Last Updated: October 1, 2026
Program Overview
UAFS offers a campus-based second-degree BSN with a 55-credit accelerated phase and resident tuition eligibility for qualifying border-state students.
The University of Arkansas–Fort Smith offers a 15-month accelerated BSN for applicants who already hold a non-nursing bachelor’s or graduate degree. The degree contains 120 credits overall, including 65 pre-program credits and 55 credits in the accelerated sequence.
Students attend coursework, laboratories and supervised clinical experiences. Admission is competitive, and preparation before entry can extend the time needed to finish the degree.
Accreditation
The baccalaureate nursing program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) and approved by the Arkansas State Board of Nursing.
Admissions Requirements
The 2026–27 accelerated-program catalog requires:
- A completed bachelor’s or graduate degree in a non-nursing discipline.
- A 2.5 cumulative GPA on college coursework, including transfer work and excluding developmental courses.
- Required prerequisite courses completed with at least a C before entry.
- No more than two attempts at a math or science course, HEAL 31003 Pathophysiology, or HEAL 21003 Introduction to Professional Nursing.
- Review of science courses completed more than five years before application.
- University admission and official transcripts from every college attended.
Applicants with higher GPAs may rank more strongly. Before clinical participation, admitted students provide a health statement, immunization records, American Heart Association BLS certification, background screening and a drug screen.
The accelerated BSN application deadlines are March 1 for fall entry; October 1 for spring entry.
Prerequisites and Transfer Credit
The 65-credit pre-program component combines general education, supporting coursework and credit from the prior degree. Required preparation includes:
- Anatomy and Physiology I and II, Microbiology and Chemistry, with laboratories.
- English composition, communication, humanities and fine arts.
- U.S. history or government and social sciences, including psychology.
- Statistics, lifespan development and nutrition.
- Medical terminology and pathophysiology.
The catalog specifies that HEAL 31003 Pathophysiology must be taken at UAFS in the semester before BSN admission and cannot transfer from another institution. An individual transcript review determines remaining requirements; a previous degree alone does not clear every prerequisite.
Curriculum
UAFS combines campus coursework, skills laboratories, simulation and supervised clinical practice in a 55-credit accelerated sequence. Students begin with assessment, dosage calculation and foundational care, move into adult and specialty nursing, and finish with critical care, leadership and NCLEX preparation.
The 2026–27 accelerated BSN catalog confirms the four-term fall-entry sequence below. Spring-entry students should obtain their cohort-specific schedule. These 55 credits are the same credits used in the tuition calculation; the separate 65-credit pre-program component brings the degree total to 120.
Required Courses and Credits
First Fall — 15 Credits
| Course | Credits | What you study |
|---|---|---|
NURS 22042 — Nursing Dosage Calculation | 2 | Safe-dose calculations, measurement conversions, heparin drips and pediatric weight-based dosing. |
NURS 31645 — Health Assessment | 5 | Adult and pediatric examination skills, applied through clinical and simulated situations; includes 60 lab hours. |
NURS 32245 — Nursing Fundamentals | 5 | Nursing concepts, diagnoses and patient-care skills; includes 30 campus lab hours and 45 clinical hours. |
NURS 32003 — Nursing Pharmacology | 3 | Drug classes and actions, connected to disease processes, patient teaching, medication administration and monitoring. |
Spring — 17 Credits
| Course | Credits | What you study |
|---|---|---|
NURS 32344 — Nursing Care of Women | 4 | Women’s health, normal and high-risk pregnancy and newborn care; includes 90 clinical hours. |
NURS 32454 — Nursing Care of Children | 4 | Care of well children and those with acute, chronic or life-threatening conditions; includes 90 clinical hours. |
NURS 33349 — Adult Medical Surgical Nursing | 9 | Priority nursing care for adult and geriatric patients, including physiological and psychosocial needs; includes 180 clinical hours. |
Summer — 10 Credits
| Course | Credits | What you study |
|---|---|---|
HEAL 41003 — Research in the Health Sciences | 3 | Research designs, qualitative and quantitative methods, data analysis and evaluation of clinical studies. |
NURS 34544 — Psychiatric Nursing | 4 | Mental health nursing concepts, psychiatric disorders and clinical application; includes 90 clinical hours. |
NURS 44543 — Community Health Nursing | 3 | Nursing care of communities, population groups and people at risk; includes 56.25 clinical hours. |
Final Fall — 13 Credits
| Course | Credits | What you study |
|---|---|---|
HEAL 31602 — Transcultural Health | 2 | How culture influences health practices and care for people from different backgrounds. |
NURS 40041 — NCLEX Preparation I | 1 | NCLEX question formats, computerized adaptive testing and ATI assessment to build an individual study plan. |
NURS 40141 — NCLEX Preparation II | 1 | Continued exam preparation and the ATI Comprehensive Predictor to identify areas for focused study. |
NURS 43546 — Nursing Care of the Critically Ill Adult | 6 | Acute and critical adult care, with emphasis on older adults; includes 90 clinical hours. |
NURS 43463 — Leadership in Professional Nursing | 3 | Prioritization, delegation, supervision, staffing, budgeting, ethics, policy and quality improvement; includes 56.25 clinical hours. |
Total: 55 accelerated-sequence credits. Early laboratory and simulation work supports later clinical practice. The final term combines critical care and leadership with two required NCLEX-preparation courses; these are part of the published sequence, not optional review classes.
Clinical Experience and Progression
Clinical learning develops alongside theory and laboratory work, progressing from basic care to specialty nursing, critical care and leadership. UAFS nursing students train in regional hospitals, clinics, community settings and long-term care facilities. Students must meet the health and screening requirements for their assigned sites.
The accelerated-program catalog states that theory, laboratory and clinical practice may take place during morning, afternoon, evening, night or weekend hours. Plan for attendance beyond a weekday daytime schedule.
The catalog requires satisfactory clinical performance, 100% mastery on dosage-calculation competency performance evaluations, and at least a 75% cumulative average on competency performance assessments, including each course’s final assessment. These are progression requirements, not admissions GPA thresholds.
Tuition and Costs
Estimated Tuition Plus Mandatory Fees
Using published 2026–27 rates for 55 credits across four terms:
- Arkansas/eligible border-state residents: $18,689.50 estimated tuition plus mandatory fees — $12,540 tuition + $6,149.50 mandatory fees.
- Other nonresidents: $28,149.50 estimated tuition plus mandatory fees — $22,000 tuition + $6,149.50 mandatory fees.
Eligible border states are Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.
These current-rate estimates exclude additional nursing charges, remaining prerequisites and living expenses. Actual charges may increase if rates change during the program.
Tuition and Mandatory-Fee Calculation
The 2026–27 undergraduate rate schedule supports these calculations:
- Resident/border-state tuition: $12,540 — 55 credits × $228.
- Other nonresident tuition: $22,000 — 55 credits × $400.
- Mandatory fees: $6,149.50 — (55 credits × $106.50) + (four terms × $73).
The tuition figure in Quick Facts is tuition only. The estimates above cover the accelerated phase, not the 65-credit pre-program component or any prerequisites still needed.
Additional Nursing Charges and Expenses
The Fall 2026 fee schedule lists these additional nursing charges:
- BSN program fee: $40 per assessed credit hour.
- Laboratory fee: $50 per BSN lab course.
- Skills bag: $200 once, in NURS 32245 (first fall in the published sequence).
- Elsevier 360: $835, listed for NURS 31645 in fall or spring and NURS 32454 in spring. These correspond to first fall and spring in the published fall-entry sequence.
- BSN assessment: $195 per assessed semester.
- ExamSoft: $36.50 per semester.
- Hurst Review: $205 once, associated with NURS 40041/40141 in the final fall.
- Trac Pac: $100 for a one-year subscription.
- Nursing pin: $50 once.
These charges are separate from the tuition-plus-mandatory-fee subtotal. Books, uniforms, screening, clinical travel, housing and licensure also affect the attendance budget.
Other Nursing Programs
UAFS also offers traditional BSN, associate nursing and LPN-to-ADN pathways. Their admissions and course sequences differ from the accelerated second-degree option.