BSN Programs in Maryland
Bowie State University
14000 Jericho Park Rd, Bowie, MD 20715
BSU; a historically black university offers two options for students to join the traditional Bachelor of Science in nursing program. The first option is a direct admit offered to highly performing high school seniors with a GPA of 3.0 in high school math and sciences in addition to passing a math admission test at BSU. Those ineligible for direct admit should seek regular admission in the university to complete the general education curriculum before applying to the nursing track.
In the second semester of the freshman year, students are usually eligible to apply to the major if they have maintained a cumulative GPA of 2.75 and science GPA of 2.5. Admission for the nursing track occurs once annually in the fall semester. The 123 credit curriculum takes 4-years of full time study to complete for students who start at BSU as freshmen. Outside the curriculum there is the Chi Eta Phi Sorority chapter of Sigma Theta Tau and the Students Nurses Association.
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Coppin State University
2500 W.N Ave, Baltimore, MD 21216
Starting fall of 2012, the university will stop admitting students directly in for the traditional bachelor of nursing science. In this view, all students interested in the BSN at Coppin must first complete pre-requites courses from which admission into the major will be based. A cumulative pre-requisite GPA of 2.5 will be required either from transferred courses or those completed at Coppin to be eligible to apply to the major. Students that meet the GPA requirement will be invited to take the TEAS V test; which must be completed with a 70% score or higher. Admissions for the major is very competitive and occurs once annually during the fall semester. Students with exceptional academic ability can join the university’s honor college and complete honor courses along with their nursing curriculum.
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Salisbury University
1101 Camden Ave, Salisbury, MD 21801
The traditional bachelor of nursing science is offered for first time bachelor students. Salisbury has two admission processes to this program which starts with general admission to the university. Admission into the university is not a guarantee that a student will be accepted for the nursing major. Upon completion of the first two years of general coursework, students can then apply for the upper division nursing that starts every fall semester. Prior to placing an application, interested candidates must take a standardized national pre-admission exam. Salisbury students and transfers cases alike are selected on a space-available and competitive. Decisions are made from the overall GPA of all coursework completed and the pre-admission test scores. The program has attractive offers like the dedicated nurse’s student departmental scholarships and study abroad options in Tanzania, Ecuador and china. Motivated students can also join the Lambda Eta Chapter of Sigma Theta and the university honors program.
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Stevenson University
100 Campus Circle, Owing Mills, MD 21117
With a small private college atmosphere, Stevenson offers students an opportunity to earn a Bachelors degree in nursing. The CCNE and NLNAC accredited program is designed for both direct high school students and transfer students wishing to transfer pre-requisite courses. High school admits take 4 full-time years to complete their program while transfers students start at fall and complete in 2 years of 4 semesters. High school graduates need to have completed high school chemistry and biology in addition to three years of college preparatory math and have SAT scores to be eligible for admission. However, during selection and ranking, students with SAT scores of 1090-1200 and GPAs of between 3.4 – 3.75 are usually admitted. The first 2 years are exclusively reserved for general university coursework and the junior and senior years are for clinical and nursing courses only. Transfer students face stiff competition from Stevenson students and as they require an overall GPA of 3.00 on all prior college work compared to the 2.70 GPA progression requirement for freshmen admitted at Stevenson.
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Towson University
8000 York Rd, Towson, MD 21252
Towson University offers a basic 4-year nursing program at its main campus in Towson and at the University System of Maryland –Hagerstown. High school graduates with 1 unit in chemistry and biology, and 3 units in math are welcome to apply. Admitted freshmen complete a set of 11 pre-requisite courses equivalent to 42 pre-nursing major credits. Only general education courses are covered during the freshman and sophomore years. For progression in the nursing major, sophomore applicants require a cumulative GPA of 3.00 on prior prerequisite coursework. However, attaining this GPA is not a guarantee of progression as students are selected again from a ranking system of TEAS V and GPAs. Towson University runs departmental scholarships for needy and bright junior and senior nursing students. There is also the Iota-Epsilon Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau.
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University of Maryland Baltimore
655 West Lombard St, Baltimore, MD 21201
The University of Maryland offers an upper division nursing major for first time students seeking initial licensure. The BS major comprises of 61 nursing major credits that can be completed in 2 years of 4 academic semesters. Students can take the required 59 prerequisite coursework from any accredited college as long it will matriculate with the Articulation System for Maryland Colleges and Universities.
Student must also attain an overall and science GPA of 3.0 on the pre-requisite curriculum and pass an entrance exam to be eligible to apply for the major. The university offers students two location options of completing the BSN coursework: at the University main campus in Baltimore and at Rockville- The Universities at Shady Grove; a small campus of the University of Maryland System. Courses in both locations can be taken on a part time or full time basis.
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Washington Adventist University
7600 Flower Ave, Takoma Park, MD 20912
The university’s promise to prospective students is high quality baccalaureate Christian nursing education that will enable them take their first NLCEX-RN exam. The BSN program accepts only about 40 students every semester for the fall and spring start dates. Students are first admitted in the university to complete pre-nursing courses which may also be transferred from any other accredited college. Transfer students with more than 24 credits are required to submit their college transcripts only while those with fewer credits submit both high school and college transcripts for review. TEAS V test scores of 66% composite and 74% reading in addition to GPA of 3.0 on all pre-requisites courses are required for applicant ranking. After ranking, both transfer and WAU students who meet the admission requirements are invited for a personal interview from which decisions are made.