When I was researching RN-BSN online programs there was very little info about Capella's RN-BSN Flexpath program. It just started in Jan 2016. So, I thought I would share my experience with the program for others who are researching now that I'm finished.
Why I choose it-As an Excelsior ADN graduate I did not have labs with my Micro and A&P so I would have to take these over with many of the schools. I did not have to with Capella. How their program works for pre-reqs is cores. So, they have a math/science core, humanities core etc. They don't require specific courses, just enough credits in each core. So, I only needed one more course in Humanities to fulfil all the cores. I also did not choose the local college because they required a language, history etc. With Capella, I only needed the 11 Nursing courses and Ethics. I took Bio-Ethics, which I thought was fairly easy and interesting.
Cost-I finished the program in 48 weeks, so I paid a total of $10,000. You pay $2500 every 12 weeks. They do not charge a graduation fee, etc. I finished a course every three to four weeks. I worked part-time mostly, except for six weeks of orientation at a new job and I also moved twice in that time period.
Pros-NO DISCUSSION BOARDS-I really disliked discussions boards with Excelsior. I thought they were a waste of time and stressed me out trying to get to them on time. With Capella Flexpath you only write papers/powerpoints. They tell you exactly what content they are looking for. Most courses were four papers/powerpoints, one was six and some were five. Each paper is usually 3-4 pages long, with a few longer. The program is completely self-paced. They want something submitted every week, but if you can't you just explain why and submit that.
Cons-Sometimes the required content was vague or I didn't understand exactly what they were asking, they have tutors, but I found I had already moved on by time they answered my questions. But you have three opportunities to improve your paper, so it wasn't really an issue. Most times my papers had APA issues, not content issues. I received a 4.0.
I hope this helps. I know a lot of people go with WGU, which is similar. However, at the time they were not accepting North Carolina students, and I would have had to take the science courses over due to labs.
