Accelerated Nursing Track

⇨ Reach out to the Carroll Admission team and the Financial Aid Office for more information. ⇦

Accelerated Nursing at Carroll College

The 15-month accelerated nursing track is designed for those who have earned a baccalaureate or higher degree in a non-nursing field. Students in this track build on their previous degree(s) to achieve a second bachelor’s degree that would enable them to become a Registered Nurse. Applicants to the accelerated nursing track must have earned a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university prior to their enrollment in the program. Building on a long history of excellence in nursing education at Carroll College, this 15-MONTH INTENSIVE TRACK includes coursework and clinical experiences designed to make these graduates immediately employable and effective in one of the hottest career fields in the country.

Application Process

To apply to the Accelerated Nursing track at Carroll College, you must use the NursingCAS portal, the nursing profession’s online application service. NURSING CAS portal → https://nursingcas.liaisoncas.org/apply/

Admission Requirements

Students who do not fulfill all of the below admission requirements can contact admission@carroll.edu to learn about how they can complete prerequisites at Carroll College. Applicants to the accelerated nursing track must have earned a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university prior to their enrollment in the program.

Those admitted to the accelerated nursing track must:

1. Complete or be enrolled in the following prerequisites (or their equivalent) with a “C -” or better at the time of program enrollment. This coursework needs to be completed prior to program start, with official transcripts on file with the Registrar's office.
   • Anatomy & Physiology I and II with labs*
   • Essentials of Chemistry + lab*
   • Organic & Biochemistry*
   • Microbiology with lab*
   • Intro to Sociology
   • Statistics
   • General Psychology
   • Developmental Psychology
   • Oral Communication
   • Written Communication

   *All required science classes and labs must be face-to-face (online courses will not be accepted). The nursing department may grant an exception on a case-by-case basis for Organic & Biochemistry, which does not require a lab.

   Due to the impact of COVID-19 and decreased access to face-to-face science classes, exceptions to this policy will be considered dependent on the course descriptions and if classes and labs were initially set up as in-person courses. Please contact admissions for further information. Be prepared to provide a syllabus for review.

2. May be completed upon application or taken concurrently with the accelerated nursing classes.
   • One theology class
   • One philosophy class

   Note: For the theology or philosophy classes, one must be an ethical reasoning course.

3. Other requirements:
   • Hold a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university
   • Have an overall college career Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher on a 4-point scale (This includes all attempted credits at an accredited college or university).

Tuition Costs and Financial Aid

Final tuition and fees are located on our cost of attendance page. The accelerated nursing track is four semesters and students will be sent full tuition and fee information at the time of inquiry.

Financial aid administered by the Financial Aid Office is designed to assist students in paying for their expenses associated with earning a degree. Federal financial aid is available to assist in paying for tuition, fees, books, supplies, and student living expenses while enrolled. Students may qualify for federal work-study, and loans only. Post-baccalaureate students (2nd Bachelor’s Degree) are not eligible for any Carroll College gift aid or tuition benefits.

ARPA Accelerated Nursing Scholarship.  Carroll College will be awarded a $200,000 grant from the state of Montana through its investment in the Accelerate Montana rapid workforce training program.  The scholarship application can be submitted by any student who has been accepted to begin the Accelerated Nursing program in the Summer 2023.  Prospective students will receive more information regarding the scholarship and detailed instructions on how to apply once they have been accepted to the program.  The amount of the scholarship is $12,500 per student and up to 7 students will be awarded.  The deadline date to apply is May 18, 2023.  APPLY HERE

A Post-bacc student may be eligible for Federal Direct Stafford Loan limits based on their annual FAFSA results and aggregate loan limits ($7,500-12,500 annual limit). First-time Federal Direct Stafford Loan borrowers must complete a Federal Direct Stafford Loan Master Promissory Note (MPN) and Entrance Counseling. Students may also be eligible for private student Loans which are loans available for students who need extra funding after receiving the annual maximum in Federal Direct Stafford Loans. These are credit-based loans and generally require a co-signer. For more information on some private loan options, you may view our FastChoice Comparison Tool. For information regarding aid at Carroll, view our Federal Loan Financial Aid webpage.

Housing Options
Students for the accelerated nursing track must live in Helena due to the intense 15-month focus from May through the following August. Students in this track are eligible to live in the Carroll College apartments. Due to the accelerated track being over two summers, only the apartments are available. The Carroll College apartments are conveniently located on campus. Housing information will be sent to students at the time of admission.

Veterans: Yellow Ribbon
Any student that is 100% eligible for the Post 9/11 GI-Bill, has remaining entitlement, and meets the admission requirements is eligible to participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program. To learn more about the Yellow Ribbon Program, please contact Brandy Keely.