Those eager to get started in their careers and who wish to pay less to obtain their degree may select an associate degree in nursing. Financially, a two-year program has significant advantages. Many two-year associate degree programs take place at public community colleges where tuition is lower than at four-year universities, especially private ones. It also means that students pay tuition for fewer years, and spend less time out of the workforce or balancing school and work.
While entrance into nursing programs is competitive at two-year programs, students do not need the SAT scores and grade point averages required of university applicants. Two-year programs usually give stronger weight to application essays, interviews, life experience, work experience and their own proprietary entrance exams. Students who show a strong desire, background knowledge and can articulate well why they want to be nurses and how they can contribute to the field stand a good chance of getting into a program, even if they weren't academically successful in high school.
Nursing students in four-year programs have a better opportunity to enjoy and take advantage of the full college experience than those in two-year programs. Students in two-year programs have a less well-rounded education than in four-year programs that require nursing students to complete the same general education and distribution requirements as other undergraduate students, including coursework in humanities and the arts. Students in four-year programs have opportunities to participate in campus life, live in dormitories and join fraternities and sororities -- experiences that many community colleges and private nursing programs don't have.
Those interested in eventually moving out of a hands-on clinical role and into management, nursing education, advanced practice nursing or research will find a BSN more useful than an associate degree. These roles usually require a graduate degree or certificate, such as a Master of Science in Nursing or an advanced practice certificate. A bachelor degree is a prerequisite for these advanced degrees. Nurses with two-year degrees who want to advance into specialized areas of nursing often have to enroll in a nursing diploma to BSN bridge program in order to pursue their career goals.
Many acute care hospitals and outpatient surgery centers have pay differentials for practicing nurses with higher degrees. Nurses with BSNs earn more per hour than do their associate degree counterparts for the same job. Nurses with masters and advanced practice degrees earn even more.