ADN to BSN-- Advice on good programs?

My advice would be to only consider fully accredited schools with both national (CCNE, NLNAC) and regional (one of the six, such as Middle States, Western, etc) accreditation. Nearly all brick-and-mortar schools with on-line programs have these and some of the for-profits (Phoenix, Strayer) also do but many do not. Not having full accreditation could present problems further down the road, especially if you want to get an MSN.

Penn State, U Wyoming, Kent State, Temple, Thomas Edison, U Texas- Arlington, Ft Hayes State, Jacksonville, Drexel and Ohio U are some fully accredited schools with on-line RN-BSN programs. Some are expensive (Drexel), others are quite reasonable (Ohio, UT-A, Wyoming) and others are in between. This is also far from a comprehensive list - an on-line search will likely turn up quite a few more.

I will be graduating from the Ohio U Online RN-BSN program in June. I completed in 4 quarters! I could have been done sooner time wise but took last summer off bc my kids were out of school and I wanted to do fun stuff! They have 5 week courses, it is time consuming but doable! I was pregnant and worked full time while doing it!

As an admissions dean, let me toss out one thing to consider if you are considering a graduate program after you are done with your BSN.

If you are considering MSN or doctoral study, you will need an academic letter of recommendation from someone in your BSN program. I read hundreds of these letters each year. All too often, the letters of recommendation from faculty in online programs are not as detailed/helpful to an admissions committee as letters from faculty that you have worked closely with over a longer period of time (some online classes last 4-6 weeks). This is especially true from online programs that employ mostly adjunct faculty.

Regardless where you go, get to know your faculty.

Do all colleges, brick and mortar/on-line require clinicals for ADN to BSN????

Look at Western Governors University. Search the threads, you will find many happy grads. It is also the cheapest. PM for more information if you like.

Fort Hays State University.

UMass Boston has an online program. However, they recently increased their community service learning clinical to 84 hours. This is something you coordinate in your own community. There are mandatory online classes once a week which are essentially a chat room with headphones. Probably like most other online programs, it is mostly writing based although one or two semesters may have an open book test. There are group projects too, which you don't have to meet to complete. There is one time the first semester where, unless you live in another state, you must come in to present a book report. Out of state folks would communicate online via the classroom (honestly I would have preferred that but I lived too close). If I had to choose again, I would probably look for something with less clinical requirement - they doubled the requirement when I was halfway through the program.

I do know someone who went to U. of Phoenix for a non-nursing course, and mentioned that it was hard getting the support from faculty like you would in a traditional program. I liked some teachers more than others, and some were definitely more helpful than others, but I knew there was always someone there with an office and a phone number I could call.

I am starting the search as well for a RN to BSN program in California. The budget cuts here have alot of the CSU schools in limbo about admitting for Spring 2013. I am really wanting to go to a class room based program to network and really expand my knowledge in my nursing career, but I am starting to consider online programs. I hear about how expensive the University of Phoenix is and National University and now I am just as confused as before. I would love to hear any experiences anyone has had with online programs and in class programs. I have the motivation to start working on my BSN but choosing a program is more difficult than I thought it would be!

I just have to say- I LOVE ONLINE classes ! So many of my friends are taking online classes ,and many show advertisements on this site! Best thing next to the invention of the wheel. Just have a good laptop with all the newest software,Android phone,super fast internet access, and you are golden.