The Accelerated Second Bachelor's Degree is designed for students who have a baccalaureate degree in another field and wish to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. This is a full-time limited-access program, as mandated by the state, and is structured sequentially. Admission is competitive.

Criteria for Accelerated Second Bachelor's Degree

• Admission to the University of South Florida (Tampa) as a degree-seeking undergraduate student; the student must be admitted by the USF Tampa Undergraduate Admissions office before submitting an application to the College of Nursing 
• Application to the College of Nursing prior to the published deadline for the intended term of entry 
• Completion of at least seven of the eight nursing prerequisite courses by the published deadline for the intended term of entry 
  • Note: Any outstanding nursing prerequisites must be completed with a B or better by the program start date. 
• Completion of first bachelor’s degree, from a regionally accredited institution, by the program start date for the intended term of entry
• Minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA on all undergraduate work
• Participation in a formal interview with College of Nursing faculty, if selected

The state-mandated nursing common prerequisites are required to be completed before the published application deadline for the intended term of entry. A grade of C or better is required. USF course numbers are listed for planning purposes. 

• BSC 2085/L Human Anatomy & Physiology I or any Human Anatomy & Physiology I course with lab, 4 semester hours 
• BSC 2086/L Human Anatomy & Physiology II or any Human Anatomy & Physiology II course with lab, 4 semester hours 
• Any CHM, BSC, PHY, PCB, BCH (Chemistry, Biology, Physics, or Biochemistry) course, 3 semester hours 
• DEP 2004 Human Growth & Development course (covering the life span), 3 semester hours 
• HUN 2201 Human Nutrition or any Human Nutrition course or NUR 1192, 3 semester hours* 
• MCB 2000/L Microbiology or any Microbiology course with lab, 4 semester hours 
• Any PSY, SYG, or SOP (Psychology, Sociology, or Social Psychology) course, 3 semester hours 
• STA 2122 or 2023 Statistics or any Statistics course, 3 semester hours 

NOTE: Students will be considered only if all of the above criteria are met.  

*Please Note: Special Topics Nutrition courses will not fulfill this requirement. 

Important Notification 

All admitted nursing students are required to complete a background check, immunization verification, and drug screening. Admitted students will be provided with the steps to complete this process.

Note: This requirement is not the same as the USF Student Health Services (USF Health Form) and cannot be submitted as a substitute. 

USF Foundations of Knowledge and Learning (FKL) and Enhanced General Education Requirements 

Proof of a bachelor’s degree will satisfy all general education FKL requirements at USF. Students are still responsible for completing all state-mandated nursing requirements before the application deadline. 

These requirement listings are for informational purposes only and are superseded by the academic catalog for your intended term of entry. Be sure to reference the catalog for more information.

Courses listed are published for information purposes only and may be subject to change, dependent upon catalog year and admission semester.

Total Credit Hours: 62 (full-time study, four consecutive semesters with 750 clinical and lab contact hours)

Interested students who meet the minimum published criteria are encouraged to apply by deadline for each term. Follow the steps below to successfully apply for the Accelerated Second Degree. At this time, current USF students may skip steps 1 and 2.

1. Submit a USF Tampa Admissions Application
   Submit a degree-seeking transfer application to Undergraduate Admissions. For questions regarding undergraduate admissions (including USF deadlines), please call (813) 974-3350 or check the website. Students must be admitted to the USF Tampa Campus.

   For interested applicants at St. Petersburg (USFSP) and Sarasota-Manatee (USFSM): It is important to note that the Accelerated Second Degree Nursing is a USF College of Nursing program hosted on the USFSP or USFSM campuses. Therefore, interested applicants MUST be admitted to USF Tampa to be eligible.
   

2. Submit Required Documentation
   Submit official transcripts from every college or university attended, as well as any official AP, IB, CLEP, etc. test scores, directly to the USF Office of Undergraduate Admissions, 4202 E. Fowler Avenue, SVC1036, Tampa, FL 33620-6900. Transcripts will not be considered until they are received, opened, and processed in the system by the Undergraduate Admissions office. The Office of Undergraduate Admissions will decide what course work is transferable to the University.
   

3. Meet all admission requirements prior to applying through Student Online Application Request (SOAR).
   The College of Nursing can only consider applicants who meet all the minimum criteria.

4. Submit a College of Nursing Application
   Once you have completed steps 1, 2 and 3, and have been admitted as an undergraduate student at USF, complete the online College of Nursing (SOAR) application. The application requires an active university identification number (UID) to apply.

We strongly recommend that students apply for general admission to USF Undergraduate Admissions (step 1) about two to three months before you plan to apply to the College of Nursing (step 2). It can take Undergraduate Admissions up to eight weeks to determine admission decisions. You must be accepted to USF first in order to apply directly to the College of Nursing. 

Apple users, please note: The SOAR application is not compatible with the Safari internet browser; please use Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox as an alternative.

Application Deadlines

File Completion: All transcripts, scores, and required documents received by the Office of Admissions

PLEASE NOTE: USF Undergraduate Admissions cannot guarantee your admission to USF prior to the nursing SOAR application deadline if you do not meet the deadlines listed above. The College of Nursing cannot request expedited processing from Undergraduate Admissions for any student for any reason. Please contact USF Undergraduate Admissions directly if you have questions regarding your university application.

SOAR may take 24-48 hours to recognize your admission to the university before allowing you access to the nursing application. All written communication regarding your nursing application must be sent through the SOAR discussion board once your nursing application has been submitted. The SOAR application will become available at 8 a.m. on opening day and close at 5 p.m. on the last day. All admission requirements must be satisfied prior to submitting the SOAR application. Applicants will be denied and deemed ineligible if the nursing admission requirements are not met by the SOAR deadline.

For USFSP or USFSM campus hosted programs: applicants MUST be admitted to USF Tampa to be eligible for the Accelerated Second Degree program.

Due to federal reporting regulations, international students on an I-20/F-1 visa are not eligible for the Accelerated Second Degree program at St. Petersburg.

Nursing Mandatory Orientation Dates

All undergraduate students must attend the mandatory College of Nursing orientation and pre-immersion orientation. Please note the orientation dates and plan activities accordingly. Students who cannot attend the orientation will forfeit their seat in the program. 

(1) What courses are required for admission?

There are specific courses you would enroll in to meet all state-mandated prerequisites for the College of Nursing. The course numbers listed are the equivalent courses offered at USF.

• English Composition I and II (6) – ENC 1101 and ENC 1102 (satisfied by bachelor's or associate degree)
• Gordon Rule Math (College Algebra or Finite Math preferred) (3) - MAC 1105 or MGF 1106 (satisfied by bachelor's or associate degree)
• Human Anatomy and Physiology I with lab (4) – BSC 2085/L
• Human Anatomy and Physiology II with lab (4) – BSC 2086/L
• Any Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biology, or Physics (3-4) – (Any CHM, BCH, BSC, PHY, or PCB)
• Life Span (Human Growth and Development) (3) – DEP 2004
  • Note: The course content must cover development of the individual from birth to death. Any course that does not cover the entire lifespan will not be accepted.
• Human Nutrition (3) – HUN 2201 
  • Note: The course content must cover the basics of human nutrition. The course should NOT have a specific focus or topic, such as Nutrition and Drugs, Sports Nutrition, or Nutrition and Disease.
• Microbiology with lab (4) – MCB 2000/L
• Statistics (3) – STA 2122 (Any Statistics) 
  • Note: The course content must be statistics-based, not research-based. Courses similar to Research Methods will not satisfy this requirement.
• Psychology or Sociology (3) – (Any PSY, SYG, or SOP)

(2) What GPA do I need to apply? How competitive is admission?

The College of Nursing requires a minimum overall GPA of 3.0 to be eligible for the Accelerated Second Degree program, but the average GPA of students chosen for admission typically falls between a 3.5 and 3.7 overall GPA. Admission is highly competitive and is based on a combination of factors, including overall GPA, grades on the first attempt in the prerequisite courses, and an interview identifying student’s motivations for nursing and professional approach to potential clinical scenarios.

See our most recent admissions statistics for the Accelerated Second Degree program here.

These statistics are provided for information purposes only and are intended to assist prospective students in understanding the competitive admissions processes for some of our programs. The undergraduate program is designated as limited access by the state of Florida.

(3) Where do students complete clinical experiences?

The USF College of Nursing partners with hospitals and health care agencies across the Tampa Bay area to place students in clinical experiences throughout the program. Some of these partnerships include Tampa General Hospital, James A. Haley VA Hospital, St. Joseph’s Hospital, Morton Plant Mease Health Care, and Manatee Memorial Hospital. Students also have community-based experiences and the opportunity to participate in global experiences in Panama, Scotland, and St. Croix.

(4) What is the Military Commissioning Programs institution/program’s eligibility?

• MECP (Navy)
  Upper Division, Accelerated Second Degree, and V-CARE are currently all eligible under the MECP guidelines. Please speak with your commissioning program recruiter for more information on institution/program eligibility.
  • Applicants should apply one year in advance by using the current application process. For example, if students wish to begin the nursing program in Fall 2019, they would go through the Fall 2018 application process. If admitted, their admission would be deferred to Fall 2019.
  • Applicants must submit a SOAR application and indicate which term they wish to actually begin the program (i.e., Fall 2019).
  • Admitted students will receive an acceptance letter (conditional or nonconditional), a projected degree completion plan, and a summary of estimated tuition and fees that they will submit as part of their application to MECP.

• NECP (Air Force)         
  

  Upper Division, Accelerated Second Degree, and V-CARE are currently all eligible under the NECP guidelines. Please speak with your commissioning program recruiter for more information on institution/program eligibility.

  Applicant decisions are made by the end of March, which ensures time to meet NECP board deadlines. Admitted students will receive an acceptance letter, a projected degree completion plan, and a summary of estimated tuition and fees which they will submit as part of their applications to the NECP. Applicants should apply directly to the term they wish to begin the nursing program.

• AECP (Army)
  

  Accelerated Second Degree and V-CARE are currently eligible under the AECP guidelines. Upper Division is not eligible due to the five online courses in the curriculum. AECP requires two or fewer online courses. Please speak with your commissioning program recruiter for more information on institution/program eligibility.

Please note, regarding clinicals: We cannot provide guarantees on any one specific clinical location. Transportation for clinical experience is the responsibility of the student, and some locations may be as much as two hours from the USF Tampa Campus. All of our clinical partners provide excellent opportunities to our students.

The USF College of Nursing Peace Corps Coverdell Fellows Program offers students unique opportunities to serve their local community while pursuing their education goals. Click here to learn more.