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

• Attention—Admission Requirements Revision: Starting with the Summer 2021 admission cycle, anyone applying to the Accelerated Second Degree will be required to have a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
• 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

To learn more about admissions requirements and prerequisites, consult the Undergraduate Catalog.

Important Notification 

All admitted nursing students are required to complete a background check, immunization verification, and drug screening. Additionally, students will be required to provide proof of current health insurance. Admitted students will be provided with the steps to complete this process. 

Please refer to the catalog for your academic year. Visit the online Undergraduate Catalog, select the appropriate catalog year, choose the College of Nursing, and select Admissions Requirements for more information.

To view our competitive GPA and program statistics, please click here.

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.

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. 

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.