Last Updated: October 2, 2026
Program Overview
A 15-month second-degree nursing program in West Hartford with May entry, 61 nursing credits and clinical learning across two summers, fall and spring.
The University of Saint Joseph’s Accelerated Second Degree in Nursing serves students with a bachelor’s degree in another discipline. Graduates earn a Bachelor of Science with a concentration in Nursing and may apply for the NCLEX-RN.
The full-time campus program combines classroom learning, nursing labs, simulation and clinical experiences, including semester-long mental health, pediatric and maternity courses. USJ advertises small cohorts and tutoring for each nursing course. Full-time employment is not recommended during the program.
Admissions and Prerequisites
Applicants need a bachelor’s degree completed before the May start and at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA across all college coursework. Prerequisites are Anatomy and Physiology I and II, Microbiology, General Chemistry and Statistics. The current catalog specifies laboratory components for the sciences and lists MATH 110 Elementary Statistics as four credits. USJ evaluates transfer-course equivalencies.
Science prerequisites require B− or better. The program page says both science and non-science prerequisites must be within five years and permits only one repeated science prerequisite course.
Apply through USJ’s undergraduate application with all official transcripts, one academic or professional recommendation, a current resume and a one- to two-page essay explaining the transition to nursing. Recurring deadlines are February 1 priority and May 1 regular.
The admissions FAQ says prerequisites should be finished before application, but also allows at most one in-progress prerequisite with midterm grades and an official enrollment transcript. Admission in that case is conditional on successful completion. Obtain program confirmation before relying on an in-progress course.
The program does not accept F-1 visa applicants. Foreign-earned degrees require a NACES-member transcript evaluation; USJ prefers WES. See the ASD admissions page for current requirements.
Curriculum
The 2026–27 nursing handbook lists the following 61-credit plan, effective from May 2025. Prior-degree and prerequisite credits are separate from this nursing sequence.
Required Courses and Credits
First summer — Session I, 6 credits
| Course | Credits | What you study |
|---|---|---|
NURS 201 — Foundations of Professional Nursing | 3 | Study nursing history, ethical and legal responsibilities, documentation, patient rights and the nursing process. |
NURS 226 — Integrated Pathophysiology and Pharmacology I | 3 | Connect disease mechanisms across the lifespan with drug actions, therapeutic uses, adverse effects and nursing responsibilities. |
First summer — Session II, 7 credits
| Course | Credits | What you study |
|---|---|---|
NURS 220 — Health Assessment and Clinical Skills | 4 | Practice physical assessment and beginning clinical skills in the nursing lab and off-campus learning. |
NURS 228 — Integrated Pathophysiology and Pharmacology II | 3 | Extend disease-process and medication knowledge through deeper study of selected illnesses and treatments. |
Fall — 13 credits
| Course | Credits | What you study |
|---|---|---|
NURS 321 — Adult Health Nursing I | 6 | Provide adult medical-surgical care in acute settings while developing prioritization, delegation and clinical reasoning. |
NURS 322 — Nursing Research | 3 | Evaluate published nursing research and connect the research process with evidence-based practice. |
NURS 337 — Mental Health Nursing | 4 | Develop therapeutic nursing care and clinical judgment with individuals experiencing mental health conditions. |
Spring — 16 credits
| Course | Credits | What you study |
|---|---|---|
NURS 306 — Community: Population Health and Public Health Nursing I | 6 | Apply public-health principles, prevention, health policy and social determinants of health in community clinical practice. |
NURS 326 — Care of Pediatric Patients and Families | 5 | Provide family-centered pediatric care addressing prevention, safety and acute or chronic illness in hospital and community settings. |
NURS 328 — Care of Childbearing Families | 5 | Support families through pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum care using simulation and maternity clinical learning. |
Second summer — 19 credits across two sessions
| Course | Credits | What you study |
|---|---|---|
NURS 451 — Adult Health Nursing II | 8 | Advance adult medical-surgical and critical-care knowledge, chronic-condition management and clinical judgment. |
NURS 302 — Leadership and Management of Issues in Professional Practice | 3 | Examine leadership styles, care management and social, political and economic influences on nursing practice. |
NURS 481 — Transition to Practice | 8 | Integrate nursing knowledge in clinical immersion, team-based care, increasing autonomy and NCLEX preparation. |
NURS 451 is in the first final-summer session, NURS 481 in the second, and NURS 302 runs across both sessions. Course descriptions are summarized from the 2026–27 program catalog; the handbook supplies the term sequence. Students register according to their approved cohort plan.
Clinical Experience and Requirements
Clinical learning begins with assessment and skills and continues through adult, mental health, pediatric, maternal, community and transition-to-practice courses. The handbook lists eight clinical hours per week in the initial assessment course and several fall/spring clinical courses; the final adult-health and transition courses each list 32 clinical hours per week. These are scheduled course hours, not a guaranteed program-wide total.
Students provide reliable transportation to clinical sites and must attend assigned experiences. They need American Heart Association healthcare-provider BLS certification before clinical participation and must keep it current. USJ requires health/immunization documentation, background checks and drug screening; clinical agencies may add requirements. The current handbook identifies Project Concert for students entering fall 2024 or later.
The current catalog requires B− or better in nursing courses, with one permitted exception: one C+ may be accepted without repeating, or one grade below C+ may be repeated. A second nursing grade below B− results in dismissal. Students must pass both the course and associated lab/clinical components. A failed clinical experience fails the course regardless of the classroom grade. Graduation requires the ATI comprehensive predictor examination and prescribed remediation. Students must also meet the handbook’s clinical and technical standards.
Tuition and Fees
Estimated full-program tuition is $55,140, based on four semester charges of $13,785 at the 2026–27 new accelerated nursing cohort rate. This is a current-rate tuition-only estimate, not a guaranteed university package price. No student activity fee is listed for this cohort category.
The calculation assumes each summer’s two sessions are billed together as one semester, plus fall and spring: 4 × $13,785 = $55,140. The handbook’s combined term loads are 13, 13, 16 and 19 credits, meeting the published 12-credit full-time threshold. USJ publishes the semester rate rather than an explicit four-term program quote; separately assessed summer sessions or future annual rate increases would change the total. Confirm the entering cohort’s billing schedule before committing.
The fee schedule lists $345 per specified undergraduate nursing course. Required ASD courses NURS 220 and NURS 321 are explicitly included, giving $690 in identified nursing fees and a $55,830 tuition-plus-identified-fees planning subtotal. The current catalog marks other ASD clinical courses as carrying nursing course fees, so this is not a complete fee total. The schedule also lists $103 laboratory fees for specified science/public-health subjects; these may apply if additional prerequisite coursework is needed.
Budget separately for health clearance, background/drug checks, uniforms, equipment, books, clinical travel and living expenses. The handbook notes that nursing lab fees cover items such as ATI, lab supplies and ExamSoft, with additional charges possible for clinical make-up or site requirements.
Accreditation and Outcomes
USJ’s baccalaureate nursing program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) and approved by the Connecticut Board of Examiners for Nursing, according to the current nursing handbook. Graduates may apply for the NCLEX-RN and licensure, subject to the nursing board’s requirements.
When comparing outcomes, request the most recent ASD-specific first-time NCLEX pass rate and cohort size; combined nursing-program results may describe a different student population.