Two aspects of the University of Mary Washington’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing program recently received approval from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, the accreditation body for degree-granting higher education institutions in the Southern region.
Mary Loyd, here with a patient at the Stafford radiation oncology center, is among 33 nurses in the UMW program that provides advanced education for registered nurses. Photo by Norm Shafer.
The BSN Academic Partnership Plan lets students live on UMW’s Fredericksburg campus while taking courses at both the university and Germanna Community College. That part of the program begins in fall 2015.
Through it, students attend both institutions the first year; study at the community college for the next two years and complete an associate degree; and return to UMW during the fourth year to complete the bachelor’s degree.
The BSN Concurrent Enrollment program also received approval from the accrediting body and will begin in fall 2015.
In 2014, UMW began accepting students to its BSN completion program, in which students who already are registered nurses can complete their degrees. Thirty-three nurses are enrolled, and the first cohort will graduate in spring 2016.