USC Beaufort recently earned the approval of the Commission on Higher Education and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to implement a bachelor of science in nursing program. With the approval of the new program, USC Beaufort will be one of 10 universities in South Carolina that offer baccalaureate-level nursing education.

USC Beaufort will implement a two-track nursing program, both of which will offer bachelor's degrees at the University's South Campus in Bluffton. The first phase of the program is a continuing-education track that will allow registered nurses with associate degrees to earn bachelor's degrees. In the first stage of implementation, nursing prerequisite courses will begin to be offered in January 2007.

A pre-nursing program, which will allow incoming students to pursue the first two years of a B.S. in nursing, will be implemented Fall 2007. Junior- and senior-level courses will be offered pending approval by the South Carolina Board of Nursing and the build-out of the appropriate facilities, which will include a state-of-the-art simulation lab. Students can begin applying now for the nursing program at USC Beaufort.

11/06