Programs
The UofSC Aiken School of Nursing offers the Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing (BSN).
There are two tracks:
The four-year traditional track
The RN/BSN completion track for current RN's
Description of the Curriculum
The curriculum for the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program has an organizing framework from which course objectives and learning activities flow in a logical progression over the length of the program. The process of curriculum construction was deliberate and guided by educational principles and standards for professional nursing practice.
Outcome objectives are derived from the philosophy and organizing framework. Objectives are leveled across the curriculum in a logical sequence moving from simple to complex. The conceptual framework reflects three central concepts of professional values (caring and diversity), communication, and role development (provider of care, coordinator of care, and member of the profession). Critical thinking is used to inculcate these concepts.
The BSN curriculum is designed to be completed within four years by traditional students. The nursing curriculum has a foundation in the liberal arts and sciences, and its design reflects congruence with the School of Nursing philosophy, conceptual framework, standards of professional nursing practice, BSN outcome objectives, and course progression.
Differentiated Education
The School of Nursing provides for articulation of associate degree and diploma graduates into the RN/BSN Completion track following the Statewide Articulation Model. Students are awarded 34 hours of major credit toward the BSN and credit for general education courses that are applicable to the degree. The RN/BSN Completion program of study is offered asynchronously online.
In addition to the resources and opportunities available within the School of Nursing, there are also numerous campus-wide resources available to help students at UofSC Aiken be successful. Explore the categories below to learn more.
Academic Success Resources
Located in the Gregg-Graniteville Library, the Center for Student Achievement offers all of the academic success services and resources you need to succeed free of charge. They provide private academic consultations about time management, study skills, and academic success strategies. The center offers drop-in tutoring and supplemental instruction for many courses. If you have any questions about how the Center for Student Achievement can help you achieve your academic goals, contact the Coordinator of Tutoring and Supplemental Instruction Troy Mothkovich at 803-641-3795 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The mission of the Writing Center is to provide an open teaching and learning environment for the collaborative discussion of writing so that students may become more aware and independent writers. The Writing Center is staffed by students from a range of disciplines and professional tutors from the English department. Writing consultants are formally trained to provide feedback during all phases of the writing process. Because the Writing Center focuses on student learning, awareness, and independence, consultants do not edit drafts. Rather, consultants are trained to help students become better editors and proofreaders of their own drafts.
Besides taking advantage of tutoring services, students may also come to the Writing Center to study, use a computer, print assignments, or peruse books and guides related to writing. Located in the Humanities and Social Sciences Building in Room 112, the Writing Center is available to all students free of charge. To make an appointment, come by in person or call 803-641-3262. Although appointments are recommended to guarantee a session, drop-ins are also welcome. Workshops on various writing topics are also provided on a rotating basis throughout the semester.
The Math Lab, located on the first floor of the Gregg-Graniteville Library, is part of the Department of Math & Computer Sciences and is here to provide the academic support you need to be successful in your USC Aiken math courses. The Math Lab is staffed by peer tutors who provide individual tutoring and small group study sessions. The best part is that Math Lab tutoring is free!
The Gregg-Graniteville Library strives to provide the academic community with the information required for intellectual, professional, and personal development. The library has many books, and you can also request many more through the interlibrary loan system. In addition to checking out books, the library offers multiple services for students. If you have a research or citation question, you can contact one of the qualified reference librarians for help. You can also use the library as a study space. Individual study rooms are available for your use upstairs, or you can study in the Learning Commons area located downstairs.
The Disability Services Office at USC Aiken assists students with physical, psychological, or learning disabilities in their college experience through an integration of on-campus services. The primary concern is to make all USC Aiken programs and services accessible. Assistance begins during the admission process and ends when a student graduates. Throughout the university experience, campus wide services are coordinated to meet the needs of students. Students may call the Disability Services Office at 803-643-6815, visit the office in Room 130 of the Business and Education Building, or email the coordinator at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Incoming freshman have to complete 16 ICE credits while at USC Aiken in order to graduate. It is recommended students complete two credits per semester. Transfer students will have to complete a number of Ice events based on how many academic hours they have already completed.
You must bring your USC Aiken ID to ICE events. It will need to be scanned when entering and exiting the event in order to receive credit. To make sure you’ve received credit, check Degree Works Report in SCC or speak to your advisor.
Student Involvement Resources
The mission of the Student Life Office is to expose students to diverse experiences allowing them to explore opportunities and interests that will transform them into engaged global leaders. The division sponsors many organizations and programs. For more information about any of these opportunities, please stop by the Student Life Office, call 803-641-3634, or email Kevin Nolan, Associate Director of Student Life, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
University Housing allows students to save time and money by being within walking distance of classes, offices, events, and dining services. Living on campus is a great way to become involved and meet new people. If you have questions about residing on campus,you can stop by the Central Housing Office, located in Pacer Crossings Room 130, Monday - Friday from 8:30 am - 5:00 pm, or you can email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Check out the Housing website for specific information about housing options.
Health and Wellness Resources
USC Aiken offers the Wellness Center (the gym), the natatorium (6-lane pool), intramurals, group fitness classes, a sauna, and club sports. Lockers are available to keep your stuff locked up and showers to freshen up. This is all free to you. To activate your membership, stop by the Wellness Center with a copy of your class schedule.
Wellness Center Hours
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Monday-Thursday |
5:45 am - 10:00 pm |
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Friday |
5:30 am - 7:00 pm |
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Saturday |
7:30 am - 3:00 pm |
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Sunday |
1:00 pm - 8:00 pm |
Natatorium Hours
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Monday - Thursday |
9:00 am - 3:00 pm 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm |
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Friday |
9:00 am - 3:00 pm |
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Saturday |
10:00 am - 2:00 pm |
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Sunday |
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm |
The Student Health Center (SHC) can provide assessment, treatment, and referral for common health issues, free of charge to current students. You can call the SHC at 803-641-2840.
The Counseling Center offers counseling services to full-time and part-time students free of charge. The Counseling Center is available to address a variety of concerns. Please contact them and tell them what's on your mind. To schedule an appointment with a counselor, call the Counseling Center at (803) 641-3609 or stop by Room 126 in the Business and Education Building during office hours: Monday - Friday, 8:30 am - 5:00 pm.
Other Resources
Police officers work with the campus community in a cooperative policing effort to prevent crime from occurring and to respond and provide assistance to victims once crime has occurred. Uniformed officers provide services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. These services include: emergency response to crimes in progress and life threatening incidents, foot patrol, bike patrol, escort services, and limited parking lot assistance (unlock cars and jump starts). Also, all officers are certified Medical First Responders. They also are responsible for administrative services such as providing student ID’s and parking decals.
The Office of Career Services, in Penland 108, helps students find jobs both on and off campus. They also help with job preparation through interviewing practice and resume critiquing. If you have any questions, contact director Corey Feraldi at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The Registrar's Office is located in the Penland Administration Building Room 109 and is open Monday - Friday from 8:30 am - 5:00 pm. Their purpose is to assist, direct, and provide accurate information related to records and registration and other areas related to student course enrollment. If you have any questions about course registration, graduation requirements, or requesting a minor, contact the Registrar's Office at 803-648-6851.
The Financial Aid Office is located in Penland 102. Their phone number is 803-641-3476. If you have questions about your scholarships or paying your tuition, this is the office you contact.
The Business Services Office is where you will go to pay your tuition bill. This office also handles payment plans and refunds. If you have any questions about these topics, you can call Business Services at 803-641-3543 or email them at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The Veteran and Military Student Success Center is a center for your success if you are a member of the military or if you are part of a military family. The center is your one-stop place on campus for answering your questions as they relate to your service, benefits, education, and career choices. The VMSSC is also a place to meet and connect with, hang out, or study with other students who share your similar life experience. The Veteran and Military Student Success Center is open from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm Monday through Friday.
Overview
The University of South Carolina Aiken 100% online RN to BSN program is designed to help working nurses transform their nursing practice in as few as 12 months. Combining liberal arts ideals with real world applications, this online program will prepare you for success by challenging you to think critically and creatively, communicate effectively and learn independently in any healthcare setting.
- 6 start dates per year
- Complete in as few as 12 months
- $306 per credit hour, in-state and out-of-state
- No foreign language requirements
In this program, you will learn the principles and concepts of ethical theory and the legal basis for nursing practice, how to assess the physical and psychosocial health status of individuals, and theories of human development. You will also gain the professional knowledge and relevant skills needed to critique research, identify the concepts of community and family health nursing, and apply leadership and management principles in a variety of healthcare settings.
Taught by the same supportive faculty who teach on campus, this CCNE-accredited RN to BSN program will equip you with the practical experience to help your community and patients achieve the goal of optimal health.
About the HONS 499 (Capstone)
The Capstone project is a culminating experience related to the student’s major (i.e. research project, internship, service-learning project, development of a business plan, or discipline-specific solution to a problem). The 3-credit hour capstone course is taken in the academic year in which the student plans to graduate. This course may also serve as a capstone course within the major if the major capstone course provides the student the opportunity to do an individual project.
Initiating the Capstone
The general process involves the following steps:
- Student discusses the capstone requirement at the beginning of their junior year with the Honors Program Director. At this time guidance will be given about whether or not a major capstone course can also be an honors capstone course and how the student might go about completing the capstone within their major. The student will then need to find and meet with a capstone mentor within their major or speak to the instructor of the major capstone course.
- Student completes the Capstone Intent Form in their junior year (the year prior to the student’s graduation year) and submits this signed form to the Honors Program Director. The completion of this form will require the student to meet with his or her Capstone mentor prior to the senior year to discuss their possible project with timelines, the need to get IRB or animal testing approval, and other details pertaining to the project. This form must be returned to the Honors Program Director prior to the end of the spring semester of that student’s junior year.
- In the semester before the student plans to do their capstone project, the student, with help from their faculty mentor, will complete and submit the Capstone Project Proposal Form to the Honors Program Director. These proposals are due at the beginning of November or April, the semester before the student plans to complete the Capstone project. The form must be typed - handwritten forms will not be accepted. Use of outside sources is required in the preparation and writing of the capstone proposal – any proposals submitted without cited sources will be returned for revisions.
- The Honors Steering Committee reviews all submitted proposals and either approves the proposal or suggests further revision/modification before approval.
- The student signs up for a capstone course based on the guidelines below.
Signing Up for an Approved Capstone Course
- Honors students in a major with a major capstone course that provides the student the opportunity to do an individual project approved by the Honors Steering Committee will register for that capstone course (i.e. BIOL 498 or ENGL 496). Records will put you in a special Honors section of that course and that course will also count as the honors capstone course.
- Honors students in a major without a major capstone course that meets the requirements can register for a 3-credit independent study course within their major (i.e. PYSC 598 or POLI 399) using an independent study contract. This independent study contract must be signed by the faculty mentor, the unit head of that student’s major, and the Honors Program Director. The signed original will then be taken to Records. *You will not be able to register for an independent study capstone using SSC – only with a contract.
- Honors students in a major without a capstone course that meets the requirements OR an appropriate independent study course can register for HONS 499. This requires an independent study contract with appropriate signatures as specified above.
Presentation of Capstone Project
Honors students must present their capstone project before the Honors Steering Committee at Scholar Showcase in the spring semester. Students who do their capstone project in the fall and graduate in December will present their work to the Committee at the end of the fall semester.
This will be a 10-minute oral PowerPoint presentation with 2-3 minutes at the end for questions. Presentations must be tailored to a GENERAL audience. The presentation should have three parts:
- An introduction to your capstone project including the purpose and briefly how you went about doing it.
- A discussion of what you learned or accomplished by doing your project – your results, conclusions, and/ or analysis presented without technical details.
- A reflection on how your project (the topic and/or skills learned) relates to you personally and/or will help you in your future endeavors (career, grad school, life).
IRB/Animal Testing Approval Process
If you are testing/surveying human subjects, you and your mentor need to check to see if you need IRB approval. If so, you will need to submit a human subjects application by registering at http://eirb.healthsciencessc.org. There is some online training involved so get started on this early.
If you are doing animal testing, you will need to get IACUC approval. Check with the Department Chair of your unit to see how to go about doing this. IACUC requires some online training so get started on this early.
IRB or IACUC approval is something that is the responsibility of the student, faculty member, and sponsoring department.
Admission Requirements
All students interested in applying to any USC Aiken nursing program are required to be admitted to the University of South Carolina Aiken prior to submitting an application for the nursing program. Students are advised to do this at least 8 weeks in advance of the SON application deadline to prevent delays when applying to the program or in progression to degree completion.
Learn more about admission to USCA
Academic Requirements
Completion of all general education requirements is not mandatory prior to admission to the USC Aiken traditional track nursing program. Students typically need to complete 1-2 humanities courses while in the nursing program.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to fulfill as many general education requirements as possible prior to beginning the nursing program to prevent delays in progression to degree completion. Please see the general education requirements in the academic bulletin for a complete listing.
Prerequisite Courses Requirements
- Students need to demonstrate academic preparedness for the rigors of the program by completing 30 semester hours. The hours are accrued by completing 9 courses referred to as the prerequisite core courses. Please see the BSN Program of Study for a listing of core courses.
- To ensure students’ academic readiness, all transcripts need to display a final course grades for these courses at the time of application.
- All science courses need to be completed no greater than 10 years prior to the application.
Grade Point Average Evaluation
Students may apply to the USC Aiken nursing program if they meet the following GPA requirements:
- All general education courses are completed with a C (2.0) or better.
- The GPA for prerequisite core courses must be 3.0 or higher. No exceptions.
To calculate your GPA for prerequisite core courses:
- Assign a grade value to secondary education courses.
- AP courses: A = 5; B+ = 4, B = 3
- IB courses: A = 7; B+ = 6; B = 4 and 5
- CLEP: A = successful score
- AP courses: A = 5; B+ = 4, B = 3
- Calculate GPA for the 9 prerequisite core courses using a GPA calculator.
- Regardless of how credit hours were assigned for these courses, all science courses are valued as 4 credit hours and non-science courses are valued as 3 credit hours.
- All grades from repeated courses must be included in the GPA calculation.
- Any D, F, or WF received at institutions other than USC Aiken must be included in the GPA calculation. Attach an explanatory letter for any final grades appearing as D, F, or WF.
Academic Planning
124 credit hours are required to complete the traditional BSN track. Prospective students can begin their academic planning by looking at the course requirements in the academic bulletin. The sample program of study linked below also provides an idea of the course-load BSN students can expect to take.
Frequently Asked Questions
Want to learn more about applying for the USC Aiken BSN nursing program? Our frequently asked questions page gives you further details.