2025 NTI Conference Interview: Inside Post University's Online Nursing Programs | AACN

Online nursing programs may share similar formats, but the student experience can vary widely. In this interview, recorded at AACN's National Teaching Institute and Critical Care Exposition (NTI) in 2025, allnurses speaks with a representative from Post University about how their online nursing programs are structured and supported. The discussion focuses on learning modalities, student engagement, leadership preparation, and how Post University supports nurses through graduation.

The conversation also covers AI in nursing education, clinical placement support, and advice for nurses returning to school while managing work and personal commitments.

What to Know About Post University's Online Nursing Programs

allnurses: What makes Post University's nursing programs uniquely positioned and different from other nursing programs in this space?

Post University: It's a couple of things. One, we've been around for a long time. American Sentinel was one of the first adopters of online nursing, and Post was one of the first adopters of online platforms as well, offering online degree programs.

A lot of the things that really stand out is our nursing programs are designed for nurses, by nurses. Most of our faculty members are adjunct faculty who are still out in the field, still working a job, with a handful of full time faculty members. We like that because it keeps them up to date on what's going on.

When you look at the education side of it, we have two learning modalities. Some other schools have a competency based, or they'll have a term based, and that's really where we kind of set ourselves apart. We have both. We want to make sure we let the learner or the student know that this isn't a sprint, it's a marathon. It's either a competency based option, where they take as many classes as they can in 16 weeks to get their degree done quicker, or a term based option, which is very structured.

I'm a prime example. I have a young daughter. I have a wife. I travel for work. When I went back for my master's, I needed the term based option. I needed the program broken up into eight week sessions. I needed that structure. I needed due dates. I am a procrastinator, so the competency based one was not good for me.

But we do allow our students to switch. If they did try the competency based one and said, I want to get this done, and my BSN done in eight months, we give them the option to switch if that doesn't work out for them. 

Other than that, a lot of schools are 100% online, with no mandatory login times. That's a lot of us. We don't do any group work or group grades, and that's a big thing. I can't tell you how many times I've spoken to a prospective student that was with another university. They're living in Charlotte, they're getting stuck with some lazy Larry in Los Angeles, and they're doing all the work.

Those are our biggest differentiators. Cost is always a big thing. It's time and cost, right? Those are the two objections. 

Another thing we offer that other schools don't is deferred billing. If they're using tuition reimbursement, they can take their class and submit their grades to their employer. Their employer pays them. They pay us. We really limit the amount of money out of pocket. We try to make it affordable.

We also have 0% interest in house financing for our nursing students. So if they want to pay as they go and come out with zero debt, and they don't want to do FAFSA for financial aid, we work with them.

It all comes down to our motto. Post makes it personal. Every student we have, we try to give them a personalized experience to ensure that they have a great time getting their degree. 

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Post makes it personal.

Online Coursework and Student Support

allnurses: Given that so much of your coursework is online, how do you ensure students are learning what they need to, collaborating how they need to, and up to speed with everything, since you're not face to face with them?

Post University: We don't have mandatory login times, but we do have times with discussion boards where you are interacting with other students and professors. When you enroll into one of our degree programs, you're assigned a student success advisor. That person is always in contact with you. Not only that, you have your partner engagement manager, which would be my department, working with you. If you have any issues, we're kind of the liaisons between the student and the university.

The student success advisors are touching base making sure everything's going well. If we notice that somebody hasn't logged in in a week or two, like say they're doing the competency based, we'll reach out and just make sure everything is okay. Is this a good modality for you? Is there something personal going on? Again, flexibility is the biggest thing with online. We want to make sure that we're setting all of our students up for success any way we can.

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Flexibility is the biggest thing with online.

Technology and Communication

allnurses: How are you using technology to communicate with the students and work with them?

Post University: Everything's done through our online platform. The non nursing side uses Blackboard. It's similar to Blackboard, so it uses the same technologies.

Again, there's no classroom interaction over videos, right? Because some nurses are working nights, some are working days. So really it's that interaction through those discussion boards, through things like that.

AI and Emerging Technology in Nursing

allnurses: With technology and AI, there are lots of changes in the nursing and healthcare world. What do you think nurses need to know as new technologies emerge?

Post University: I embrace AI. I'm not scared of it. Obviously there's going to have to be some protocols in there, because you can't have ChatGPT write your papers for you. There are of AI companies out there and we can tell. These professors are reading your papers. They know how their students speak and write.

All of a sudden, they're using terms like "fantastic," or "integrate" in every other sentence. We know that it's probably ChatGPT that's writing it.

But no, we totally embrace AI and how that's going to help. I really think moving forward in nursing as a whole, you're going to see a lot more with technology and with AI. Nurses are going to have to know how to use all these different technologies.

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I embrace AI. I'm not scared of it.

Leadership Preparation and Micro Credentials

allnurses: Are you specifically preparing nurses for leadership roles? How does that part of the curriculum differ from regular nursing roles?

Post University: We do. One of the things that we've integrated into some of our degree programs are micro credentials. We're seeing a bigger need for certificates, micro credentials and specific trainings in the marketplace.

For instance, when they're going through their MSN, they might be taking an MSN/MBA dual degree. As part of that, they could take a financial health care management course. At the end of the course, they will get a digital credential, like a badge.

They can add it to their LinkedIn, or list it on their CV or resume. It shows they completed the course and earned that badge. It doesn't mean they're certified, but it does show they're qualified to talk about those topics.

Academic Resources and Career Support

allnurses: Do you have support systems, academic resources or mentorship programs to help guide nurses through their journey?

Post University: Absolutely. We have a 24/7 library. We have a real librarian online that works at Post University, that is there to help with any type of research and any type of questions that come up. We also have a writing center and a resume center.

We are relaunching our career services center, so we'll be working with our partners and partner hospital systems. If they have openings, they're able to let us know they'd like to access our alumni and see where we can place them. 

With our non clinical MSN degrees, we don't have clinicals, but we have what's called "practice experiences." I liken that to an internship, where you're actually doing a project. So if you're getting your master's in nursing education, you're working with the education department. You'll have a preceptor who knows that role and the related policies, and helps you figure out what it's like to start an actual program at your hospital.

allnurses: Do you have specific programs or pathways to help nurses find jobs once they graduate? How does that work?

Post University: That is what our new career services is going to be doing as well.

Clinical Partnerships and Placement Support

allnurses: Do you have clinical partnerships that you can connect students to for rotations?

Post University: Absolutely. That is one of the biggest challenges with nurse practitioners, finding those clinical spots. So a nursing student, who's getting their family nurse practitioner degree will work with a clinical coordinator. That clinical coordinator will do as much as they can to assist them. I can't say we place you, because we're not pre licensure.

Pre licensure, everybody gets together in a giant room with all the hospitals. They have a big board, and they say, these are the dates. These are the dates we're going to be here. This is what times we're going to do this clinical. The clinical coordinator will look at our database to see where we have clinical sites, and we'll work with that student to help assist them in being placed.

We also do work with a couple other companies, some outside companies. Their whole job is to help place our students. Part of what the partner engagement group does is visit our partners, meet nurses, and talk about our programs. If we do come across, say, a doctor's office or a hospital system that is asking for nurse practitioners, informatics nurses or whomever, we will absolutely sign an affiliation agreement with them.

So it's really kind of a three pronged approach. You have somebody at Post, we have outside companies, and then the partner engagement team also works to find interested sites as we're out and about. That's not our main job function, but I brought on more than a few here in Florida by being out and about at doctors offices and hospitals. And then a lot of times with our bigger partners, we will sign not only an educational partnership agreement with them, but a clinical affiliation with them. And, we do allow that student to do their clinicals at the place where they work.

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We do allow that student to do their clinicals at the place where they work.

Building Community for Online Students

allnurses: Given that you are mostly online, how do you foster a sense of community among the nursing students?

Post University: We have a community development person. They're out at the campus in Waterbury, Connecticut. But for instance, I live down here in Bradenton, Florida. If there is some type of community outreach that I'm doing out here, I can actually get Post involved. 

If you live in the Tri-state area, Waterbury is only about an hour and a half from New York. There's always stuff going on at the campus. We work heavily with the Chamber of Commerce out there, and YMCA is one of our big partners, so we partner with them. There's always a sense of community.

Enrollment and New Students

allnurses: What challenges are you seeing at Post in attracting new students, given the crowded market for nursing degrees?

Post University: I haven't noticed a lot. We're actually growing and expanding at a reasonable pace. Now we have four colleges instead of just the three. So we have this, our School of Business, our arts and then our nursing. So that's really, really helped with bringing everything kind of full circle.

I would say now that it's been four years since the merge, people know American Sentinel is now Post. We have that brand recognition again, and our alumni love us. I haven't really seen a lot of challenges in enrollments. I'm sure there are some, but I just haven't seen them.

allnurses: Are you familiar with the ways the school is using to attract new students, like having a booth at NTI like this, or email advertising? What do you think is working, and what isn't?

Post University: Each one of our partner engagement managers does regional conferences. So they're given a budget to do regional conference just in their region, just to drive business in their backyard. Then as leadership, we do a lot of the national conferences. 

So we do limit our national conferences to about eight or so. And the primary strategy behind that is just that networking, meeting new partnerships, seeing what's going on in the marketplace. 

Advice for Nurses Starting a Program

allnurses: What advice would you give a new nurse about to start a program at Post?

Post University: Take your time. Make sure you find the best fit for you. I want to say it's Post University. It was for me, but it's all about getting that degree and moving on. We all know, the more education you have, better patient outcomes is going to follow.

Have a support system. This is just me speaking from experience. It's okay to take breaks. I can't tell you how many times I talk to one of my students and they're like, I'm getting overwhelmed. It's okay, take a break. It's not the end of the world. Whether you get your degree done in two years or two and a half years, you still got it done. 

Definitely don't sacrifice a work life, school balance, right? You got to have that balance in your life. So that flexibility is so nice from a college. If you have a great support system and you're ready to do it, just start. You can always take a break. The hardest part is taking that first class.

To learn more and register for this year's NTI Conference, visit https://www.aacn.org/conferences-and-events/nti.

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The hardest part is taking that first class... just start.