The 20 registered nurses receiving bachelor’s degrees in nursing from the University of Rhode Island Dec. 17 are pioneers of a sort. They are the first graduates of the College of Nursing’s online RN to BS program, the only one in the state offered by a public university.
Started in fall 2015 with just under 30 students, the program now enrolls more than 450 and is expected to grow, said Kristine Springett, coordinator of the program, which complements a traditional face-to-face RN to BS program. Another 35 students are expected to graduate in May. “They come from all over: Connecticut, New Jersey, California …,” Springett said.
The student body is about evenly split between early career RNs and those with years of experience, she said. RN to BS programs are designed to accommodate professional nurses who have associates degrees or nursing school diplomas but want to pursue bachelor’s degrees.