Marian College: To Offer RN-To-MSN Degree Program Beginning This Fall

Fond du Lac, Wis. — Marian College has answered the growing demand for nurses to quickly assume roles to practice as advanced care practitioners and nurse educators.

Through a values-based, efficient program of study, a Registered Nurse (RN) can complete an accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program or proceed directly into Marian’s Master of Science in Nursing program, taking master’s-level classes as an undergraduate. The RN-to-MSN degree allows RNs with associate degrees or nursing diplomas to take fewer credits than first earning a BSN degree followed by an MSN degree.

“Professional nurses who complete advanced degrees positively impact the well-being of individuals, families and communities,” says Dr. Jim McCann, dean of the School of Nursing. “Nurses with advanced degrees possess the knowledge to instill in others the importance of lifelong learning as the way to greater well-being.”

The RN-to-MSN program will be introduced at Marian’s Appleton Center in September, and then taught on Marian’s Fond du Lac campus starting in January 2007 and in Marian’s Milwaukee Center in West Allis in March 2007. Classes will be held in the evenings twice a week.

MSN specialties offered by Marian College include Adult Nurse Practitioner or Nurse Educator. Marian’s MSN program, now in its fifth year, continues to be available to nurses who have previously earned a BSN degree. In addition to the accelerated BSN program for RNs, Marian also offers the Basic program for traditional undergraduate students.

The Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes (CSA) opened the St. Agnes School of Nursing (SASN) in 1910 to train its nuns to be nurses. Marian College, founded by CSA in 1936, began accepting SASN students to allow them to complete their master’s degrees in 1943, and SASN merged into Marian in 1966. Almost 20 percent of Marian’s undergraduate students now receive a degree in the health professions.

Marian College is a Catholic applied liberal arts college located in Fond du Lac, Wis. The college, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, offers more than 50 undergraduate and graduate programs at its main campus, and a variety of adult accelerated-degree programs in facilities throughout Wisconsin. The size of the College permits a very favorable student–faculty ratio, one of the lowest among Wisconsin colleges. Marian’s academic divisions offer programs of study designed to meet a full range of pre-professional and professional academic needs. The primary divisions and programs include business, education, the arts, sciences, nursing and technology. Marian College is a community committed to learning, dedicated to service and social justice, and joined together by spiritual traditions.