Texas Woman’s University (TWU) plans to expand its nursing program through a collaboration with Alvin Community College (ACC) in an effort to provide a more direct path to a nursing degree and reduce the cost of earning one.
The collaboration with ACC will launch in the spring of 2021 and students must maintain a 3.0 cumulative grade point average for all required courses, including the nursing classes.
“It builds on the strengths of the community college and it can create a lot of collaboration,” said Dr. Rosalie Mainous, dean and professor of the College of Nursing at TWU. “And that’s what we’re trying to encourage in the state. We are collaborating, we all have the same end goal and this is a good example of it.”
The innovative nursing program was first established by TWU at Gainesville’s North Central Texas College (NCTC) in 2018, and the first cohort of students graduated in May with both an associate degree and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
To be admitted into the joint program, potential students must be accepted into the Associate Degree Nursing Program at NCTC as well as in the TWU Bachelor of Science in Nursing Blended program. Acceptance is based on GPA, Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS) score and the overall completion of TWU’s nursing prerequisites such as microbiology, according to NCTC’s website.
Usually, though, students first acquire an associate degree in nursing and then apply to a Registered Nurse-Bachelor of Science in Nursing (RN-BSN) program for the move to a Bachelor’s nursing degree. Between these degrees, many choose to go into the workforce and practice as nurses. On average, it takes 18 to 24 months to earn a bachelor’s nursing degree after graduating with an associate degree.
“What we’re aiming to do is to help more students complete their baccalaureate degree quicker, which gets them into the field of nursing and into hospitals with that baccalaureate degree in a more timely matter,” said Dr. Jo-Ann Stankus, assistant professor and coordinator of the Registered Nurses Bachelor of Science and Master of Science program at TWU.
