Last Updated: October 16, 2026
Program Overview
MCPHS’s postbaccalaureate BSN offers a four-semester nursing core in Boston and Worcester, with separate priority dates for spring and fall entry.
MCPHS offers a 16-month postbaccalaureate BSN distinct from its longer Boston accelerated undergraduate nursing degree. The second-degree curriculum comprises 64 professional nursing credits over four consecutive semesters.
The current program lists Boston, Worcester and Manchester, New Hampshire. This Massachusetts profile focuses on Boston and Worcester; Manchester is a separate location outside the state. Applicants without a bachelor’s degree should assess the additional transfer requirements rather than assume that a second-degree pathway applies unchanged.
Admissions Requirements
- For the second-degree route, a completed bachelor’s degree and the required prerequisite preparation.
- MCPHS’s free transfer application, transcripts from all colleges attended and a personal statement. NursingCAS is an optional application route under the current catalog.
- The program admissions page requires C+ or higher in prerequisites and does not accept math/science courses older than 10 years at matriculation.
- Applicants without a bachelor’s degree must meet additional coursework and TEAS requirements: at least 65.3% within three attempts. Boston’s non-degree transfer route is described separately as the 32-month BSN.
Prerequisite Coursework
- Anatomy and Physiology I and II with labs (8 credits); Microbiology with lab (4); General Chemistry I with lab (4).
- Nutrition (3) or General Chemistry II with lab (4); Human Development (3); Statistics (3).
- Worcester/Manchester applicants without a U.S. bachelor’s degree have additional writing, mathematics, psychology, social-science and liberal-arts requirements. The admissions office evaluates these separately from the postbaccalaureate nursing core.
Application Dates and Start Terms
- Spring entry priority date: October 1 of the preceding year. The priority date for spring 2027 was October 1, 2026.
- Fall entry priority date: May 1. For fall 2027 planning, May 1, 2027.
- The 2026–27 catalog lists these postbaccalaureate nursing priority dates for Boston and Worcester, as well as Manchester. Applications can continue to be reviewed after priority dates if spaces remain; these are not universal final cutoffs.
Curriculum
The 2026–27 catalog and postbaccalaureate curriculum identify a 64-credit professional major, with 16 credits in each of four semesters. Prior-degree credit supplies the non-nursing component of the 120-credit degree; it is not another 120 credits of nursing tuition. Combined theory/experiential entries below retain their published combined credits.
Required Courses and Credits
Semester 1 — 16 credits
| Course | Credits | What you study |
|---|---|---|
NUR 201 — Professional Practice I: Introduction to Professional Nursing | 3 | Professional nursing roles, communication, ethics and foundations of safe practice. |
NUR 204 / 204 EL — Health and Wellness I: Fundamentals and Experiential Learning | 6 | Fundamental nursing care and supervised application of basic clinical skills. |
NUR 226 — Pathophysiology and Pharmacology I | 3 | Disease mechanisms and medication principles applied to nursing care. |
NUR 245 / 245 EL — Health Assessment and Promotion with Experiential Learning | 4 | Patient assessment, health promotion and assessment skills practice. |
Semester 2 — 16 credits
| Course | Credits | What you study |
|---|---|---|
NUR 326 — Pathophysiology and Pharmacology II | 3 | Further study of disease processes and therapeutic medications. |
NUR 304 / 304 EL — Introduction to Medical-Surgical Nursing with Experiential Learning | 7 | Adult medical-surgical nursing knowledge and supervised patient-care application. |
NUR 346 — Quality, Safety and Informatics | 3 | Healthcare quality, patient safety and information systems. |
NUR 347 — Families in Transition | 3 | Older-adult care, end-of-life needs and family transitions. |
Semester 3 — 16 credits
| Course | Credits | What you study |
|---|---|---|
NUR 401 — Scholarship for the Nursing Discipline | 3 | Research and evidence to support nursing practice. |
NUR 404 / 404 EL — Pediatric and Maternity Nursing with Experiential Learning | 6 | Care of children and childbearing families with clinical application. |
NUR 422 / 422 EL — Mental and Social Health with Experiential Learning | 5 | Mental health assessment, therapeutic communication and supervised care. |
NUR 435 — Preparation for Professional Licensure I | 2 | Integration and review of nursing knowledge for licensure preparation. |
Semester 4 — 16 credits
| Course | Credits | What you study |
|---|---|---|
NUR 504 / 504 EL — Advanced Medical-Surgical Nursing with Experiential Learning | 7 | Complex adult care and advanced clinical application. |
NUR 525 / 525 EL — Community, Population Health and Disaster Planning | 4 | Population-focused care, community practice and disaster preparedness. |
NUR 522 — Leadership, Management and Capstone Project | 4 | Nursing leadership and care coordination, including a one-credit capstone within the four-credit requirement. |
NUR 535 — Preparation for Professional Licensure II | 1 | Final synthesis and preparation for the NCLEX-RN. |
Clinical Experience
The program combines classroom instruction with patient-assessment and clinical-simulation laboratories and supervised healthcare placements. Students progress from foundational practice through adult health, maternal-child and mental health, then advanced care and leadership.
The school reports 2025 first-time NCLEX-RN rates of 90% for Boston, 90% for Worcester and 100% for Manchester. These campus measures are not established as separately isolated postbaccalaureate-cohort rates and should not be presented as a ranking of Massachusetts ABSNs.
Tuition and Costs
The 2026–27 tuition table lists $62,480 for fall, spring and summer combined, plus an estimated $22,600 final fall semester. For that four-term fall-start sequence, estimated tuition is $85,080 before fees or scholarships.
The nursing clinical fee is $563 per semester for the final four semesters, adding $2,252. Tuition plus that fee is approximately $87,332; other mandatory charges, insurance, equipment and living expenses may add to the total.
The final-fall amount is explicitly estimated by MCPHS, and future rates can change. A spring-start student’s calendar has a different distribution of academic-year terms, so $85,080 is a published-rate planning estimate rather than a guaranteed price for every start.
The program advertises scholarships of up to $32,000. Awards are not automatically $32,000 for every student; use the individual admission offer when calculating a net price. The former $178,740 figure described a longer pathway and is not this second-degree program’s tuition.
Accreditation and Outcomes
The BSN program is accredited by CCNE. The 2026–27 catalog states that the Boston and Worcester BSN programs have full approval from the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing; Manchester operates under New Hampshire approval.
See the official program information for the university’s current application instructions and program requirements.
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