25 Best Bachelor’s in Nursing

Key Infor­ma­tion:

• Uni­ver­si­ty of Wash­ing­ton and Uni­ver­si­ty of Michi­gan are two schools with top nurs­ing bach­e­lor’s degree pro­grams.
• Earn­ing a BSN is empha­sized as cru­cial for career advance­ment, offer­ing high­er salary poten­tial, bet­ter job titles, and oppor­tu­ni­ties for specialization.
• Attend a CCNE-accred­it­ed pro­grams to ensure high edu­ca­tion­al stan­dards and bet­ter employ­ment prospects.

Start­ing your career in nurs­ing with an asso­ci­ate’s degree in nurs­ing (ADN) is a great intro­duc­tion to what life is like as a nurse, but in terms of career advance­ment, you’ll hit the job ceil­ing pret­ty quick­ly. For many, the ben­e­fits of a nurs­ing career are such that they don’t feel the need to ask the ques­tion of “is a BSN worth it?” and don’t return to school to earn advanced degrees.

There’s plen­ty of work to go around, espe­cial­ly with the ongo­ing nurs­ing short­age, and the medi­an salary for a nurse with an ADN is $75,330 accord­ing to the BLS. All of these fac­tors sug­gest that an ADN is suf­fi­cient for an excit­ing and well-com­pen­sat­ed career, but there are also rea­sons why a BSN in nurs­ing is impor­tant for get­ting the most out of the ben­e­fits of a nurs­ing career.

The main rea­son why a BSN in nurs­ing is impor­tant is that it helps you gain access to bet­ter job titles, and gives you an oppor­tu­ni­ty to spe­cial­ize in an area of health­care that you enjoy. BSN pro­grams offer con­cen­tra­tions in a spe­cif­ic area of health­care and also help an RN improve their gen­er­al nurs­ing skills. Earn­ing a BSN also puts an RN onto the edu­ca­tion­al path­way to earn a grad­u­ate degree in advanced prac­tice nurs­ing and become licensed as a nurse prac­ti­tion­er. A nurse who con­tin­ues their edu­ca­tion past their ADN has more earn­ing poten­tial and more sat­is­fac­tion with their career as well as hav­ing more suc­cess find­ing qual­i­ty employers.

Relat­ed:

• Best Online Bach­e­lor’s in Nursing
• Fastest Online Bach­e­lor’s in Nursing
• Most Afford­able Bach­e­lor’s in Nursing
• Nurs­ing Scholarships

Methodology: Ranking the Best BSN Programs in the US

The edi­tors at Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter want prospec­tive BSN stu­dents to find pro­grams that make a dif­fer­ence. That’s why we fea­ture only accred­it­ed, rep­utable col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties, rank­ing accord­ing to prac­ti­cal fac­tors like tuition cost, stu­dent reviews, and poten­tial salary.

1. University of Washington

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wash­ing­ton offers two of the best BSN pro­grams in the US, with a CCNE-accred­it­ed BSN — a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing degree and an accel­er­at­ed BSN pro­gram option. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Washington’s best Bach­e­lor of Nurs­ing pro­grams have been nation­al­ly rec­og­nized among the lead­ing nation­al­ly ranked pro­grams as ranked by US News & World Report. Nurs­ing stu­dents inter­est­ed in an ear­ly entrance to a doc­tor­al pro­gram in nurs­ing can take advan­tage of an accel­er­at­ed BSN degree work­ing towards a DNP degree.

Estab­lished in the 1860s before Wash­ing­ton became a state, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Wash­ing­ton is the state’s flag­ship school and a sea, space, and land-grant insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing main­tain­ing mul­ti­ple cam­pus­es that serve near­ly 48,000 post­grad­u­ate and under­grad­u­ate students.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wash­ing­ton is rec­og­nized as one of the west coast’s old­est high­er learn­ing institutions.

Degree: BSN and Accel­er­at­ed BSN

Uni­ver­si­ty of Washington

2. University of Michigan

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Michi­gan offers one of the best BSN pro­grams in the US with a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing Degree with an aca­d­e­m­ic minor in Glob­al Pub­lic Health, as not­ed by US News and World Report. These CCNE-accred­it­ed best Bach­e­lor of Nurs­ing pro­grams from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Michi­gan empha­sizes glob­al nurs­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties in its BSN pro­gram. Fea­tured course­work for these nurs­ing degrees include health assess­ment, applied sta­tis­tics, eval­u­a­tion data and evi­dence, and phar­ma­col­o­gy, plus a clin­i­cal practicum, to name a few.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Michi­gan (UMichi­gan) was estab­lished in 1817 when Michi­gan was still a ter­ri­to­ry and is rec­og­nized among the old­est schools in Michi­gan. The Ann Arbor cam­pus and online plat­form of this sea and space-grant school serve more than 47,950 students.

What We Like: With an endow­ment of $12 bil­lion+, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Michigan’s endow­ment is among the largest in the nation.

Degree: BSN, Minor in Glob­al Pub­lic Health

Uni­ver­si­ty of Michigan

3. Purdue University

Pur­due Uni­ver­si­ty offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing degree (BSN) pro­gram that is ranked among the best BSN pro­grams in the US. These two CCNE-accred­it­ed best Bach­e­lor of Nurs­ing pro­grams include a direct admis­sion BSN pro­gram and a sec­ond-degree pro­gram for nurs­es that can be com­plet­ed in only 15 months. Fea­tured course­work for these BSN degree pro­grams includes pub­lic health nurs­ing, health assess­ment, nurs­ing prac­tice, and foun­da­tions of lead­er­ship, plus a practicum avail­able from more than 200+ partners.

Pur­due Uni­ver­si­ty is the flag­ship high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion of Indi­ana. It was found­ed in the late 1860s and now oper­ates as a sea, space, and land-grant school serv­ing near­ly 50,000 stu­dents each year. In addi­tion, Pur­due is a triple des­ig­nat­ed school — land, sea, and space-grant, with a stu­dent pop­u­la­tion of about 49,450 under­grad­u­ate and post­grad­u­ate students.

What We Like: Pur­due University’s list of impres­sive alum­ni includes more than a cou­ple of dozen astro­nauts, heads of state, gov­er­nors, and mem­bers of the Unit­ed States Congress.

Degree: BSN

Pur­due University

4. Texas A&M University

Texas A&M University’s School of Nurs­ing offers a vari­ety of the Lone Star State’s best Bach­e­lor of Nurs­ing pro­grams. A&M offers nurs­ing stu­dents a tra­di­tion­al Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing degree (BSN) pro­gram, a BSN as a sec­ond degree, and an RN to BSN degree. Texas A&M University’s CCNE-accred­it­ed best BSN pro­grams in the US require the com­ple­tion of this nurs­ing course­work – adult nurs­ing, the care of men­tal health clients, and foun­da­tions of nurs­ing prac­tice the­o­ry, plus a clin­i­cal practicum, among others.

Texas A&M University’s Col­lege Sta­tion cam­pus is the flag­ship cam­pus of the A&M sys­tem. Found­ed in the 1870s under the Mor­rill Act as a land-grant (agri­cul­tur­al) and mil­i­tary col­lege, TAMU is now a sea and space-grant uni­ver­si­ty with a stu­dent pop­u­la­tion that nears 70,000 students.

What We Like: TAMU is rec­og­nized as the first pub­lic high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion in the Lone Star State.

Degree: BSN, Sec­ond Degree BSN, RN to BSN

Texas A&M University

5. University of Texas at Austin

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Texas at Austin offers a CCNE-accred­it­ed Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing (BSN) degree pro­gram that is rec­og­nized to be among the best BSN pro­grams in the US. In addi­tion, UT’s best Bach­e­lor of Nurs­ing pro­grams include a tra­di­tion­al pro­gram and an ADN to BSN pro­gram through an exter­nal trans­fer pol­i­cy. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Texas’s BSN degree is con­sid­ered among the best-val­ue pro­grams in the Unit­ed States, accord­ing to ValueColleges.com.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Texas’s Austin cam­pus is the flag­ship cam­pus of the Texas uni­ver­si­ty sys­tem and a land and space-grant des­ig­nat­ed school. The Austin cam­pus is home to more than 51,000 stu­dents, sev­er­al Muse­ums, and the LBJ pres­i­den­tial library.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Texas at Austin is con­sid­ered one of the pub­lic ivy insti­tu­tions of high­er education.

Degree: BSN

Uni­ver­si­ty of Texas at Austin

6. University of Florida

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Flori­da offers a vari­ety of the best BSN pro­grams in the US. The­Uni­ver­si­ty of Flori­da offers nurs­ing stu­dents a tra­di­tion­al Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing (BSN) degree pro­gram, an accel­er­at­ed BSN degree, and an online RN to BSN degree. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Florida’s best Bach­e­lor of Nurs­ing pro­grams offer stu­dents the oppor­tu­ni­ty to explore nurs­ing research with UF’s well-respect­ed fac­ul­ty mem­bers and researchers. Fea­tured class­es for these BSN degree pro­grams include the prin­ci­ples of per­son­al­ized nurs­ing care, nurs­ing care for adults with chron­ic con­di­tions, and lead­er­ship and inno­va­tion in nurs­ing, among others.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Flori­da (UF) is the Sun­shine state’s flag­ship school that is also triple des­ig­nat­ed in land, space, and sea. UF is ranked among the top pub­lic schools in the nation, with a stu­dent enroll­ment that exceeds 55,550 grad­u­ate and post­grad­u­ate students.

What We Like: The school was found­ed in 1851 and has oper­at­ed on the Gainesville cam­pus for over one century.

Degree: BSN, Accel­er­at­ed BSN, RN to BSN

Uni­ver­si­ty of Florida

7. University of Wisconsin, Madison

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wis­con­sin Madi­son Nurs­ing School offers a vari­ety of the best BSN pro­grams in the US, which a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing (BSN) degree pro­gram, an accel­er­at­ed Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing degree, plus an online RN to BSN degree pro­gram. The NCLEX pass­ing rate for UW’s tra­di­tion­al Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing (BSN) degree can­di­dates was 83% on the first attempt. These best Bach­e­lor of Nurs­ing pro­grams are CCNE-accred­it­ed and require the com­ple­tion of a com­pre­hen­sive clin­i­cal practicum.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wisconsin’s Madi­son cam­pus is a land-grant insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion that was found­ed in the 1840s. UW Madi­son oper­ates as the state’s flag­ship cam­pus and a sea-grant school with a stu­dent enroll­ment of approx­i­mate­ly 45450 stu­dents each year.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wisconsin’s Madi­son is sit­u­at­ed on the Lake Men­do­ta shores and cov­ers more than 900 acres.

Degree: BSN, Accel­er­at­ed BSN, Online RN to BSN

Uni­ver­si­ty of Wis­con­sin Madison

8. University of Minnesota

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Minnesota’s School of Nurs­ing offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing degree (BSN) pro­gram that is ranked among the best BSN pro­grams in the US. UM’s best Bach­e­lor of Nurs­ing pro­grams have received accred­i­ta­tion from the Com­mis­sion on Col­le­giate Nurs­ing Edu­ca­tion and require four years to com­plete with a full-time course load. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Minnesota’s nurs­ing pro­grams col­lab­o­rate with many pre­mier clin­ics and hos­pi­tals, which offer degree can­di­dates var­i­ous clin­i­cal opportunities.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Min­neso­ta oper­ates as a mul­ti-cam­pus high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion with more than 49,100 stu­dents study­ing online and the university’s 2,500+ acre cam­pus­es. The school was estab­lished as a land- school in 1851, years before Min­neso­ta achieved state­hood. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Minnesota’s stu­dents and alum­ni have gar­ners more than six dozen Olympic medals.

What We Like: Two US Vice pres­i­dents are UM alumni.

Degree: BSN

Uni­ver­si­ty of Minnesota

9. Rutgers University

Rut­gers Uni­ver­si­ty School of Nurs­ing offers a vari­ety of New Jersey’s best Bach­e­lor of Nurs­ing pro­grams which includes a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing (BSN) degree pro­gram, an RN to BSN degree pro­gram, and an accel­er­at­ed CCNE-accred­it­ed BSN degree. Rut­gers’ School of Nurs­ing, accord­ing to US News, offers some of the best BSN pro­grams in the US. Fea­tured course­work for these BSN pro­gram options include 121 cred­its in class­es like pro­fes­sion­al role devel­op­ment, health assess­ment, nurs­ing infor­mat­ics, and patho­phys­i­ol­o­gy, plus a com­pre­hen­sive practicum, to name a few.

Rut­gers Uni­ver­si­ty is among the nation’s old­est schools; estab­lished in 1766 as Queen’s Col­lege. Rut­gers Uni­ver­si­ty now oper­ates with mul­ti­ple cam­pus­es in New Jer­sey and a robust online plat­form that serves near­ly 59,000 stu­dents each year.

What We Like: Rut­gers is a sea, space, and land-grant school and the largest insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion in the Gar­den State.

Degree: BSN, Sec­ond Degree BSN, RN to BSN

Rut­gers University

10. Northeastern University

North­east­ern University’s School of Nurs­ing offers some of the best BSN pro­grams in the US, which includes these CCNE-accred­it­ed options — a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing (BSN) degree pro­gram, an accel­er­at­ed BSN degree, and an RN to BSN degree pro­gram. As New England’s best Bach­e­lor of Nurs­ing pro­grams, North­east­ern Uni­ver­si­ty offers these fea­tured nurs­ing class­es – inte­grat­ed lab for anato­my & phys­i­ol­o­gy, health assess­ment, nurs­ing women & fam­i­lies, and the pro­mo­tion of men­tal health, plus a clin­i­cal nurs­ing practicum, among others.

North­east­ern Uni­ver­si­ty was devel­oped as an aca­d­e­m­ic pro­gram in the local YMCA in the late 1890s. North­east­ern University’s stu­dent pop­u­la­tion across all cam­pus­es is approx­i­mate­ly 27,500. North­east­ern Uni­ver­si­ty is world-renowned for its coop­er­a­tive approach to edu­ca­tion that allows stu­dents to earn full salaries while studying.

What We Like: North­east­ern Uni­ver­si­ty main­tains cam­pus­es across the coun­try in North Car­oli­na, Wash­ing, Cal­i­for­nia, Maine, and in Canada.

Degree: BSN, Accel­er­at­ed BSN, RN to BSN

North­east­ern University

11. University of Utah

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Utah’s offers a vari­ety of aca­d­e­m­ic paths that per­mit nurs­ing stu­dents to com­plete a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing degree (BSN). This pro­gram is ranked among the best BSN pro­grams in the US. Degree can­di­dates may opt for a pre­li­cen­sure nurs­ing track, a tra­di­tion­al track (with an ear­ly guar­an­teed entrance and an online RN to Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing degree (BSN). These best Bach­e­lor of Nurs­ing pro­grams offered by the Uni­ver­si­ty of Utah are CCNE-accred­it­ed. U of U offers the only doc­tor­al lev­el nurs­ing pro­gram in Utah.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Utah was estab­lished in the 1850s, years before the date Utah joined the Union. U of U is Utah’s flag­ship, with a stu­dent enroll­ment that exceeds 32,750 under­grad­u­ate and post­grad­u­ate students.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Utah is the state’s old­est insti­tu­tion of high­er education.

Degree: BSN

Uni­ver­si­ty of Utah

12. University of Connecticut

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Con­necti­cut offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing degree (BSN) pro­gram that is ranked among the best BSN pro­grams in the US. Nurs­ing stu­dents enrolled in UConn’s best Bach­e­lor of Nurs­ing pro­grams must com­plete a min­i­mum of 120 cred­it units to earn the BSN degree with a min­i­mum of a GPA of 2.5. This Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing degree from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Con­necti­cut has received accred­i­ta­tion from the CCNE. Fea­tured course­work for the BSN degree includes human genet­ics, indi­vid­ual and fam­i­ly dynam­ics and devel­op­ment, the prin­ci­ples of biol­o­gy, and health assess­ment, plus a clin­i­cal practicum, to name a few.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Con­necti­cut is Connecticut’s flag­ship and land-grant school that was estab­lished in the 1880s.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Con­necti­cut, as one of the best val­ue schools in the nation, is also a sea and space-grant school with a stu­dent enroll­ment that exceeds 32,650.

Degree: BSN

Uni­ver­si­ty of Connecticut 

13. University of Iowa

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Iowa Nurs­ing offers a vari­ety of the best BSN pro­grams in the US, offer­ing these nurs­ing pro­gram options — a pre­li­cen­sure Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing (BSN) degree and a Reg­is­tered Nurse (RN) to Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing (BSN) degrees. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Iowa’s best Bach­e­lor of Nurs­ing pro­grams from the Col­lege of Nurs­ing are CCNE accred­it­ed and rec­og­nized as great val­ue edu­ca­tion­al pro­grams. Fea­tured class­es for these nurs­ing degree pro­grams include gen­er­al chem­istry, human biol­o­gy, nutri­tion and health, and human devel­op­ment and behav­ior, to name a few.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Iowa was found­ed in 1847 and now oper­ates as the state’s flag­ship and space-grant high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion. The university’s Iowa City 1,750+ acre cam­pus and online plat­form serve more than 21,450 grad­u­ate and under­grad­u­ate stu­dents each year.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Iowa is rec­og­nized as the school that devel­oped the MFA degree program.

Degree: BSN, RN to BSN

Uni­ver­si­ty of Iowa

14. University at Buffalo

The Uni­ver­si­ty at Buf­fa­lo offers a vari­ety of BSN degree pro­grams that are ranked among the Empire State’s best Bach­e­lor of Nurs­ing pro­grams which includes these options — a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing degree; an accel­er­at­ed a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing (BSN) degree pro­gram for those who cur­rent­ly hold an unre­lat­ed bachelor’s degree and an RN to BSN degree pro­gram that is avail­able for com­ple­tion entire­ly online. These best BSN pro­grams in the US from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Buf­fa­lo are CCNE accredited.

The Uni­ver­si­ty at Buf­fa­lo (UB) is a mem­ber school of the SUNY sys­tem. Estab­lished in the 1840s by Mil­lard Fill­more, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Buf­fa­lo now oper­ates as a space and sea-grant high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion with more than 32,100 stu­dents study­ing online and, on the university’s, 1250+ acre campuses.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty at Buf­fa­lo is rec­og­nized be one of two uni­ver­si­ties that have been found­ed by a US president.

Degree: BSN, RN to BSN, Accel­er­at­ed BSN

Uni­ver­si­ty at Buffalo

15. Indiana University, Bloomington

Indi­ana Uni­ver­si­ty Bloom­ing­ton offers a tra­di­tion­al Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing (BSN) degree pro­gram, an RN to BSN degree pro­gram option that is avail­able 100% online, plus an accel­er­at­ed Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing (BSN) degree — all con­sid­ered among the best BSN pro­grams in the US. Sam­ple course­work for these Indi­ana University’s best Bach­e­lor of Nurs­ing pro­grams includes data analy­sis for the nurs­ing prac­tice, the pro­mo­tion of health pop­u­la­tions, and com­pre­hen­sive health assess­ments across the lifes­pan, plus a practicum.

Indi­ana University’s cam­pus in Bloom­ing­ton oper­ates as the flag­ship cam­pus of the Indi­ana state uni­ver­si­ty sys­tem with a stu­dent pop­u­la­tion that exceeds 45 050 stu­dents each year. In addi­tion, IU is a space-grant and the largest stu­dent enroll­ment of any school in the IU system.

What We Like: Indi­ana University’s cam­pus in Bloom­ing­ton is orga­nized into fif­teen colleges/schools.

Degree: BSN, Accel­er­at­ed BSN, RN to BSN

Indi­ana Uni­ver­si­ty Bloomington

16. Stony Brook University

Stony Brook Uni­ver­si­ty offers a vari­ety of the best BSN pro­grams in the US. Stony Brook Uni­ver­si­ty offers poten­tial nurs­ing stu­dents a tra­di­tion­al Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing (BSN) degree, an accel­er­at­ed Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing (BSN) degree, and an RN to BSN degree. The fea­tured course­work for these best Bach­e­lor of Nurs­ing pro­grams from Stony Brook Uni­ver­si­ty includes psy­choso­cial men­tal health nurs­ing, health assess­ment, pop­u­la­tion health nurs­ing, and the fun­da­men­tal so phar­ma­col­o­gy, plus a nurs­ing practicum, among others.

Stony Brook Uni­ver­si­ty (SUNY Stony Brook) was found­ed in the late 1950s as a state col­lege. More than 26,550 stu­dents attend class­es online and on the Long Island campus.

What We Like: The uni­ver­si­ty now oper­ates as a space and sea-grant school and a partner/manager of the Brookhaven Nation­al Lab.

Degree: BSN, Accel­er­at­ed BSN, RN to BSN

Stony Brook University

17. University of Illinois at Chicago

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Illi­nois at Chica­go offers some of the best BSN pro­grams in the US. UIC offers poten­tial nurs­ing stu­dents a tra­di­tion­al Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing (BSN) degree pro­gram and an online RN to BSN com­ple­tion degree pro­gram. Appli­cants to these best Bach­e­lor of Nurs­ing pro­grams offered by the Uni­ver­si­ty of Illi­nois must have completed57 cred­its to be eli­gi­ble for admis­sion. The fea­tured class­es for UIC’s nurs­ing pro­grams include nurs­ing pro­fes­sion­al­ism, con­cepts in phar­ma­col­o­gy, and the foun­da­tions of nurs­ing, to name a few.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Illi­nois (UI Chica­go) was estab­lished in 1972 as a pub­lic research insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Illi­nois ASU is orga­nized into 16 colleges/schools that serve more than 34,00 post­grad­u­ate and under­grad­u­ate students.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Illi­nois at Chica­go is rec­og­nized as an Asian-serv­ing and His­pan­ic-serv­ing insti­tu­tion of high­er learning.

Degree: BSN, RN to BSN

Uni­ver­si­ty of Illi­nois at Chicago

18. Arizona State University

Ari­zona State University’s Edson School of Nurs­ing offers a vari­ety of best BSN pro­grams in the US with a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing Degree that offers stu­dents six aca­d­e­m­ic spe­cial­iza­tions from which to choose. ASU’s best Bach­e­lor of Nurs­ing pro­grams also include an online RN to BSN degree and an accel­er­at­ed BSN Degree for stu­dents who already hold a bachelor’s degree in an unre­lat­ed field. In addi­tion, Ari­zona State University’s nurs­ing pro­grams have received accred­i­ta­tion from the Com­mis­sion of Col­le­giate Nurs­ing Education.

Ari­zona State Uni­ver­si­ty was found­ed before Ari­zona reached state­hood in 1885. With a stu­dent enroll­ment exceed­ing 130,000, Ari­zona State Uni­ver­si­ty is among the largest stu­dent bod­ies in the US and beyond. Stu­dent-ath­letes at ASU com­pete in more than two dozen var­si­ty sports.

What We Like: The fac­ul­ty and staff mem­bers at ASU total more than 4,700.

Degree: BSN with 6 specializations

Ari­zona State University

19. University of Oklahoma

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Oklahoma’s Ziegler Col­lege of Nurs­ing offers a vari­ety of Oklahoma’s best Bach­e­lor of Nurs­ing pro­grams in Okla­homa, as well as the best BSN pro­grams in the US. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Okla­homa offers poten­tial nurs­ing stu­dents a tra­di­tion­al Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing (BSN) degree pro­gram, an accel­er­at­ed Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing (BSN) degree, an LPN to BSN degree, and an RN to BSN com­ple­tion pro­gram. BestCollegeDegrees.com ranks the RN to BSN as the best in the nation.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Okla­homa was estab­lished in the Okla­homa ter­ri­to­ry in 1890. The school offers more than 300 aca­d­e­m­ic degree and diplo­ma pro­grams to its 28,000+ stu­dents. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Okla­homa main­tains sev­er­al cam­pus­es and muse­ums include an art muse­um and a muse­um of nat­ur­al history.

What We Like: The­Uni­ver­si­ty of Okla­homa ath­letes have won mul­ti­ple cham­pi­onships in a num­ber of sports.

Degree: BSN, Accel­er­at­ed BSN, LPN to BSN, RN to BSN

Uni­ver­si­ty of Oklahoma

20. Florida State University

Flori­da State Uni­ver­si­ty offers some of the Sun­shine State’s best Bach­e­lor of Nurs­ing pro­grams. These nurs­ing pro­gram options include a tra­di­tion­al Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing (BSN) degree pro­gram and an accel­er­at­ed BSN degree pro­gram. FSU’s nurs­ing pro­grams are also nation­al­ly ranked as the best BSN pro­grams in the US. These nurs­ing degrees from Flori­da State Uni­ver­si­ty offer two start dates each fall and spring, with a max­i­mum enroll­ment of 72 nurs­ing students.

Flori­da State Uni­ver­si­ty is a pub­lic research high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion that is ranked by US News among the twen­ty top pub­lic schools in the nation­al cat­e­go­ry. As a sea and space-grant school, Flori­da State Uni­ver­si­ty serves more than 41,450 grad­u­ate and under­grad­u­ate students.

What We Like: The uni­ver­si­ty oper­ates one of the largest muse­um com­plex­es in the coun­try, with its Rin­gling Muse­um of Art.

Degree: BSN, Accel­er­at­ed BSN

Flori­da State University

21. University of Kansas

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Kansas School of Nurs­ing offers one of the best BSN pro­grams in the US with a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing Degree that offers stu­dents six aca­d­e­m­ic spe­cial­iza­tions. Degree can­di­dates enrolled in these best Bach­e­lor of Nurs­ing pro­grams will be required to com­plete 120 semes­ter hours to be eli­gi­ble for the NCLEX-RN exam. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Kansas’s con­cept-based cur­ricu­lum includes man­ag­ing health­care infor­ma­tion, basic assess­ment and ther­a­peu­tic inter­ven­tions, pop­u­la­tion-based health­care, health and ill­ness across the lifes­pan, and pro­fes­sion­al devel­op­ment, plus a nurs­ing practicum, to name a few.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Kansas was found­ed in the 1860s as a pub­lic insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing before Kansas became a state. The uni­ver­si­ty main­tains mul­ti­ple cam­pus­es across cam­pus that serve more than 27,550 stu­dents each year.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Kansas is orga­nized into five divi­sions offer­ing pro­grams and degrees in architecture/design, busi­ness law, engi­neer­ing, and journalism.

Degree: BSN

Uni­ver­si­ty of Kansas

22. University of Pittsburgh

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Pitts­burgh offers two of state’s best Bach­e­lor of Nurs­ing pro­grams. These include a basic Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing (BSN) degree pro­gram and a 2nd-degree BSN degree pro­gram for those who have earned a pre­vi­ous bachelor’s degree. Sam­ple class­es for these best BSN pro­grams in the US include nurs­ing anato­my and phys­i­ol­o­gy micro­bi­ol­o­gy, nurs­ing man­age­ment for adults with chron­ic health issues, nutri­tion for clin­i­cal prac­tice, nurs­ing infor­mat­ics, and basic sta­tis­tics for evi­dence-based prac­tice, plus a nurs­ing practicum.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Pitts­burgh oper­ates as a pub­lic, state-relat­ed insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion and research that was found­ed as an acad­e­my in the 1780s. The university’s 125+ acre cam­pus serves approx­i­mate­ly 28250 stu­dents each year.

What We Like: Many influ­en­tial politi­cians (gov­er­nors and sen­a­tors) are alum­ni of the Uni­ver­si­ty of Pittsburgh.

Degree: BSN, 2nd Degree BSN

Uni­ver­si­ty of Pittsburgh

23. Texas Tech University

Texas Tech Uni­ver­si­ty Health Sci­ence Cen­ter offers a vari­ety of best BSN pro­grams in the US from a world-class nurs­ing pro­gram. Texas Tech University’s nurs­ing pro­gram options include a tra­di­tion­al Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing (BSN) degree pro­gram, an accel­er­at­ed veteran’s BSN degree, an accel­er­at­ed sec­ond-degree BSN, and an RN to BSN degree pro­gram. TTU’s best Bach­e­lor of Nurs­ing pro­grams are CCNE-accred­it­ed and offer a vari­ety of path­ways to a nurs­ing career.

Texas Tech Uni­ver­si­ty (TTU) is a pub­lic uni­ver­si­ty and the flag­ship cam­pus of the Texas Tech Uni­ver­si­ty sys­tem in Texas. The university’s cam­pus in Lub­bock and online plat­form serve more than 40,250 post­grad­u­ate and under­grad­u­ate stu­dents, mak­ing it the sev­enth-largest school in the Lone Star State.

What We Like: Texas Tech Uni­ver­si­ty is orga­nized into 12 col­leges and schools.

Degree: BSN, RN to BSN, Sec­ond Degree BSN, Vet­er­an BSN

Texas Tech University

24. San Diego State University

San Diego State Uni­ver­si­ty offers a vari­ety of best Bach­e­lor of Nurs­ing pro­grams on the west coast. These best BSN pro­grams in the US include a tra­di­tion­al Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing (BSN) degree pro­gram and an RN to BSN degree pro­gram that is avail­able online. Sam­ple class­es for San Diego State University’s nurs­ing degree pro­grams include human anato­my, client assess­ment, nurs­ing care for the ill adult or geron­to­log­ic pop­u­la­tion, pedi­atric nurs­ing, and com­mu­ni­ty health nurs­ing, plus a nurs­ing practicum, to name a few.

San Diego State Uni­ver­si­ty (SDSU) was estab­lished as a state-spon­sored nor­mal school for teach­ers in 1897. The uni­ver­si­ty now oper­ates sev­er­al cam­pus­es as a space-grant school that serves near­ly 36,000 stu­dents each year.

What We Like: The stu­dent enroll­ment at San Diego State Uni­ver­si­ty is rec­og­nized to be among the most racial­ly diverse across the globe.

Degree: BSN, RN to BSN

San Diego State University

25. University of Wyoming

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wyoming’s Whit­ney Nurs­ing School offers a vari­ety of best Bach­e­lor of Nurs­ing pro­grams in the state of Wyoming. These pro­grams include a tra­di­tion­al Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Nurs­ing (BSN) degree pro­gram, an accel­er­at­ed BSN degree for those stu­dents who have fin­ished a non-nurs­ing bachelor’s degree, and a vari­ety of BSN com­ple­tion pro­grams for ADN stu­dents, RN’s, and the school’s online option. The university’s best BSN pro­grams in the US offer­ing com­ple­tion degrees are deliv­ered in eight-week mod­ules and offer stu­dents the option to com­plete the degree at their own pace.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wyoming was estab­lished under the Mor­rill Land Grant Act in the 1860s, sev­er­al years before Wyoming entered the Union. More than 12,000 stu­dents attend class­es offered online and on-cam­pus each year.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wyoming is com­prised of sev­en colleges/schools that offer pro­grams in arts/sciences, edu­ca­tion, busi­ness, health sci­ences, law, and engineering.

Degree: BSN, BRAND, BSN Completion

Uni­ver­si­ty of Wyoming

How Important is Accreditation?

Nurs­ing school accred­i­ta­tions for a BSN pro­gram are very impor­tant. If you don’t see accred­i­ta­tion from the Com­mis­sion on Col­le­giate Nurs­ing Edu­ca­tion (CCNE) or the Accred­i­ta­tion Com­mis­sion for Edu­ca­tion in Nurs­ing (ACEN) on the BSN pro­gram, you should keep look­ing for a pro­gram that is accred­it­ed by either one of these com­mis­sions. Accred­i­ta­tion enables you to trans­fer your cred­its in most cas­es, but that’s not always a guar­an­tee. You should check with the school about the trans­fer­abil­i­ty of credits.

The CCNE accred­i­ta­tion stan­dards and ACEN stan­dards are sim­i­lar to one anoth­er, and both are rec­og­nized by the U.S. Depart­ment of Edu­ca­tion (DoE). When look­ing at ACEN vs CCNE for dif­fer­ences, you’ll see that ACEN accred­its all lev­els of nurs­ing pro­grams and works with gov­ern­ment agen­cies to help stu­dents get finan­cial assis­tance. CCNE nurs­ing accred­i­ta­tion is only offered to bach­e­lor and mas­ter’s degree pro­grams. Both CCNE accred­i­ta­tion stan­dards and ACEN stan­dards in nurs­ing edu­ca­tion ensure that stu­dents get a qual­i­ty edu­ca­tion that meets the cur­rent stan­dards expect­ed of nurs­es in the health­care industry.

Some­times employ­ers check for nurs­ing school accred­i­ta­tions pri­or to extend­ing an offer of employ­ment. They look for ACEN or CCNE first due to the wide accep­tance of the stan­dards from these nurs­ing school accred­i­ta­tions. Region­al accred­i­ta­tion is anoth­er type of nurs­ing school accred­i­ta­tion, but may not be as accept­ed by employers.

It’s a wise idea to research the nurs­ing school accred­i­ta­tions offered by the schools you’re inter­est­ed in attend­ing. The more infor­ma­tion you have about the employ­ment prospects of your BSN in nurs­ing degree, the bet­ter the choice you can make for schooling.

What Are the Advantages of a Traditional On-Campus BSN Program?

Chances are good that you’re using the search term of col­leges near me with nurs­ing pro­grams in order to find local bach­e­lor of sci­ence in nurs­ing schools. But you may also be look­ing for the best col­leges for nurs­ing in the US because the col­leges near you with nurs­ing pro­grams aren’t abun­dant, or you want to attend a pro­gram that offers a bach­e­lor of sci­ence in nurs­ing with a con­cen­tra­tion that appeals to you. Often­times, you can access these schools through their online nurs­ing pro­grams for a bach­e­lor’s of sci­ence in nurs­ing, but you can also ben­e­fit from attend­ing a tra­di­tion­al on-cam­pus BSN program.

Pri­or to the COVID-19 pan­dem­ic, many pro­grams for bach­e­lor of sci­ence in nurs­ing schools were offered com­plete­ly online. The main rea­son for a com­plete­ly online degree is to accom­mo­date work­ing nurs­es who have unpre­dictable sched­ules. These RN-to-BSN pro­grams are still a good option for RNs, but stu­dents who are skip­ping the ADN to earn a BSN before employ­ment are bet­ter served by attend­ing a tra­di­tion­al on-cam­pus BSN program.

The main rea­son why a nurs­ing stu­dent should strong­ly con­sid­er look­ing at on-cam­pus bach­e­lor of sci­ence in nurs­ing schools comes down to the qual­i­ty of edu­ca­tion, hands-on learn­ing, work­ing direct­ly with a men­tor, and the oppor­tu­ni­ty to net­work with nurs­ing pro­fes­sion­als. Many of the con­cepts of nurs­ing are best learned direct­ly from a nurse with exten­sive expe­ri­ence in the field. And when the stu­dent grad­u­ates, hav­ing a men­tor to con­nect with is invalu­able dur­ing the ear­ly days of their career. Last, but not least, stu­dents who have demon­strat­ed their skills in-per­son can improve their employ­ment prospects with an orga­ni­za­tion after grad­u­a­tion. These rea­sons and more are why stu­dents should search for col­leges near me with nurs­ing pro­grams when look­ing for a bach­e­lor of sci­ence in nurs­ing schools.