Program Overview
Completion Time: 12 Months
Credits: 57 credits
Clinical Hours: 675
Cost per Credit Hour: $845
Our Accelerated Second Degree Bachelor of Science (ASDBS) degree in Nursing compliments your bachelor’s degree to prepare you for a career in healthcare, with a focus on the science and fundamentals of nursing practice. Through classroom, lab, clinical, and simulated training, you’ll be equipped with the skills needed to provide sound clinical judgment while delivering comprehensive care to patients as entry-level clinicians.
Designed for students with a bachelor’s degree but lacking a license as a registered professional nurse, our ASDBS program will teach you how to enhance your personal resilience and wellness while focusing on service to others and the key components of effective health care delivery, including the comprehensive care of individuals and groups across their lifespan.

Prerequisites
The following prerequisite courses must be completed with a “C+” grade or higher:
- Anatomy and Physiology I with lab
- Anatomy and Physiology II with lab
- Chemistry
- Developmental Psychology
- Microbiology (with lab)
- Pathophysiology
- Statistics
Once a cohort is full, applicants who are still interested in the program but did not meet the criteria for acceptance may defer their application to a future semester. Applicants may use this time to work on their prerequisite courses.
*Students who have been dismissed from another nursing program are ineligible for the accelerated nursing program.
NU Nursing by the Numbers
Expert Faculty
Our program is led by regionally and nationally recognized faculty who are experts in their respective fields, with established track records of student success.
On-Campus Learning Labs
With small class, lab, clinical, and simulation sizes, you’ll work directly with the academic team to ensure you are well positioned to enter the workforce equipped to transform health care outcomes.
Focus on Wellness
The Center for Nurse Wellness is led by a certified licensed mental health counselor who is available exclusively to nursing students as they navigate challenges.
With small class, lab, clinical and simulation sizes, students work closely with the academic team to ensure they are well positioned to enter the workforce equipped to transform health care outcomes.
Discovery Awaits
What You’ll Study at Niagara University
As a Nursing student, you’ll complete 675 clinical hours with various groups across acute, long-term, and community settings.
Your work will focus on:
- Health assessments
- Pathophysiology
- Pharmacology
Additional work in areas such as research and leadership will prepare you to be a well-rounded nurse graduate who is workforce ready and eligible to sit for the NCLEX-RN licensure examination.
Possible clinical placements include:
- Catholic Health System
- Kaleida Health System
- Niagara Falls Memorial
- Erie County Medical Center
- Cradle Beach Camp
- Erie and Niagara County Holding Centers
- Elderwood
- Living Legends Health (The McGuire Group)


Benefits
of completing your ASDBS degree at NU
- 12 month full-time program
- State-of-the-art-on-campus-facilities, including simulation, skills, and virtual reality settings
- Small co-hort sizes and personalized instruction from faculty to enhance student success
- Competitive program with rolling admissions
- Continue into our graduate Family Nurse Practitioner program
- Resilience program offers holistic mental health support and practical skill building for students to achieve academic success and post-graduate personal wellness
- Nurses earn great placements and higher salaries after graduation
- Relevant curriculum for today’s healthcare landscape



I found myself wanting to have that more intimate connection with both healthcare as a whole and also with specific patient populations. Niagara has all the rigors associated with nursing school, but in a much more condensed and streamlined fashion.Matthew Forney. '24 Accelerated Nursing Student
Prepare to Soar
Academic, Experiential, and Career Pathways
Opportunities
Student Nursing Association
Careers
- Primary Care
- Hospitals
- Long-Term Care
- Schools
- Occupational Health
$86,070 Median salary for Registered Nurses per year according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics