RN to B.S. in Nursing
Nurses with a B.S. degree are positioned for greater career opportunities, growth and longevity. In 2017, 86 percent of employers stated a preference for nurses with a bachelor’s degree, and nearly 50 percent of positions required it.3
Our RN to B.S. in Nursing program is designed for licensed RNs seeking their bachelor’s degree. In just 11 courses and as few as 12 months, you can learn advanced nursing skills, critical thinking and even better patient care when you earn this valuable credential.
Program Highlights:
- Credits Required: 28 credit hours.
- Cost Per Credit Hour: $348 per credit hour.
- Time to Completion: Full-time students can complete their degree in as few as 12 months. The maximum time to completion is five years.
- Program Modality: All courses are taught 100 percent online.
- Accreditation: Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).
- Practicum Requirement: Practicums are leadership or population-focused, and provide experience with specific groups to enhance your previous RN work experience. Your practicum experience can be completed in your local area including your place of employment. We also assist you with practicum placements.
By graduation, you can:
- Set the example for nursing leadership, safety and quality based on proven national standards.
- Integrate evidence-based nursing to practice.
- Practice process improvement methodologies in all health care settings.
- Provide population-focused health care.
You’ll complete our program with a practicum at a location near you, so you can put your new knowledge and skills into practice and prove your nursing excellence.
Online Graduate Nursing Programs
Our B.S. in Nursing to Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.) program is your fastest route to becoming a Family Nurse Practitioner (F.N.P.) who can, with experience, conduct and implement research in practice, affect health care policy, teach nursing students at all levels and lead in an administrative position.
As an F.N.P., you would play a vital role in health care because you close the gap between quality care, cost and demand for services. You’re able to independently diagnose, assess and treat your patients, including prescribing medications. The growth rate for this role is predicted at 31 percent through 2024, and it pays an average of $110,930.4
And our D.N.P. degree prepares you for some of the highest-paid nursing roles. You’ll earn roughly $9,000 more annually than those in similar positions who hold a master’s degree.5
Program Highlights:
- Credits Required: 76 credit hours.
- Cost Per Credit Hour: $732 per credit hour.
- Time to Completion: Full-time students can complete their degree in as few as four years. The maximum time to completion is 10 years.
- Program Modality: Coursework is online and the program has occasional, prearranged campus meetings.
- Accreditation: Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).
By graduation, you can:
- Integrate nursing science with ethical, biophysical, psychosocial, analytical, organizational and informational sciences to create advanced nursing practices and new approaches to care delivery.
- Formulate health care system practice initiatives that improve health outcomes and ensure patient safety by formulating initiatives that integrate systems analysis, collaboration and leadership.
- Create best practices based on appraisal, translation and evaluation of evidence.
- Improve patient outcomes and safety by appraising health care information systems and patient care technology.
- Design ethical and culturally sensitive health care policies for diverse populations through advocacy, engagement and collaboration.
- Integrate consultative, collaborative and leadership skills as a member of intra- and inter-professional teams to improve health outcomes.
- Maximize clinical prevention and population health practices to improve the health outcomes of individuals, groups and populations.
- Improve client-health outcomes by integrating advanced-level knowledge and clinical judgment, systems, thinking and accountability.
Prepare to be an independent health care provider when you select the Family Nurse Practitioner specialization. F.N.P.s can assess, diagnose and treat patients and prescribe medications.
The F.N.P. role is vital to the health care system to balance quality care and cost against increased health care demands. Job growth for this role is predicted at 31 percent through 2026 — five times as fast as the national average — and it pays an average of $110,930.4
Program Highlights:
- Credits Required: 50 credit hours.
- Cost Per Credit Hour: $732 per credit hour.
- Time to Completion: Full-time students can complete their degree in a few as 2 1/2 years. The maximum time to completion is six years.
- Program Modality: All courses are taught 100 percent online.
- Accreditation: Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).
- Certifications: Family Nurse Practitioner students are prepared to sit for the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) Family Nurse Practitioner Certification exams.
By graduation, you can:
- Promote health and well-being by integrating legal and regulatory policies as well as related sciences and humanities.
- Improve health care environments with organizational leadership skills.
- Use quality initiatives to improve safety in health care environments.
- Integrate evidence-based scholarship into advanced nursing practice.
- Analyze technology to promote quality health care processes and outcomes.
- Collaborate within inter-professional teams as a nurse leader.
- Implement effective clinical prevention and health promotion in population-based, culturally diverse settings.
Our D.N.P. degree is for nurses who want to become an expert in a specialized area of advanced nursing practice. Through our online D.N.P. program, you will be prepared as a leader in innovative, evidence-based practice — someone who can formulate and implement patient-care plans based on credible research.
With a D.N.P., you can take on roles in health care leadership, administration and research; teach nursing students across all levels and earn roughly $9,000 more annually than those in similar positions who hold a master’s degree.5 The D.N.P. degree prepares you for nursing’s highest-paying roles.
Program Highlights:
- Credits Required: 35 credit hours.
- Cost Per Credit Hour: $732 per credit hour.
- Time to Completion: Full-time students can complete their degree in as few as two years.The maximum time to completion is 10 years.
- Program Modality: All courses are taught 100 percent online.
- Accreditation: Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).
By graduation, you can:
- Integrate nursing science with ethical, biophysical, psychosocial, analytical, organizational and informational sciences to create advanced nursing practices and new approaches to care delivery.
- Formulate health care system practice initiatives that improve health outcomes and ensure patient safety by formulating initiatives that integrate systems analysis, collaboration and leadership.
- Create best practices based on appraisal, translation and evaluation of evidence.
- Improve patient outcomes and safety by appraising health care information systems and patient care technology.
- Design ethical and culturally sensitive health care policies for diverse populations through advocacy, engagement and collaboration.
- Integrate consultative, collaborative and leadership skills as a member of intra- and inter-professional teams to improve health outcomes.
- Maximize clinical prevention and population health practices to improve the health outcomes of individuals, groups and populations.
- Improve client health outcomes by integrating advanced-level knowledge and clinical judgment, systems, thinking and accountability.
Why Take Your Next Step at NIU?
At NIU, we’re dedicated to ensuring your success. Experience our engaged, industry-experienced faculty, small class sizes, self-paced study and convenient always-on learning. For more information about any of these programs fill out the form on this page and one of our representatives will connect with you.
1Bureau of Labor Statistics. (April 13, 2018). Registered Nurses. Retrieved Jan. 31, 2019, from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/registered-nurses.htmhttps://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/registered-nurses.htm.
2Bureau of Labor Statistics. (December 2015). Occupational employment projections to 2024. Retrieved Jan. 31, 2019, from https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2015/article/occupational-employment-projections-to-2024.htmhttps://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2015/article/occupational-employment-projections-to-2024.htm.
3American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (April 26, 2017). Nursing Faculty Shortage (Rep.). Retrieved Jan. 31, 2019, from https://www.aacnnursing.org/News-Information/Fact-Sheets/Nursing-Faculty-Shortagehttps://www.aacnnursing.org/News-Information/Fact-Sheets/Nursing-Faculty-Shortage.
4Bureau of Labor Statistics. (April 13, 2018). Nurse Anesthetists, Nurse Midwives, and Nurse Practitioners. Retrieved Jan. 31, 2019, from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/nurse-anesthetists-nurse-midwives-and-nurse-practitioners.htmhttps://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/nurse-anesthetists-nurse-midwives-and-nurse-practitioners.htm.
5Medscape. (2016). Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) Salary Report 2016. (Rep.) Retrieved Aug. 16, 2018, from https://www.medscape.com/features/slideshow/aprn-salary-report#page=9https://www.medscape.com/features/slideshow/aprn-salary-report#page=9.