ODU Partners with College of The Albemarle for Concurrent RN to BSN

NORFOLK, Va. - Old Dominion University has announced a partnership with the College of The Albemarle in North Carolina for nursing students.

Students seeking an associate's degree in nursing at the college will be able to work toward their bachelor of science degree in nursing from ODU at the same time to expedite their studies.

This is the first articulation agreement of its kind between ODU's online nursing program and a college in North Carolina. Old Dominion sees this as another opportunity to help nursing students prepare for their careers in a field where bachelor's degrees are becoming increasingly necessary. 

In fact, the program was triggered by one student's aspirations.

"A student was accepted to College of The Albemarle's nursing program and wanted to apply to ODU’s online nursing degree concurrently, but College of The Albemarle was not a partner at that time," says Janice Hawkins, chief academic adviser of Old Dominion's School of Nursing. "I met with the program director, and we made it happen. The fact that it was student-driven really speaks to how ODU is meeting the academic needs of students."

This won't benefit just the nurses.

"Increasing the percentage of BSN-prepared RNs at the bedside has been associated with better patient outcomes and lower hospitalization costs," Hawkins says. "As a result, most hospital employers prefer to hire BSN graduates. Concurrent enrollment programs such as the partnership between ODU and COA offer an innovative, efficient and affordable pathway to the BSN degree."

For more information on this program, visit online.odu.edu/rn-bsn

Old Dominion University, located in the coastal city of Norfolk, is Virginia's entrepreneurial-minded doctoral research university and has been delivering distance learning programs for 30 years. We offer more than 100 programs through ODUOnline in a variety of formats, allowing students to complete degree programs across the world. ODU serves more than 24,600 students annually by providing the same rigorous academics online and on-campus. Learn more about ODUOnline's programs by visiting online.odu.edu.