Last week, a women’s college in South Carolina announced a new draw for students: they can earn a degree in nursing…from Vanderbilt. It’s just the latest in a series of partnerships Vandy has formed with colleges and universities as far away as Illinois.
The details announced by Converse College are roughly the same for Vanderbilt School of Nursing’s 15 other partnerships. After three years study at Converse, students will do just over two years here in Nashville. They’ll finish with both a BA in biology and a masters of science in nursing.
And because some coursework counts towards both, the plan shaves two semesters off the time it takes to become a nurse practitioner.
Dean Linda Norman says partnerships like that give Vanderbilt special access to liberal arts colleges that produce the kind of students the School of Nursing wants.
“Usually they’re smaller, but they’re ones that have usually a higher proportion of their graduates go on to graduate school. And each of these has a very strong science-based program.”
What’s more, Norman says Vanderbilt is able to see first hand—and, to a degree, influence—the curriculum students work through before starting their nursing courses.
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