Tennessee's Best Nursing Schools for 2020

Jackson State Community College is located in Jackson, Tennessee.  The average RN program requires 60 credits and their RN program requires 65 for degree completion.  They offer an RN program and an LPN Mobility option, allowing the LPN advanced placement into the program.

Chattanooga State Community College is located in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  The Baroness Erlanger Nursing Program offers an AAS in nursing; this program is subdivided into day and night programs.  They also offer an AAS Transition track, which is available to LPNs and paramedics.  Paramedics are accepted into the night program, and are accepted on even-numbered years.

Lincoln Memorial University is located in Harrogate, Tennessee.  They offer a variety of undergraduate options for their nursing students – an ASN program, a BSN program, and an RN to BSN program.  The RN to BSN program is offered completely online.

Motlow State Community College is located in Tullahoma, Tennessee.  They offer an AAS – Two-Year Path to RN ad AAS – One-Year Path, LPN to RN.  They also have articulation programs in place so that students may elect to transfer to a four-year university after graduation.

Pellissippi State Community College is located in Knoxville, Tennessee.  They offer an RN degree with a traditional pathway and a bridge pathway; the bridge pathway allows LPNs and EMT-P students to enter the program during the summer semester.  This program is offered at three of Pellissippi’s campuses: Blount County, Magnolia Avenue, and Strawberry Plains campuses.

Columbia State Community College is located in Columbia College.  They offer both an RN program and an LPN to RN Bridge Program.  They also offer a 3+1 partnership with Middle Tennessee State University, which allows RN to complete general education requirements at Columbia State, with the final year being completed at MTSU.

Southwest Tennessee Community College is located in Memphis, Tennessee.  STCC offers an AAS in Nursing: Generic Track and LPN Mobility Track.  STCC has nationally ranked for their degree programs for minorities and African Americans, such as “number one in the top 100 Associate Degree producers for total minorities in business operations support and assistant services – Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, 2014” and “number two in the top 100 Associate Degree producers for African-Americans in business operations support and assistant services – Diverse: Issues in High Education, 2014.”

The University of Tennessee – Martin is located in Martin, Tennessee.  UTM offers a traditional BSN program and an online BSN program.  UTM also recognizes nursing student excellent with Sigma Theta Tau (Pi Tau Chapter), which is an international honor society for nursing.

Carson-Newman University is located in Jefferson City, Tennessee.  They offer two avenues towards a nursing degree – the traditional BSN degree, which is 8 semesters over 4 years, or the accelerated BSN degree, which is 8 continuous semesters.

Tennessee Technological University is located in Cookeville, Tennessee.  The Whitson-Hester School of Nursing offer a BSN program, an accelerated BSN (ABSN) and an RN to BSN program.  Their RN to BSN program is an online program and is one of the most affordable options available, at $365 per credit hour for in-state tuition and $661 per credit hour for non-resident students.

Lincoln Memorial University is located in Harrogate, Tennessee.  They offer a variety of undergraduate options for their nursing students – an ASN program, a BSN program, and an RN to BSN program.  The RN to BSN program is offered completely online.

Austin Peay State University is located in Clarksville, Tennessee.  They offer a traditional BSN program and an online RN to BSN program.  The traditional program is for pre-licensure students and students with a prior bachelor’s degree. The online program can be completed on a full-time or part-time basis.

Union University is located in Jackson, Tennessee, with 2 other campuses in Germantown and Hendersonville.  They are proud to boas that their student to faculty ratio is 10:1 and 85% of their faculty have the highest degree possible in their field.  Their nursing program offers state-of-the-art equipment to practice skills and the opportunity to take ministry trips internationally.  They offer a traditional BSN program, an LPN to BSN program, which takes two years to complete, an RN to BSN program, which is completed online in 8 months, and a First Step to BSN program, which is designed for adult learners with little college experience, readying them for the accelerated BSN program.  The ABSN program is designed for students of the First Step program and students with  prior bachelor’s degree.

Tennessee Wesleyan College is located in Athens, Tennessee.  They boast that their student to faculty ratio is 12:1.  92% of their classes have 30 or fewer students.  The Fort Sanders Nursing Department has a partnership with Covenant Health and Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, providing extensive resources for clinical experience.  They offer a BSN degree.

Middle Tennessee State University is located in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.  They offer a traditional BSN program and an RN to BSN program.  MTSU has multiple simulation labs where students may practice their nursing skills; the labs have low-, medium- and high-fidelity simulators that mimic real-life situations.

Belmont University is located in Nashville, Tennessee.  Belmont was named as the “Most Innovative” university by US News & World Report.  It is a Christian university that “…brings together the best of liberal arts and professional education in a Christian community of learning and service.”  They offer a BSN program, an accelerated BSN program, and an RN to BSN program.

University of Memphis is located in Memphis, Tennessee.  The Loewenberg College of Nursing.  They offer a traditional BSN program, an accelerated option for students with a prior bachelor’s degree, and an online RN to BSN program.  They also offer a freshman pre-admission to the BSN program option – students must apply in their senior year of high school.  This allows entrance into the program during the second semester of sophomore year, or earlier if the student has AP or dual enrollment credits.

Baptist Memorial College of Health Sciences is located in Memphis, Tennessee.  The college seeks to educate healthcare professionals, from nurses to respiratory therapists.  They offer a traditional BSN program, which utilizes plenty of hands on experience in simulation labs to practice nursing skills, or an RN to BSN program, where the learner can choose an online program or a blended program – a mixture between online and hands-on learning.

South College is located in Knoxville, although they do have several other campuses.  They offer an ADN degree at an outlying campus.  At their Knoxville campus, they offer a BSN program.  Online, they offer the RN to BSN program.  Students that are out-of-state are eligible for the RN to BSN program, although clinical experiences must meet certain requirements so not all facilities may be eligible.