Two Schedules. Four Start Dates. Bronx-Based Clinical Access.
Mercy is the only program in this review offering a complete weekend-only ABSN track — coursework and clinicals held exclusively on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays — alongside its standard weekday program. Both run 18 months across five semesters, cover the same curriculum, and lead to the same NCLEX-eligible BSN.
Four annual entry points (Spring, Summer, Fall weekday, Fall weekend) give career changers more scheduling flexibility than any comparable New York-area program.
Located in the Bronx — one of New York’s most medically underserved boroughs — Mercy’s clinical placement philosophy emphasizes health equity, social justice, and community health advocacy alongside acute care exposure.
The 2.8 GPA minimum and no-TEAS policy remove common barriers for career changers who may not have stellar undergraduate records.
ABSN Admission Summary
Admission requirements are straightforward with minimal testing barriers. The program accepts students four times per year with rolling review within each cycle.
Academic requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree (B.A. or B.S.) from an accredited college or university
- Minimum GPA of 2.8 from the bachelor’s degree (program page); 3.0 preferred per catalog — confirm current threshold directly with the School of Nursing
- All four prerequisite courses completed with C+ or better before the semester application deadline
- No TEAS exam required at any stage
Four required prerequisite courses (C+ or better in each):
- Anatomy & Physiology II with lab (4 credits) — online lab accepted only for courses taken between Spring 2020 and Spring 2022; all others must be in-person lab
- Microbiology (3 credits) — no lab required
- Psychology or Human Development (3 credits)
- Chemistry (3 credits) — no lab required; note: only Chemistry is accepted for Fall 2023 and subsequent matriculation (Genetics no longer accepted as a substitute)
Application materials:
- Application through Mercy University Undergraduate Application or Common App
- Personal statement — minimum 500 words answering: “Why do I want to become a nurse?”
- One professional reference letter
- Official transcripts from all colleges attended; international transcripts must be NACES-evaluated
- $500 non-refundable enrollment deposit due within days of acceptance decision (refundable only before the refund deadline)
Choosing your track:
- Weekday track: Classes primarily held on weekdays; clinicals often held on weekends
- Weekend track: All coursework and clinicals held on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays — designed for students maintaining weekday employment or commitments
Clinical compliance — required before starting clinicals:
- AHA CPR for Healthcare Personnel
- COVID vaccination
- Immunization titers: MMR, Hepatitis B (antibody and antigen), Varicella
- Hepatitis C antibody test
- Annual influenza vaccine
- TdAP/TD vaccination
- Annual health assessment (physical examination)
- Annual N-95 mask fitting
- TB blood test or PPD (chest X-ray for positive PPD)
- Background check
- Drug screen
- Fingerprints (depending on agency requirements)
- Health insurance (depending on agency requirements)
- All documentation submitted electronically to the Clinical Placement Coordinator by specified due dates for facility onboarding
Progression standards:
- C+ or better required in all nursing courses
- Minimum nursing and overall GPA of 2.33 maintained throughout
- Students may repeat only one NURS course
- Students may withdraw from only one NURS course throughout the entire program — withdrawal from a course requires withdrawal from all associated components (didactic, clinical, lab) simultaneously
- Students dismissed for the second time may not appeal or reapply
Financial aid note:
As a second bachelor’s degree program, many federal and state need-based aid programs (including Pell grants) are not available. Federal student loans may be accessible. Mercy does not offer merit scholarships for the ASDN program. Payment plans are available through Student Accounts.
Curriculum
Fifty-eight nursing major credits (43 lower division + 15 upper division) are distributed across five consecutive semesters over 18 months. Every clinical specialty course runs with a concurrent simulation/clinical companion section. A two-part Medical Surgical Nursing sequence carries the program’s heaviest clinical credit weight across Semesters 4 and 5.
Prerequisite Overview
Four prerequisites required — A&P II with lab (in-person), Microbiology, Psychology or Human Development, and Chemistry — all C+ or better before the semester deadline. See the admission summary above for full details.
Five-semester nursing sequence (58 credit hours):
Semester 1:
NURS 198 – Health Assessment & Promotion — comprehensive health evaluation techniques including history-taking, risk assessments, and physical examination across the lifespan; taken concurrently with lab
NURS 198A – Health Assessment & Promotion Lab — hands-on lab reinforcing assessment skills across the lifespan
NURS 200 – Fundamentals of Nursing Lecture — foundational nursing concepts, holistic care, ethics, patient-centered practice, communication, and clinical reasoning; gateway course
NURS 200A – Fundamentals of Nursing Lab — lab component of Fundamentals; concurrent with NURS 200 and 200S
NURS 200S – Fundamentals of Nursing Sim Lab — simulation component of Fundamentals; experiential learning and work-based experience designation; concurrent with NURS 200 and 200A
NURS 367 – Pathophysiology/Clinical Reasoning for Nursing (3 cr.) — disease processes and clinical reasoning applied to nursing care; foundational to all subsequent pharmacology and specialty coursework
Semester 2
NURS 226 – Parent-Child Nursing — nursing care for childbearing families from pregnancy through pediatric care; labor and delivery, newborn health, family-centered care
NURS 226S – Parent-Child Nursing Clinical Simulation — clinical/simulation experience for NURS 226; work-based experience designation
NURS 227 – Pediatric Nursing — nursing care of infants, children, and adolescents across the continuum of care; developmental and family-centered approach
NURS 227S – Pediatric Nursing Clinical Simulation — clinical/simulation experience for NURS 227; work-based experience designation
NURS 361 – Contemporary Topics in Professional Nursing — current issues shaping professional nursing practice, professional identity, and the evolving healthcare environment
NURS 220 – Pharmacology for Nurses Lecture — drug classifications, pharmacologic principles, and nursing care strategies across patient populations; gateway course; prerequisite: NURS 367
NURS 220A – Pharmacology for Nurses Lab — lab application of pharmacology principles; concurrent with NURS 220
Semester 3
NURS 250 – Psychiatric & Mental Health Nursing — holistic mental health nursing care; psychosocial and cultural factors in mental illness; therapeutic communication
NURS 250S – Psychiatric & Mental Health Nursing Sim — simulation/clinical experience for NURS 250; experiential learning designation
NURS 251 – Advocacy for Population Health / Community Nursing — population-based nursing, social determinants of health, community health assessment, and health equity advocacy
NURS 251S – Advocacy for Population Health Sim — simulation/clinical experience for NURS 251; experiential and work-based experience designations
Semester 4
NURS 240 – Medical Surgical Nursing I Lecture — nursing care for adults with acute and chronic conditions; first in a two-part sequence; concurrent with lab and sim lab
NURS 240A – Medical Surgical Nursing I Lab — lab component for NURS 240
NURS 240S – Medical Surgical Nursing I Sim Lab — simulation/clinical experience for NURS 240; experiential and work-based experience designations
NURS 363 – Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice — processes and methods of nursing research; evidence appraisal and application to clinical practice
NURS 365 – Introduction to Health Policy — healthcare policy, regulatory frameworks, financing, and the nurse’s role in health advocacy and social justice
Semester 5 — final semester:
NURS 241 – Medical Surgical Nursing II Lecture — second in the medical-surgical sequence; more complex adult health conditions including respiratory failure, shock, and neurological disorders
NURS 241A – Medical Surgical Nursing II Lab — lab component for NURS 241
NURS 241S – Medical Surgical Nursing II Sim Lab — simulation/clinical experience for NURS 241; experiential and work-based experience designations; capstone clinical immersion
NURS 364 – Nursing Informatics — health information systems, data management, EHR applications, and technology to support safe, quality nursing care
NURS 366 – Leadership & Management — nursing leadership theory, management principles, delegation, and quality improvement; career activity designation
More curriculum details available in the course catalog: Mercy University ASDN Catalog
Clinicals
Clinical simulation companions run with every major nursing specialty course — Semesters 1 through 5 all include simulation and clinical sections. Mercy’s Bronx location places students in one of the most healthcare-dense and medically underserved urban environments in the country, making community and population health clinical experiences particularly substantive.
- Clinical integration: Every major nursing course (Fundamentals, Maternal-Child, Pediatrics, Mental Health, Community, Med Surg I and II) carries a concurrent simulation/clinical section designated as an Experiential Learning Course and Work-Based Experience
- Clinical start: Semester 1 — Fundamentals Sim Lab (NURS 200S) begins from the opening semester; clinical immersion escalates across all five terms
- Medical Surgical clinical sequence: The most intensive clinical track in the program — two dedicated sim/clinical sections (NURS 240S and 241S) running across Semesters 4 and 5 constitute the program’s peak real-world clinical immersion
- Weekend clinical scheduling: Weekend track students complete all clinicals on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays — same clinical content and standards as weekday track
- Interprofessional Education (IPE): Simulation labs feature interprofessional scenarios with students from multiple health professions working with a simulated patient (student actor) — prepares students for real-world care team collaboration before entering clinical sites
- Clinical partners: “Relationship with leading hospitals” is cited as a program distinguishing feature — specific named affiliates not published in available materials; contact Paul Reid at preid9@mercy.edu or 718-678-8790 for current clinical partner information
- Geographic note: Mercy’s School of Nursing is located in the Bronx — clinical placements in a borough with significant health disparity challenges; community and population health clinical work reflects the program’s explicit social justice and health equity mission
Tuition
Estimated total program cost: ~$74,765 (5 terms)
Mercy publishes its total program cost directly. The per-term rate includes tuition, registration fee, and the nursing program fee.
| Component | Per Term | × 5 Terms | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
Tuition (12+ credits, Fall 2025 entry or later) | $12,513 | 5 | $62,565 |
Registration fee | $465 | 5 | $2,325 |
Nursing Program Fee (ASDBS) | $1,975 | 5 | $9,875 |
Published total program cost | $14,953 | 5 | ~$74,765 |
Mercy notes that tuition and fees may increase prior to the start of any summer term — the $74,765 figure is the current average estimate and subject to change.
Financial aid: Federal student loans are available; Pell grants and most need-based state programs are not available to second-degree students. Mercy does not offer merit scholarships for the ASDN. Payment plans available through Student Accounts. External scholarship resources cited include Tylenol Scholarships, AACN-RN Members Scholarship, National Black Nurses Association, National Hispanic Nurses Association, and Minority Nurse.
Mercy’s general undergraduate tuition is $24,480 per year — the ASDN program is billed at a premium nursing rate separate from this. At ~$74,765 published total cost, Mercy is the most transparent about all-in costs of any New York-area program in this review, and the school explicitly positions itself as having “one of the lowest private tuition rates in New York.” Contact Financial Aid at mercy.edu/admissions-aid/financial-aid for current loan and payment plan options.
See the official tuition page for more details: Mercy University Tuition & Fees
Accreditation
The baccalaureate and master’s nursing programs at Mercy University are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).
Mercy University holds regional institutional accreditation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Graduates are eligible to sit for the NCLEX-RN; students pursuing licensure outside New York must contact the applicable state Board of Nursing for jurisdiction-specific requirements.