UTRGV's online RN to BSN: modules, clinical projects and the road to the MSN-FNP
UTRGV's RN to BSN completes your bachelor's through a 30-credit online nursing core taught in 7-week modules, with 31 more credits awarded once that core is done. Three starts a year keep the wait short. The one thing to settle before you enroll is how much happens in person: the School's overview calls the core 100% online, while the catalog says its courses require in-person clinical projects.
Thinking about the MSN-FNP after your BSN?
Tell us when you expect to finish the RN to BSN and where you work now.
How the RN to BSN adds up
The program totals 120 credits in three parts. You arrive with 59 hours of RN to BSN prerequisites, complete the 30-credit core at UTRGV, and then receive 31 credits of Accelerated RN to BSN Courses that the catalog says may be awarded after you finish the core satisfactorily.
Full time, the School expects the core to take less than a year; part time, less than a year and a half. You apply through NursingCAS with an active, unencumbered RN license that can be verified in Nursys and the transcript from your associate's program. The School's overview publishes a per-credit price and a total for the core, so check tuition there.
| Group | Courses | Clinical or lab piece |
|---|---|---|
| Module 1 | NURS 3301, NURS 4303, NURS 3404, NURS 4201, NURS 4202 | NURS 4202 Community Health Clinical |
| Module 2 | NURS 3313, NURS 4302, NURS 3305, NURS 3105, NURS 4306, NURS 4307 | NURS 3105 Client Assessment Lab/Skills and NURS 4307 Leadership in Nursing Clinical |
NURS 3301 Professional Mobility is open to registered nurses only. The sources place one course differently: the overview lists NURS 4303 in Module 1, while the Edinburg roadmap schedules it in the second term beside NURS 4302.
Start dates and application windows
The RN to BSN admits in spring, summer and fall, and the class start dates on the School's application page match UTRGV's Accelerated Online Programs calendar, which runs two 7-week modules in each term.
| Start | Applications open and close | Classes begin |
|---|---|---|
| Spring 2027 | August 20 to November 20, 2026 | January 13, 2027 |
| Summer 2027 | January 7 to March 12, 2027 | May 5, 2027 |
| Fall 2027 | April 23 to July 3, 2027 | August 25, 2027 |
The page already lists a Spring 2028 cycle that opens August 19, 2027 and starts classes January 12, 2028. Its closing date reads November 11, 2028, which falls after classes would begin and reads as a typo for 2027. Confirm the date with the School before you count on it. The academic calendar sets the module dates beside the semesters graduate students follow.
"100% online" or in-person clinical projects?
UTRGV's sources disagree on delivery, and the gap matters if you live or work far from the Valley. The School's undergraduate page advertises a 100% online accelerated nursing core in 7-week modules, taken full or part time.
The 2026-27 catalog is more specific. It states that the program's NURS courses are online but require in-person clinical projects, and its program delivery statement describes a hybrid format with face-to-face instruction on campus. The Edinburg roadmap agrees for four courses, coding NURS 4202, NURS 4307, NURS 3305 and NURS 3105 for the Brownsville and Edinburg campuses rather than online.
Both descriptions can be partly right: lectures online, with clinical projects and a skills lab done in person. Before you enroll, ask the RN to BSN program coordinator where the projects take place and whether any campus days are required.
Hold off on planning a fully remote RN to BSN until the School confirms it. The catalog's in-person clinical projects and the roadmap's campus codes for four courses both point to some time on site.
The clinical courses
Two courses in the core are clinicals and a third is a skills lab. Each is a lab-type course paired with a theory course that the roadmap says must be taught at the same time.
NURS 4202Community Health Clinical (2 credits), paired withNURS 4201: care for individuals, families, communities and populationsNURS 4307Leadership in Nursing Clinical (3 credits), paired withNURS 4306: leadership and management in clinical and lab settingsNURS 3105Client Assessment Lab/Skills (1 credit), paired withNURS 3305: assessment skills practiced in a simulated setting
UTRGV publishes no hour figure for any of them, and nothing public says who chooses the setting for an RN to BSN clinical project. The School's BSN materials describe clinical agencies it assigns; in your first week, ask your course faculty whether that applies to your projects and whether your own workplace may serve. BSN clinicals shows how the campus BSN uses the same courses.
Next step: UTRGV's MSN-FNP
For many working RNs, the bachelor's is a step toward practice as a family nurse practitioner. UTRGV's MSN-FNP builds directly on it, and its admission list is short enough to prepare while you finish the core.
What the MSN-FNP asks for (2026-27 catalog)
- A BSN, which this program provides
- An unencumbered Texas RN license, kept current for the whole program
- A completed undergraduate statistics course
- Three recommendation letters, plus a letter of intent and a resume
- A cleared criminal background check
The RN to BSN names no particular state for your license, but the MSN-FNP asks for Texas, so a nurse licensed elsewhere should look into that early; RN license rules explains the options. The MSN admits only in the fall, with applications due July 1 and extended to July 31 in the Graduate College's deadlines table, and holds its FNP classes in Edinburg. If statistics was not among your prerequisites, take it during the RN to BSN.
How we help RN to BSN students
Your RN to BSN runs through the School and your course faculty, projects included. Where our placement desk comes in is the program after it. In UTRGV's current FNP syllabi, lining up preceptors falls to the student, and precepted hours begin in the first MSN year with courses such as NURS 6305 Advanced Health Assessment; see core course hours.
If you work in a clinic or hospital now, the nurse practitioners, physician assistants and physicians around you are the preceptor types UTRGV's FNP courses accept, so the colleagues who know your work are worth remembering. Once you are admitted, your placement advisor builds on those contacts, fills any gaps with willing preceptors throughout the Valley and elsewhere in Texas, and prepares what UTRGV's approval steps need. Share your timeline through the placement request form.
Questions UTRGV students ask
Can I take UTRGV's RN to BSN if I live outside Texas?
UTRGV's state authorization list for online programs reaches all states but California, along with DC, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The practical question is the catalog's in-person clinical projects, so ask the School where they take place before you apply. If you later want UTRGV's MSN-FNP, you will also need a Texas RN license.
Do I have to take UTRGV's RN to BSN full time?
No. The School offers full-time and part-time routes through the same 7-week modules, estimating under a year for the core full time and under a year and a half part time. Some courses are taught as pairs, such as a clinical with its theory course, so a part-time plan still moves those two together.
What are the 31 awarded credits in UTRGV's RN to BSN?
The catalog lists them as a block called Accelerated RN to BSN Courses, 31 hours that may be awarded once you complete the 30-credit core satisfactorily. With your 59 prerequisite hours and the core, they bring you to the 120 credits the bachelor's requires. Ask your advisor when the block posts to your record.
Is NursingCAS required for UTRGV's RN to BSN?
Yes. The School's applying FAQ says applicants to the generic BSN, the ABSN and the RN to BSN all apply through NursingCAS. Have your RN license ready to verify in Nursys and your associate's transcript on hand, and finish the 59 prerequisite hours the catalog lists before your target cycle opens.
What online systems will I use in UTRGV's RN to BSN?
Your courses run in Brightspace (D2L), UTRGV's learning system since Summer 2025, and registration goes through ASSIST inside myUTRGV. The School writes to applicants at their UTRGV email, so check it during the application window as well as after you start. Online student tools explains each system in more detail.
Can I go straight from UTRGV's RN to BSN into the DNP?
Not under the current catalog. UTRGV's DNP requires a master's, and post-master's applicants need a nursing master's in an advanced practice area. A 2022 announcement described entry with a BSN, but the catalog has since set the master's rule, so the usual route runs through the MSN-FNP first. See the DNP guide.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against UTRGV's own catalog, course syllabi, School of Nursing pages and Texas Board of Nursing rules. Your course faculty and the School of Nursing have the final word.
From the approved list or a brand-new site, we find the preceptor who fits.
Tell us your UTRGV program, where you live and when your next clinical course starts. We line up a willing preceptor who fits the course and UTRGV's rules, and hand you the details the Clinical Request Form, the affiliation agreement and the preceptor agreement ask for, well before the semester.
- Family practice preceptors for
NURS 6612andNURS 6613, and two NP sites forNURS 6347 - Board-certified psychiatric preceptors for
NURS 6476andNURS 6620, in your home state - Across the Valley and Texas, from McAllen and Brownsville to San Antonio, Houston and beyond
- A replacement lined up fast if a preceptor drops
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