A Bachelor’s Degree to BSN in 12 Months — Rolling Admissions, Knoxville Campus
Three terms. Twelve months. LMU’s ABSN at the Cedar Bluff campus in Knoxville compresses the nursing sequence into a Summer-Fall-Spring schedule that gets career changers into the workforce faster than most comparable programs in Tennessee. Rolling admissions means there’s no single annual deadline to miss — applications are reviewed throughout the year.
The 2.75 GPA threshold is more accessible than the 3.0 standard found at ETSU, TWU, or WVU, opening the door to a broader range of career changers with strong professional experience but imperfect academic records.
Forty-seven nursing credit hours span all three terms across seated, hybrid, and online delivery modalities — a blended format that builds scheduling flexibility into a fully accelerated timeline.
ABSN Admission Summary
Admission is competitive despite the rolling process — the Admissions Committee reviews GPA, prerequisite grades, course withdrawals and repetitions, and grade improvement trends together. Interviews may be conducted. Any omission or false information related to prior nursing school enrollment results in automatic disqualification or dismissal.
Eligibility requirements:
- Earned bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution — must be conferred before starting the ABSN
- Minimum 2.75 cumulative GPA across all college-level coursework
- All five required general education prerequisites completed with a C or better before program entry
- Students must first be admitted to LMU as a university student before formally applying to the Caylor School of Nursing
Five required prerequisite courses (18 credits — all must be complete before Term I):
- Human Anatomy & Physiology I with lab (BIOL 261/261L, 4 cr.)
- Human Anatomy & Physiology II with lab (BIOL 262/262L, 4 cr.)
- Microbiology with lab (BIOL 230/230L, 4 cr.)
- Probability & Statistics (MATH 270, 3 cr.)
- Child and Adolescent Development (PSYC 221, 3 cr.)
Science courses earned more than 8 years ago require approval from the BSN Program Chair. All prerequisite transfer credits must be approved by both the BSN Program Chair and the Dean of the Caylor School of Nursing. No nursing courses from other institutions transfer into the ABSN program.
Application materials and process:
- Apply for admission to Lincoln Memorial University
- Submit formal application to the Caylor School of Nursing ABSN Option
- Submit official transcripts from all postsecondary institutions attended
- Complete the medical profile form
- Await Admissions Committee review — interviews may be required
Pre-enrollment requirements (all must be submitted before Term I begins):
- Completed physical examination form
- Negative chain-of-custody urine drug screen and background check (clinical affiliates may require additional screening at student expense)
- TB testing (two-step TST or blood assay) with completed TB Risk Assessment form
- Immunizations: Rubella/Rubeola/Mumps titer or 2 MMR vaccines; Varicella titer or vaccine; annual flu vaccination; COVID vaccination series; Hepatitis B series; Tdap booster within past 10 years
- Current AHA CPR certification (Healthcare Provider level — must include adult, child, and infant)
- Proof of active medical insurance (required throughout enrollment)
- Signed Student Essential Functions Form
Curriculum
Forty-seven nursing credit hours are distributed across three consecutive terms using a mix of seated, hybrid, and online course delivery. The modality mix is a deliberate design choice — online for knowledge-based courses, seated for clinical and skills-intensive courses, and hybrid for courses that blend both. Clinical clock hours follow a 3:1 ratio (3 clinical clock hours per week for 15 weeks = 1 credit hour).
Prerequisite Overview
All five prerequisite courses must be completed with C or better before Term I begins. Science courses older than 8 years require program chair approval. See the admission summary above for the full prerequisite list.
Three-term ABSN nursing sequence (47 credit hours):
Coursework includes:
Term I — Summer (14 cr. | Seated and Hybrid)
NURS 324 – Concepts and Fundamentals of Professional Nursing for ABSN Students (8 cr.) — Seated; 4 didactic / 4 clinical. Introduces foundational concepts of professional nursing practice, emphasizing culturally sensitive care, nursing theories, and health policy. Applies the Roy Adaptation Model (RAM) to promote patient adaptation across various healthcare environments.
NURS 330 – Health Assessment of Humans as Adaptive Systems (3 cr.) — Hybrid; 2 didactic / 1 clinical. Focuses on health history, physical exams, and communication skills for assessing patients across the four RAM adaptive modes. Builds a comprehensive, culturally sensitive nursing database to determine client health status.
NURS 350 – Pathophysiology of Ineffective Human Response (3 cr.) — Online. Examines disease processes and the body’s maladaptive responses to illness. Emphasizes physiological, genetic, and behavioral deviations influencing health, integrated with adaptation theory.
Term II — Fall (18 cr. | Seated, Hybrid, and Online)
NURS 310 – Pharmacology to Promote Adaptation (3 cr.) — Online. Covers essential pharmacologic principles and common medications used in nursing care. Addresses medication safety, cultural diversity, patient education, and responsible drug administration.
NURS 430 – Nursing Research (3 cr.) — Online. Introduces nursing research methods and the use of data to improve practice. Emphasizes evidence-based care and systematic inquiry using RAM as a framework.
NURS 436 – Promotion of Psychosocial Adaptation for ABSN Students (4 cr.) — Seated; 3 didactic / 1 clinical. Focuses on care for patients with mental health conditions across the lifespan. Covers therapeutic interventions and addresses cultural, legal, and ethical factors in mental health care.
NURS 464 – Promotion of Adaptation: Care of Young, Middle, and Elderly Adults for ABSN Students (8 cr.) — Seated; 4 didactic / 4 clinical; second-largest course in the program. Applies RAM and research to promote adaptation in patients with acute and chronic conditions across respiratory, cardiac, renal, endocrine, musculoskeletal, and neurologic systems.
Term III — Spring (15 cr. | Seated and Hybrid)
NURS 470 – Professional Nursing Role Development/Preceptorship (4 cr.) — Hybrid; 2 didactic / 2 clinical. Prepares students for professional practice by developing leadership, management, and collaboration skills. Emphasizes critical thinking, healthcare systems, and interprofessional teamwork.
NURS 416 – Promotion of Adaptation in Newborns, Women and Childbearing Families for ABSN Students (4 cr.) — Seated, first 8 weeks; 3 didactic / 1 clinical. Examines care of childbearing families with emphasis on promoting adaptation during pregnancy and postpartum. Addresses health responses in newborns and mothers across RAM modes.
NURS 426 – Promotion of Adaptation in Infants, Children, and Adolescents for ABSN Students (4 cr.) — Seated, second 8 weeks; 3 didactic / 1 clinical. Uses the RAM process to assess and support adaptation in pediatric patients, focusing on developmental, physiological, and behavioral responses to illness.
NURS 465 – Population Based Health for ABSN Students (3 cr.) — Hybrid; 2 didactic / 1 clinical. Focuses on community assessments and interventions to promote adaptation in diverse populations. Emphasizes public health nursing, disease prevention, and resource utilization.
The ABSN track features seated, hybrid, and online delivery formats to accommodate diverse learning needs. Students also complete intensive clinical and lab components totaling over 850 clock hours.
The maternal/newborn and pediatric courses in Term III each occupy half the semester — running in consecutive 8-week blocks rather than simultaneously — an intentional structure that allows full focus on each specialty before transitioning. The preceptorship (NURS 470) runs concurrently in the final term, providing one-on-one real-world role transition alongside specialty coursework.
The total program distributes 615 didactic clock hours and 855 clinical/lab clock hours across all three terms.
More curriculum details available in the course catalog: LMU ABSN Undergraduate Catalog (PDF)
Clinicals
Clinical training begins in the very first summer term — NURS 324 carries 4 clinical credits from week one — and runs through every subsequent term. The preceptorship in the final spring term provides a culminating one-on-one mentored clinical experience before graduation.
- Total clinical credit hours: Approximately 19 of the 47 nursing credits carry clinical components — plus the preceptorship’s 2 clinical credits in Term III
- Term I clinical start: NURS 324 includes 4 clinical credits in the first summer term — students enter patient care settings from the beginning of the program
- Preceptorship (NURS 470, 4 cr.): Final-term one-on-one mentored experience with a practicing RN; 2 didactic + 2 clinical credits; runs during the spring term alongside population health and the maternal/pediatric specialty rotations
- Specialties covered: Fundamentals, health assessment, psychosocial nursing, adult and elderly health, maternal/newborn and women’s health, pediatrics and adolescent health, and population-based community health
- Clinical scheduling: Instructors assign clinical days — students register for courses only; clinical day assignments are made by faculty at the start of each term and cannot be guaranteed in advance
- Additional background screening: Clinical affiliate agencies may require a second background check and chain-of-custody drug screen independently — costs are the student’s responsibility
- Hours breakdown: Program total: 615 didactic clock hours and 855 clinical/lab clock hours (3:1 clinical-to-credit ratio throughout)
Tuition
Estimated total nursing program tuition: ~$53,580
LMU charges $1,140 per credit hour. The ABSN nursing sequence is 47 credits — all billable at this rate across three terms.
| Component | Detail | Cost |
|---|---|---|
Nursing tuition | 47 cr. × $1,140 | $53,580 |
BSN program fee | $970 × 3 semesters | $2,910 |
Nursing program subtotal | ~$56,490 |
Note: The 18 prerequisite general education credits (A&P I & II, Microbiology, Statistics, Developmental Psychology) are completed before the program starts and billed separately at the same $1,140/credit rate if taken at LMU — adding up to ~$20,520 if all prerequisites are taken at LMU. Students who completed these elsewhere pay only transfer equivalency costs.
Full cost-of-attendance context (per LMU’s published COA):
Annual COA including housing, food, health insurance, and all fees is approximately $49,853 (on-campus) — this reflects the full-year traditional BSN estimate and should be adjusted for the ABSN’s single academic year (3 terms including summer).
At ~$53,580 in nursing tuition for 12 months, LMU sits in the mid-range for private university ABSN programs — more than public Tennessee programs (ETSU ~$27,485, TWU upper-division ~$65,600 total) but structured as a true 12-month second-degree program with rolling admissions and a 2.75 GPA access point. BSN freshmen receive $7,000/year in academic merit scholarships — applicability to ABSN students should be confirmed directly with the Office of Student Financial Services.
See the official tuition page for more details: LMU Undergraduate Tuition & Fees
Accreditation
The BSN, ASN, MSN, and DNP nursing programs at Lincoln Memorial University’s Tennessee and Kentucky campuses are accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN), with a current decision of continuing accreditation. Programs are approved by the Tennessee Board of Nursing (Tennessee campuses). The Tampa campus BSN and ASN programs hold separate ACEN accreditation with approval from the Florida Board of Nursing. Graduates are eligible to apply to take the NCLEX-RN through the Board of Nursing in the state where they intend to practice.