ACC seeks to add bachelor's nursing program

Nursing students in Austin Community College's associate degree program may soon be able to obtain their Bachelor of Science in nursing without transferring.

ACC is proposing a new four-year program to help meet the health care industry's increasing demand for nurses with bachelor's degrees. The program requires legislative approval, which, if gained, would enable ACC to begin offering the bachelor's program in 2017 to 25–40 registered nurses, according to an ACC news release issued Oct. 21.

Eligible students would need to have an associate degree in nursing and be licensed before applying for the proposed program, according to an ACC spokeswoman. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has already recommended that state lawmakers increase the number of nursing bachelor's programs at state community colleges, according to the ACC release, further boosting the school's chances of approval.

"Texas and the nation are already facing a severe nursing shortage," said Charles Cook, ACC provost/executive vice president for academic affairs. "Our goal is to provide a flexible, affordable pathway for our registered nurse graduates to earn their bachelor's degree."

Nursing students who earn their associate degree are eligible for the same registered nurse license as those who earn a bachelor's degree, yet many clinics and hospitals require registered nurses to complete a bachelor's program in a certain time frame after being hired, according to ACC.

"I had to sign a contract to get my [Bachelor's of Science in nursing] within five years," said Michael Park, an ACC nursing graduate, in a statement. "If I could get my BSN at ACC, then I could afford to work part-time while attending class to meet my five-year requirement."

The cost of ACC's proposed program would also be cheaper, the school claims. The degree program, requiring roughly 60 credits of core curriculum, would cost roughly $4,500 for two years of tuition—compared with $10,000–$15,000 at a public university, according to ACC.

ACC currently graduates more than 200 associate degree nurses per year.