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Online BSN degree

RN to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (Competency Based-CB)

Start your online competency-based BSN degree

Prepare to enhance your nursing practice, faster. When you transfer credits from your Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN), you can complete your Registered Nurse (RN) to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (Competency-Based) in as little as 12 months.

Self-governed, with the assistance of your faculty practitioners and faculty mentor, this program is designed for working professionals who have an associate degree in nursing, an unencumbered RN license and one year of professional experience.

What is competency-based education?

Ignite Your Passion

Start when you're ready

Courses

Browse courses for your online nursing degree

Education should hold practical value. That’s why our courses meet rigorous academic standards and provide you with skills and knowledge immediately applicable to your career.

Skills-aligned program icon

Look for this icon to see which skills you’ll learn in a course.

Requirements: 33 credits

In a competency-based program, you earn credit by demonstrating your knowledge of a core skill, or competency. Since there are 33 credits in this program, one competency equals one credit.

Requirements to enter this program:

  • An Associate of Arts Degree in Nursing, Associate of Applied Arts Degree with an emphasis in Nursing, an Associate of Science Degree with an emphasis in Nursing, or an Associate of Applied Science Degree with an emphasis in Nursing from an accredited college or university.
  • Students must have a valid, unrestricted/unencumbered RN license.
  • A minimum equivalent of one year of full-time post high school clinical-based RN work experience within the past five years. (Full-time work is defined as 32 hours per week for the BSN-CB program.)

11 Core Courses

Here’s where you’ll pick up the bulk of your program-specific knowledge. By the time you finish these courses, you should have the confidence and skills needed in this field.

11 Core Courses

4 courses at a time

16 weeks per course

11 courses per year

Schedule

Your academic counselor will help schedule your courses for a Registered Nurse (RN) to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (Competency-Based).

Skills-aligned program icon

Earn career-relevant skills in weeks – not years.

Learning shouldn’t take years to put into practice. That’s why we’re empowering you to build career-relevant skills with every course.

We’ve worked with the labor market researcher Lightcast to identify in-demand skills for occupations and mapped those to our related associate, bachelor’s and master’s degree programs.

Skills-aligned program icon

Earn career-relevant skills in weeks – not years.

Learning shouldn’t take years to put into practice. That’s why we’re empowering you to build career-relevant skills with every course.

We’ve worked with the labor market researcher Lightcast to identify in-demand skills for occupations and mapped those to our related associate, bachelor’s and master’s degree programs.

Tuition

Affordable, fixed tuition

Keep the same fixed, affordable tuition from start to finish of your degree program, even if it takes longer than you planned. That’s our promise: no matter what surprises life brings, you can count on us. That's your Tuition Guarantee.

Tuition Guarantee

Lock-in Tuition

$300

Cost per credit

$300

University of Phoenix BSN degree vs other universities

Program UOPX Western Governors University Capella University Walden University Purdue Global University
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (RN to BSN)
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (RN to BSN)
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (RN to BSN)
$300 /credits x33 credits
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (RN to BSN)
$3,225 /term x3 terms¹
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (RN to BSN)
$3,200 /term x4 terms²
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (RN to BSN)
$2,980 /term x5 terms³
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (RN to BSN)
$2,500 /term x7 terms⁴
Total Tuition
Total Tuition
Total Tuition
$9,900
Total Tuition
$9,675
Total Tuition
$12,800
Total Tuition
$14,900
Total Tuition
$17,500
Fees
Fees
Fees
$0.00
Fees
$320 /term x3 terms ($960)
Fees
$50 /term x3 terms ($150)
Fees
$75 /term x5 terms ($375)
Fees
$345 /term x7 terms ($2,415)
Total Cost
Total Cost
Total Cost
$9,900
Total Cost
$10,635
Total Cost
$12,950
Total Cost
$15,275
Total Cost
$19,915

66 percent of Western Governors RN-BSN students complete in 3 six-month terms or less. Source

Based upon students completing two courses concurrently in each twelve-week term of the FlexPath program. Source

Based upon students completing two courses per three-month term in the Tempo Competency-Based program. Source

Purdue Global ExcelTrack students can complete in as little as 18 months. Source

Financial aid

You may have options when it comes to paying for college tuition and expenses, such as federal grants and loans. Our finance advisors can answer your questions about financial aid and can help guide you through the process.

Federal Student Loan Basics

Careers & Outcomes

What can you do with a RN to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (Competency-Based) degree?

Discover where your degree might take you and make informed choices about your future.

An BSN-CB can prepare you to be a:

  • Charge Nurse
  • Public Health Nurse (PHN)
  • Director of Nursing (DON)

Top skills learned in this program:

  • Business Management

  • Communications

  • Coordinating Safe Care

  • Critical Thinking and Holistic Nursing

  • Health Administration

  • Information Management and Communication

  • Leadership

  • Professionalism

  • Quality Improvement and Case Management

  • Strategic Planning

Ready to get started?

Start your application for free or request additional information.

What you’ll learn

When you earn your online Registered Nurse (RN) to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (Competency-Based), you’ll be equipped with a concrete set of skills you can apply on the job. You’ll learn how to:

  • Demonstrate evidence-based holistic patient-centered care that reflects knowledge of the health-illness continuum.
  • Implement appropriate health promotion and disease prevention strategies for diverse individuals, families and populations across the life span.
  • Demonstrate professional standards of moral, ethical, and legal conduct in health care industry.
  • Apply leadership and organizational principles that promote safe health care delivery and nursing practice.
  • Incorporate strategies that influence health policy at state, national, and international levels for the provision of safe, quality patient care.
  • Integrate patient care communication and information technology systems in health care delivery to improve patient outcomes.
  • Utilize interprofessional care coordination strategies to promote quality patient care.​

6% Growth

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, job growth for registered nurses occupations is projected to be as fast as average between 2022 and 2032.

The BLS Projected Growth for 2022-2032 is published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. This data reflects the BLS’ projections of national (not local) conditions. These data points are not specific to University of Phoenix students or graduates.

Admissions

Apply for free – no application fee, no obligation.

Starting your degree is a big decision — and we want you to feel great about it. That’s why we remove obstacles from your application.

  • No SAT/ACT required 
  • No essay required 
  • No cost, risk-free trial for eligible students
  • We’ll request transcripts at no cost to you, when possible, and we accept eligible credits from over 5,000 accredited institutions.

Receive 1-on-1 support

You have a support team of real people you can lean on. And our academic counselors, who are with you every step of the way, have earned a 5-star rating from 90% of our surveyed students.[1] Start a conversation with an enrollment representative today.

[1] Transactional Survey, August 2021-22 (18,645 respondents)

Gabriel G., Enrollment Representative

Call or chat with us 7 days a week.

G. Galindo - Enrollment Representative

Gabriel G., Enrollment Rep

Receive 1-on-1 support

You have a support team of real people you can lean on. And our academic counselors, who are with you every step of the way, have earned a 5-star rating from 85% of our surveyed students.[1]

[1] Transactional Survey, September 2022-August 2023 (23,739 respondents)

Start a conversation with an enrollment representative today.

Call us at 844-937-8679 or chat with us 7 days a week.

Student Experience

An education that fits your busy life

Balancing family, work and school

Work toward your degree without giving up what matters most. Start your degree year-round and take one class at a time.

Online learning

Enroll in online classes and attend class whenever it fits your life, day or night.

Around-the-clock support and resources

You have a support team available up to 14 hours a day, 5 days a week. 

Computer requirements for courses

Many course assignments will require you to use a computer to complete and submit your assignment. 

Phoenix provides support and resources for busy students

Faculty Spotlight

Professionals dedicated to you

Your success is a top priority for our deans and faculty members. They bring an average of 26 years of experience and hands-on perspective to the classroom, and help bridge the gap between academics and industry knowledge.

Beverly Jensen

I definitely understand how difficult it is for students who have a family. I try to make my classes as “un-stressful” as possible.

Beverly Jensen
2020 Faculty of the Year

MSN, RN, CNE

I definitely understand how difficult it is for students who have a family. I try to make my classes as “un-stressful” as possible.

Accreditation

Count on the quality of your education

programmatic accreditation

The baccalaureate degree program in nursing, master's degree program in nursing, and Doctor of Nursing Practice program at the University of Phoenix are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, 655 K Street, NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20001, 202-887-6791. This program is aligned with leading industry organizations, such as:

  • American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN®)
  • Quality & Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN)
CCNE Accredited

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Current RN license required. 

While widely available, not all programs are available to residents of all states. Please check with a University Enrollment Representative.