Last Updated: October 6, 2026
Program Overview
Valdosta State’s campus ABSN starts each summer and carries 15 nursing credits in each of four consecutive terms, finishing the following summer.
The 15-month Accelerated BSN is designed for applicants with a completed non-nursing bachelor’s degree. Its 60-credit nursing major combines foundational learning, adult and specialty care, community nursing and professional practice.
Students attend Valdosta State in Valdosta, Georgia. The nursing college is based in the Health Sciences and Business Administration Building at 2525 North Patterson Street.
Program Format and Attendance
Campus learning: Plan for classroom, laboratory, simulation and clinical requirements across Summer, Fall, Spring and the final Summer. The accelerated nursing sequence is a full-time campus program.
Continuous enrollment: Each nursing term contains 15 credits. Arrange work and personal responsibilities around the cohort schedule, including the summer terms.
Clinical travel: Students provide dependable transportation to assigned clinical sites. The School of Nursing handbook notes that travel to some agencies may take one to two hours and that public transportation may be unavailable.
Admissions Requirements
- Complete a bachelor’s degree in a field other than nursing.
- Meet the 2.8 overall GPA minimum across all completed college coursework.
- Meet the separate 3.0 nursing certification GPA minimum using designated nursing-core courses.
- Earn C or better in required math and science coursework and meet recency and repeat limits.
- Obtain university admission and complete the separate nursing application.
Nursing GPA: The program map identifies Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning, Communicating in Writing, Technology/Mathematics/Science, and Field of Study courses for this calculation. The ABSN admissions instructions state that both grades from repeated courses are included; have the CONHS Advising Center evaluate the transcript and applicable repeat treatment before relying on a self-calculated GPA.
HESI A2
Earn 75 or higher in each of Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary, Grammar, Math, and Anatomy and Physiology. Students may test twice per application cycle through VSU’s testing office or its distance-testing arrangements.
The School of Nursing’s posted HESI policy gives admission scores one-year validity and uses the highest score when an applicant tests more than once. Send the official score report by the materials deadline.
Application Steps and Final Deadline
The application opens on the first Monday in October and closes on the first Friday in November. For summer 2027 entry, that is October 5 through November 6, 2026.
- Apply to VSU Undergraduate Admissions, pay the published $40 university application fee and send official college transcripts.
- After university acceptance, email the CONHS Advising Center to request a transcript evaluation.
- Use the MyVSU account to submit the separate nursing application by November 6.
- Submit supplemental official transcripts and the official HESI score report by November 15.
- Monitor the VSU email account; acceptance decisions normally follow eight to ten weeks after the application deadline.
Previous nursing enrollment: Anyone enrolled in another nursing program within the past five years must petition the Admissions and Progressions Committee for permission to apply. Include a letter of good standing from the previous nursing school and official academic transcripts.
Use the ABSN admissions instructions for the entering cycle. Admission outcomes from prior cohorts do not guarantee a seat.
Recent Cohort Context
VSU reports that Summer 2025 admitted 24 of 24 eligible applicants, with average GPAs of 3.19 overall and 3.43 nursing. Summer 2024 admitted 26 of 26 eligible applicants, with averages of 3.30 overall and 3.43 nursing; these are historical cohort figures, rather than current admission promises.
Prerequisites
- BIOL 2251K — Human Anatomy and Physiology I
- BIOL 2252K — Human Anatomy and Physiology II
- BIOL 2260K — Microbiology
- NURS 2700 — Pathophysiology
- PSYC 2103 — Introduction to Human Development
- MATH 1401 — Elementary Statistics
- One eight-credit laboratory science sequence: Biology I and II or Chemistry I and II, using approved lecture/lab equivalents.
Five-year rule: The admissions page applies recency to the laboratory science sequence, Statistics, Anatomy and Physiology, Microbiology, Pathophysiology and Human Development. Courses older than five years at the application deadline must be retaken.
Repeat limits: Required math and science courses may not be repeated more than once. An expired course may be retaken only once; obtain adviser review before repeating coursework.
Transfer and Georgia requirements: The accelerated map identifies Political Science/U.S. History, Technology/Mathematics/Science and Field of Study requirements. Prior coursework may satisfy these after evaluation; transfer students must still meet Georgia legislative history and constitution requirements for graduation.
Curriculum
The accelerated 60-credit nursing major contains 11 required courses. VSU’s program-specific map confirms four 15-credit terms, progressing from assessment and basic care to acute and chronic illness, family/community care and professional transition.
Required Courses and Credits
First Summer — 15 Credits
| Course | Credits | What you study |
|---|---|---|
NURS 3102 — Pharmacology in Nursing Practice | 3 | Safe dosage calculations, medication actions, therapeutic effects, adverse responses and nursing responsibilities. |
NURS 3103 — Health Assessment Across the Lifespan | 4 | Physical, psychosocial, functional and environmental assessment with communication, reasoning and hands-on assessment techniques. |
NURS 3111 — Nursing Care I: Health Promotion and Competencies | 8 | Health promotion and illness prevention, foundational nursing skills and concepts practiced in classroom, laboratory and clinical settings. |
Fall — 15 Credits
| Course | Credits | What you study |
|---|---|---|
NURS 3201 — Professional Nursing Development I: Research and Evidence-Based Practice | 3 | Understanding, analyzing and applying nursing research to support evidence-based clinical decisions. |
NURS 3202 — Mental Health Nursing Care | 5 | Evidence-based psychosocial and behavioral health care, including ethical, cultural, legal, safety and interdisciplinary practice issues. |
NURS 3203 — Nursing Care II: Acute Health Alterations | 7 | Holistic care for acute health conditions, integrating foundational skills, clinical reasoning and interdisciplinary teamwork. |
Spring — 15 Credits
| Course | Credits | What you study |
|---|---|---|
NURS 4114 — Nursing Care III: Chronic and Multisystem Alterations | 7 | Nursing care for chronic and multisystem health problems, building on earlier theory and clinical practice. |
NURS 4124 — Nursing Care of Women, Children, and Families | 8 | Family-centered care for women and children, integrating culture, safety, quality and evidence-based clinical practice. |
Final Summer — 15 Credits
| Course | Credits | What you study |
|---|---|---|
NURS 4201 — Community Health Nursing Care | 4 | Community and population health promotion, disease prevention, collaboration and planning nursing interventions. |
NURS 4202 — Professional Nursing Development II: Leadership and Management | 3 | Leadership and management concepts and competencies for transition into professional nursing practice. |
NURS 4224 — Professional Nursing Practice | 8 | Integrating nursing theory, simulation and comprehensive practice while managing care and preparing for the entry-level nursing role. |
The accelerated program map establishes this sequence and credit total. General education, prerequisites and transfer-dependent graduation requirements are separate from the 60 nursing credits.
Professional practice and testing: The final term combines community care, leadership and the eight-credit Professional Nursing Practice course. The posted nursing testing policy includes specialty HESI assessments through the curriculum and an exit assessment associated with NURS 4224, with required review and remediation under program policy.
Clinical Experience
Laboratory, simulation and clinical practice accompany the nursing-care sequence, developing skills across adult, mental health, maternal/pediatric and community nursing. Credit totals include the combined learning of each course and do not establish a separate count of direct clinical hours.
Placement requirements: The School of Nursing handbook requires health documentation, immunizations, current BLS certification, professional liability insurance and background screening. Clinical agencies or the school may require drug screening and additional clearance conditions.
Students pay associated expenses and provide clinical transportation. Placement depends on meeting agency requirements; an alternative assignment is not guaranteed when a student cannot clear a site’s screening.
Tuition and Costs
Estimated resident tuition: $11,340 for four 15-credit nursing terms at the published 2026–27 campus rate. This tuition-only estimate excludes mandatory fees, insurance and living expenses.
Resident tuition is $189 per credit, or $2,835 for a 15-credit term. Nonresident tuition is $710 per credit, or $10,650 per term; four such terms produce $42,600 in nonresident tuition.
- Mandatory campus fees: $818 per term, or $3,272 across four terms at the current rate. Tuition plus these fees is an estimated $14,612 resident or $45,872 nonresident.
- Nursing lab fee: The schedule lists $20 per applicable assessment; confirm which registered courses carry it.
- Books: VSU’s published cost estimate allows about $600 per term, or $2,400 across four terms.
- Budget separately for clinical clearance, BLS, liability insurance, uniforms, equipment, travel, housing and meals.
Health coverage: Nursing students must have qualifying health insurance. Those with an eligible existing plan may request a waiver of the university’s student-insurance charge by the applicable waiver deadline; otherwise the plan premium is an additional expense.
The tuition and fee schedules list rates effective Fall 2026 for 2026–27. The estimate applies those rates across the verified sequence; future rate changes, extra courses or additional terms can raise the bill.
Accreditation
Valdosta State’s baccalaureate nursing program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). The university also lists CCNE accreditation for its master’s, DNP and post-graduate APRN nursing offerings.
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