POST-LICENSURE BSN (“ADN-BSN”) PROGRAM
Requirements for BSN Degree Completion
2012-2013 Catalog Year
Introduction: To be awarded the BSN at SSU, you must acquire a minimum of 120 units (including no more than 70 units transferred from a community college) AND meet all specified degree requirements including SSU Nursing major (BSN), General Education, American Institutions, Upper Division General Education, the WEPT, and Ethnic Studies. Please use with the Degree Summary Worksheet.
Acquiring 120 Units for the BSN |
- A maximum of 70 units of community college transfer credit may be applied toward a CSU baccalaureate degree. Within those 70 units of transfer credit toward the BSN, SSU will first count transferrable nursing prerequisite courses and lower division General Education courses and then count community college nursing units to reach a total of 70 units to be transferred to SSU.
- Transcript validation for to 20 units of credit for NCLEX as evidence of prior learning.
- A minimum of 30 units of credit must be completed “in residence” with SSU in order to be awarded a BSN degree from SSU. These 30 units will be comprised of 24 units of Upper Division Nursing and 6 units of Upper Division GE. Students with a prior baccalaureate degree in a field other than nursing need only complete the 24 units of required Upper Division Nursing coursework at SSU to receive the BSN pursuant to the CSU Chancellor’s Office Executive Order.
- A General Education (GE) Transfer Evaluator in the SSU Admissions and Records Office automatically reviews all of the coursework an admitted student has completed at other schools that may be counted toward GE requirements for your BSN. They count those units toward the BSN based on the limits described in #1 and #2. If you have a question about why a specific course you previously took is not counted toward an SSU degree requirement, email your GE Evaluator and ask them -- it may have been missed or it may need to be petitioned to have it counted. The GE Evaluator is NOT an Academic Advisor and it is not appropriate to ask them for guidance regarding your plan of study.
- Although a single course might satisfy two or three (or even four!) degree requirements at once, NEVER, NEVER will you be awarded more than the units assigned that course toward the required 120 units.
- Coursework completed at the two-year level that was not designated transferable to the CSU by your community college will not be counted toward the SSU baccalaureate degree (in any major!).
Completing BSN Degree Requirements |
- You must complete 40 units of UPPER DIVISION coursework including at least 18 units of upper division in the major. Note that your Program will meet and exceed these requirements by enrollment in 24 units of required Upper division nursing courses and 6 units of required Upper Division GE. And award of 20 units of Upper Division Nursing credit for NCLEX.
- You may enroll in a maximum of 24 units to take CR/NC (courses that are designated as CR/NC by the university or department DO count in this 24-unit total). You may not take any required Upper Division Nursing courses in CR/NC mode (they all must be taken for a letter grade).
- You may complete a maximum of 30 units via Challenge Examination that will count as resident credit toward the minimum 30 units in residence at SSU.
You must satisfy a minimum of 9 units of GE at the Upper Division level (300 and 400 level courses that are university approved for GE credit). Three (3) units of the required 9 units will be satisfied upon completion of your BSN and count toward GE Area E. Therefore, you need only complete 6 units of Upper Division GE. Your total 9 units of Upper Division GE credit must cover at least two GE Areas (the BSN meets GE Area E).You may elect to take the CLEP for “Human Growth and Development” (HGDEV 50) which, upon passing, will award you 3 units of Upper Division GE Area E credit (as SSU’s Psych 302). This testing opportunity to meet 3 of the 9 unit UDGE requirement is optional. If you choose not to exercise this option, you must complete the outstanding UDGE requirement by enrolling in an approved UDGE course. There are no other CLEP exams that meet SSU’s UDGE requirement.
If you elect to take (and pass) the CLEP for Psych 302 then then you would need to take a 3-4 unit UDGE course in a GE Area OTHER THAN E to complete the requirement of 9 units UDGE in at least two GE areas (that both the BSN and the Psych 302 count as GE Area E). Such a course may also meet the Ethnic Studies requirement and a specific or elective GE Area requirement.
Upper Division GE courses at SSU are special approved courses included on the list you can find by going to the Post-Licensure BSN website http://www.sonoma.edu/nursing/post_licensure_bsn.shtml and clicking on the link titled “Upper Division GE Guidelines.” To meet the Upper Division GE Requirements TAKE ONLY 300-400 LEVEL COURSES LISTED ON THIS approved 48-unit Transfer Pattern GE Sheet. - You must pass the SSU Written English Proficiency Test (WEPT) and, if you have not already done so, meet the Ethnic Studies requirement. You should have completed both the American History and American Institutions requirements at the time of admission (they can be completed at the community college level)
- If you have additional GE Area C requirements to meet and have NOT received credit for a similar course, you may elect to take the CLEP for “Analyzing and Interpreting Literature” (AILIT 50) which upon passing will award SSU’s English 214 for 4 units to GE Area C. This IS NOT AN Upper Division GE course!
- Frequently consult your Academic Requirements page in your “My SSU” online record to verify what requirements you have remaining to complete for the BSN.
- Questions about degree requirements and your program of study should be directed ONLY to your Nursing Academic Advisor (not to Admissions and Records staff, Nursing Department staff or other students).