Colby-Sawyer College Nursing Program Review

Colby-Sawyer College (CSC) was established in 1837 when a group of ambitious New London citizens requested a Charter to operate a college. The team lead by Susan Colby served as teachers in the college which was then Co-ed. The family of Susan Colby generously donated to the college development and as such the college was named Colby Academy. In 1928, another ambitious president Leslie Sawyer helped change the college into a women’s college and renamed it Colby Junior College.  The junior college began offering baccalaureate degrees in 1943 and in 1975, the name was changed to Colby Sawyer College; reflecting names of two former presidents.

Nursing Program at Colby Sawyer College

Colby-Sawyer College offers one nursing program leading to the Bachelor of Science in nursing degree. The program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education and approved by the New Hampshire Board of Nursing. Details of the program are given below

B. Science in Nursing

This sole nursing program at the college leads to the Bachelor of Science in nursing degree. The program has a curriculum with strong liberal arts foundation courses for the entry-level candidates.  Prospective students for this program must first apply into the college to take general education courses. Students who successfully complete the general education and liberal arts courses must then apply again to be admitted into the nursing major during the sophomore year.

Completing the general education pre-nursing portion does not guarantee students a place in the nursing major. The selection process is competitive and merit based and depends on the outcomes of the pre-nursing program. However, transfer students from other colleges have slim chances of getting admission into the program as preference is given to the students who have taken liberal arts courses from Colby Sawyer. Such students are evaluated on an individual basis and on space availability.

Colby-Sawyer College has formed partnership with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical center where students of the college take most of their clinical practicum lessons.  Students visit the medical center once a week during the sophomore years and twice per week starting from the junior year. As part of program completion, students must take two capstone projects in the senior year. The two are a Clinical capstone and a Nursing Leadership Capstone. 

A total of 120 credits of both portions of the program are required to graduate from Colby Sawyer nursing program and all courses can be completed in 4years of 8 semesters. Completion of the curriculum leads to the award of a Bachelor of Science in nursing degree and students will be eligible to apply and write the NCLEX-RN exam to become registered nurses.

Colby Sawyer Nurses Honor Society

There is a Colby-Sawyer College Honor Society chapter of the International Honor Society for Nurses. The honor society aims at improving the health of the community via dedicated scientific research and credible nursing practice. The members of this chapter are student nurses who maintain a GPA of 3.0 and rank among the top 35% of their nursing class.

Contact:
Colby-Sawyer College
541 Main Street, New London,
NH 03257