Going back to school for nursing degree does one have to start over?

[Magnicious]

Hello,

My girlfriend would like to go back to school for nursing. She went to school for Bachelor of Elementary in Education (BEED). However, she is under the impression that if she goes it will take 5 years. In America (where I am from), usually the first year or so is math and other general education so when you transfer in a bachelor's you do not have to start from scratch. She's doesn't want to spend 5 years back in school again as that is what she thinks it will be. Does anyone have any idea on how long a program will take if you transfer in a bachelor's and coming back in for a second degree? I want to pay for her to go back to school (I'm American) and she is highly interested in going and I want her to have a skill. She has a baby on the way and she was going to take to restructure and prepare for her future career so I was hoping she could use this time to go back to school while I support her.

[vince_reads, BSN, LVN, RN]

What she can do is to visit a nursing school and have her transcript get evaluated. Might as well visit her alma mater, the school where she went for BEED if that school has a BSN program. She might not need to retake those minor subjects she did. The BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) program in the Philippines is set to have pre-reqs and major programs for 4 years. So if she did some of the pre-reqs (minor subjects) during her BEED program, then she doesn't need to repeat them. Those will be credited and she will only take subjects that are still needed prior to being placed in the major subjects.

When I was studying BSN in the Philippines, I had classmates who were second-coursers. We call them that if they already have a previous degree and they are in the BSN program. It's like the equivalent Accelerated BSN program we have here in America.

For reference: A "subject" in the Philippines is a "course" in America. Example, a history subject is same as history course, and so on.

[Fiona59]

• Going to nursing school with an infant is not easy. If the plan is for her and the child to move to the US, she'd be better off childcarewise being a teacher. No shiftwork to cover and school holidays.

[Mae Anduyo]

I am in the same situation as your girlfriend. I am a BEED graduate, and I am planning to pursue a degree in nursing. I graduated around 2019, which was the last year of the old college curriculum. By 202, the new curriculum was implemented because that year marked the graduation of the first batch of K-12 students, who also became the first batch to experience the new college curriculum. Due to this change, most of the minor subjects have been revised. If you graduated under the old curriculum and decided to enroll in a second degree under the new curriculum, it is expected to take four years to complete. That was the explanation I received from the registrar when I asked them about it. On the other hand, if you graduated under the old curriculum and pursued a second degree that also follows the old curriculum, it would only take two years. However, with the curriculum change, going back for a second degree now requires completing four years again.

When I reviewed my transcript of records and had it evaluated, I found that only eight of my minor subjects were credited. As a result, I will need to take many of the minor subjects under the new curriculum, along with the major subjects, which is why it will take four years to complete the course.