Gustavus Adolphus College Nursing Program Review
Gustavus Adolphus College (GAC) is a church college deeply rooted and maintaining the values of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. Its history started unfolding in 1862, hence has a decade and a half of higher education services to the people. It is a Christian, private co-ed institution which is guided by the Swedish and Lutheran heritages.
Nursing at Gustavus Adolphus College
Nursing at Gustavus Adolphus College is through a consortium with other colleges in Minnesota. It is a baccalaureate program that takes a minimum of four years to complete. Accreditation is through the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
Nursing Program Structure
The nursing program is offered by two colleges; Gustavus Adolphus and St. Olaf College. The Minnesota Intercollegiate Nursing Consortium ensures students receive the experience of learning in two distinct campuses towards the same goal. Students take nursing and general education courses on a predetermined sequence from Olaf and Gustavus.
During the first year, student nurses take prerequisites courses and general education courses. These courses also continue for the whole of the sophomore year. At the junior and senior year, students start on nursing courses together with liberal arts courses. The program takes a holistic approach to nursing and liberal arts make-up a substantial percent of the junior and senior year’s courses.
Twenty courses must be completed for students to be eligible to graduate with a Bachelors degree from the college. The breakdown of the courses results to 11 upper division nursing and liberal arts courses, 8 prerequisite courses and 1 supporting course. Even though the program is via a consortium, students must first apply to the program from their mother college ie Gustavus Adolphus College and the rest follow smoothly.
It is also important to note that, the college does not accept transfer students coming out of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Nursing Consortium. Transfer students can only be taken from either Gustavus or Saint Olaf College and students who have completed prerequisites courses outside these two are advised not to apply. Most students in the nursing program complete an interim- study abroad program. For students who choose international programs, nursing courses may not be completed in the set four years and additional time maybe required to complete the program
Concurrent Majors
Students may also apply for special consideration to earn another major program alongside the nursing major. This consideration is for highly performing students and leads to graduation with two bachelor degrees. In this case too, students must be ready to commit about five to six years in college.
Similarly, students who have already earned a bachelor’s degree from another major from Gustavus may also apply for a Second Major in Nursing. It is easier to get the second major in nursing at Gustavus Adolphus since the almost all prerequisites courses of the earlier major will be recognized by the admissions office of the nursing department. This plan in both cases is referred to as double majors; only applicable to students of Gustavus and not those of St. Olaf College.
Contact:
Gustavus Adolphus College
800 West College Avenue, St Peter,
MN 56082
