is there a difference?

[tamzah]

Hi all,

I am an enrolled excelsior student and i have a question about the degrees.

I was originally enrolled for the associate degree then found through the advisors that i could get credit for fire academy if i switched to the associate of applied science.Is there a difference between the two degrees?does it matter wich one you have?The requirements for both are the same .the advisor said they have more freedom to give credit in the aa

degree.It helped me cause it was one less prereq i needed to take.I called the ohio state board of nursing and they didnt seem to have a problem with it.Any thought? thanks,

Matt

[RN34TX]

The ASN and the AASN are equivalent degrees and either will allow you to sit for the RN licensure exam.

Most schools only offer one of the two ADN degrees so most students do not get to choose which degree they wish to pursue.

Excelsior's AASN degree has more "free electives" meaning a very wide range of courses can fill this requirement, where the ASN has more specific courses in specific categories that must be taken to fulfill degree requirements.

This is why your advisor told you to pursue the AASN because you must need more specific courses and thus will take you longer to finish the ASN than if you were to go the AASN route.

If you are going to stop your nursing education at the associates level, it will make no difference which degree you select so you might as well do the AASN and be done with it.

If you are going to go on for your bachelors in nursing, the ASN might be more helpful as it will contain more courses that are required of BSN programs so it will help you knock out more prereq's in the long run.

However, you would still need to closely examine requirements of your chosen BSN program, and even in light of this, I'd still say to choose whatever degree gets you eligible for your RN license the soonest and worry about BSN requirements later as many employers will pay for that anyway.