Bachelor of Science

A group of women in scrubs pose in front of a building's doors while another woman takes their photo on a cellphone

Your Path to RN Starts Here

Offered at the Storrs campus, the Bachelor of Science degree combines a liberal arts education with professional preparation in nursing. The curriculum typically requires four academic years of full-time study. Upon successful completion of the program, students receive a bachelor’s degree and are eligible for examination for licensure (NCLEX) as registered nurses.

Program Objectives

The objectives of the undergraduate program are the ability to:

  • Synthesize knowledge from the arts, sciences, humanities, and the discipline of nursing into the practice of nursing.
  • Demonstrate professional comportment, attitudes, and related skills needed to practice safely, artfully, responsibly, humbly, and accountably within caring, legal, ethical and professional parameters.
  • Evaluate personal systems in relation to those espoused by the profession at large in order to best serve the needs of diverse patient populations and to contribute to a culture of wellness.
  • Design, organize, deliver, and continuously improve care for individuals, families, and communities using health information technology, innovation, and all ways of knowing.
  • Demonstrate initiative and self-direction generated by a spirit of innovative inquiry with integrity.
  • Compassionately address resource demands for the provision of patient care that is safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable, and patient and family-centered.
  • Formulate and articulate a philosophy of nursing that incorporates praxis, caring, cultural humility, inclusivity, and ways of knowing.
  • Through teamwork and collaboration, partner with appropriate stakeholders to advocate for, and to optimize the health of, all people by responding to emerging health care challenges as new opportunities.

Curriculum

The first four semesters of the undergraduate program provide the building blocks of knowledge in the arts, humanities, and sciences. Students begin taking nursing courses their first year, but the majority of them are concentrated in the second half of the program. The nursing major includes courses providing the theoretical foundation of the discipline of nursing, research, and clinical application.

In the Clinical Simulation Learning Center, students learn and practice physical assessment skills, general management, and technical skills for patients across the lifespan, and interprofessional leadership skills.

In their last four semesters, students have small-group clinical experiences in a variety of settings, guided by expert nurse faculty. The School of Nursing is affiliated with about 70 health care agencies within a 75-mile radius of the Storrs campus. These include hospitals, schools, day care centers, housing for the elderly, extended care facilities, community health agencies, ambulatory centers, and clinics. In addition to spending time with patients in the clinical setting, time is devoted to conferences with instructors and peers to discuss patient care experiences.

Sample Curriculum

Admission Requirements:

The UConn School of Nursing’s traditional undergraduate program only admits for the fall semester. Transfer and Change of Major students must meet the same application requirements as undergraduates to be considered for admissions. Please note that letters of recommendation are not required and will not be reviewed.

Admission Requirements for First-Year Applicants

Admission is competitive and applicants should have credentials placing them in the upper range of their high school graduation class. Prospective first-year students must have completed high school or college coursework in both biology and chemistry for admission consideration.

First-year applicants are reviewed by UConn's Office of Undergraduate Admissions. For more information, please visit their website.

Admission Requirements for Transfer Applicants

  • Students with less than one year of college are evaluated on the basis of high school and college work (high school GPA and class rank, quality of academic courses, and college performance to date).
  • Transfer students must apply through UConn Admissions. When applying, please specify Nursing as your first choice major.
  • 3.0 cumulative GPA (4.0 scale)
  • In-progress or completed prerequisites; college biology and college chemistry.
  • Hybrid or online lab sciences are not accepted.
  • A motivational statement (350 words or less) describing why you want to be a Nurse and what qualities do you possess that will contribute to your success? The motivational statement is evaluated on content/information, structure, and grammar/mechanics/language.
  • Students must earn a letter grade of “C” or better for course credit to transfer. UConn Admissions will make the final decision for which courses transfer.
  • Application Deadline: Feb. 1

Admission Requirements for Internal Change of Major Students

  • Unofficial transcripts from non-UConn collegiate work.
  • A motivational statement (350 words or less) describing why you want to be a Nurse and what qualities do you possess that will contribute to your success? The motivational statement is evaluated on content/information, structure, and grammar/mechanics/language.
  • Student Change of Major online form
  • 3.0 cumulative GPA (4.0 scale)
  • Hybrid or online lab sciences are not accepted
  • In- progress or completed prerequisites; college Biology (BIOL 1107) and college Chemistry (CHEM 1122, CHEM 1124 & 1125 or CHEM 1127)
  • Application Deadline: Feb. 1

Health and Clinical Requirements

Disclosure:

In accordance with the Higher Education Act, UConn hereby discloses that the curriculum for this program meets the State educational requirements for licensure as a Registered Nurse for the State of Connecticut. UConn has not determined whether the curriculum for this program meets the educational requirements for licensure as a Registered Nurse in any other states or territories and we encourage you to investigate the requirements in the states or territories that you may be interested in licensure prior to accepting our offer of admission.