUR 4912 — Senior Seminar | 2 | Synthesis of nursing learning and transition to professional practice. |
The program page separately shows Walking (PED 1101, 1 credit) and Medical Terminology (NUR 1300, 3 credits) as options. They are not both added as universally required courses. An associate-degree applicant’s remaining college core is determined by transfer evaluation.
Clinical Experience
Clinical learning accompanies foundations, adult care, maternal-newborn, pediatric, mental health, older-adult, population-health and leadership coursework. Zero-credit clinical registrations are required learning components, not optional activities or extra tuition credits.
The catalog requires at least C+/77% in nursing and specified supporting courses and a 2.5 GPA to progress. An individual required course can be repeated once, subject to space; a second failure in a required course or failure of another required course prevents continuation in the major.
Students need health and clinical clearance, BLS certification, required insurance and reliable transportation. Optional international service opportunities should be evaluated separately from the required local clinical sequence.
Tuition and Costs
Elms’s 2026–27 rate sheet lists $21,908 per full-time semester for accelerated nursing, covering 12–18 credits. A planning estimate of five full-time billing periods across the two academic years and summer is $109,540 in tuition.
This $109,540 tuition estimate assumes five full-time billing periods at the current $21,908 rate, including the intensive summer. Elms has not confirmed whether summer uses that flat rate or a different billing method. Its advertised 72 credits also differ from the 69 credits in the itemized plan. Ask Student Accounts for a term-by-term ABSN estimate and the nursing department for the current approved credit plan. Different summer billing, additional required credits or future rate increases would change this estimate; fees are separate.
Accelerated nursing fees for 2026–27 include $310 comprehensive fee annually in fall, $692 ATI fee in fall and spring and $397 per clinical course. College comprehensive/technology charges, insurance, course materials, uniforms, equipment, clinical travel and living costs are additional.
Students should evaluate a term-by-term award and bill, particularly when entering with an associate degree and additional core requirements. The old $82,600 estimate counted two older annual rates without clearly budgeting the intensive summer.
Accreditation and Outcomes
The baccalaureate nursing program is accredited by CCNE and approved by the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing. The previously cited 97.33% 2023 NCLEX-RN result is a school/program-level historical measure, not a separately verified current accelerated-cohort result.
See the official program information for the university’s current application instructions and program requirements.
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