Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Thomas University officials decided to move its Nursing programs from a hybrid format to completely online beginning this summer.
 
“All of our students are working, most of them full time,” said Dr. Kim Cribb, Chair of the Division of Nursing. “The online format allows for better management of their work and family lives. However, since we are a small private college, we still maintain that personal communication with our students with full-time TU faculty teaching all courses. All Nursing faculty can meet with students face-to-face via Zoom or arrange a time to meet in person once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.”
 
Previously TU offered its undergraduate and graduate Nursing degree programs as hybrid courses with students required to be on campus once a month. TU offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree for students who already have an associate degree and are Registered Nurses. TU also offers a Master of Science in Nursing, and a dual degree of a Master of Science in Nursing-Master of Business Administration.
 
“In addition to moving Nursing classes to a completely online format, TU also updated the core curriculum requirements so RN-BSN students can transfer in more of their core classes,” Cribb said. “We only require 15 credits, which is 5 classes, in the core curriculum and 12 credits, which is 3 classes, in Sciences. This allows students to transfer in classes taken for another major, such as education, business, science or any other college/ university approved course. By accepting more credits for core curriculum courses, students could potentially save money and time by not having to take more courses at another university to earn the same degree.”
 
Each online RN-BSN course will take only eight weeks to complete.
 
“This allows students to focus on one or two classes every eight weeks instead of three or four at one time,” Cribb said.
 
Each MSN course takes 16 weeks to complete, except for summer courses, which are 8 to 10 weeks in length.
 
“Since students can transfer in more classes and often complete the degree requirement in shorter lengths of time, we hope to have more Nursing students enroll,” Cribb said. “Our community healthcare organizations will benefit by having students transition to higher degrees in a more timely manner at a competitive cost.”
 
Scholarships are also available for TU’s Nursing students. For the past three years, Nursing students received an average of $2,393 each with additional funds from the Georgia HOPE Scholarship.